Daily Goals Progress (Accountability and Encouragement!)

Gideon Smith · 2024-12-02T00:06:51Z

I found @ease “Writers Aspirant Accountability” thread having me state goals and then give an update on whether I made it at the end of the month really helpful. It helped me be accountable, and it also inspired me through seeing what other fellow forumites were doing. Some of it was WOTF related, some of it was not, but as he stated in his ‘aims’ statement for the thread, we grew into better and more productive writers through it together. One thing it hasn’t done for me, at least, is keep me on track for my goals during the month. Sometimes I wander off track and have nothing to report. This month I had posted a mid-month update and it helped me achieve goals EARLY, and I decided it might be helpful to do daily or weekly ‘updates’, but I don’t want to overwhelm the other thread - I find it hard enough to find my goals there as it is. I thought it could be helpful to set up this new space in which to do that, both for myself and for anyone else that would find such a space for on-going accountability check-ins AND hopefully for cheering each other on towards those goals as I think supportive posts do help! If you want to join in, please do! It doesn’t have to be daily, the idea is just that it's a place to report in on a regular basis in less than the monthly frequency to set up some friendly support. I thought today would be a great day to start as while not all of these will be WOTF related, I am sure for many of them they will be, and today we have 31 days till the end of the V42Q1 window. What better way to get yourself writing and get that in, than to have a daily check in here! It can be anything you want - wordcounts, draft number, section you worked on - or even what got in your way and stopped you from working on it! All are valuable and worthy of reporting, accountability, cheers and support.

Gideon Smith

(@gideonpsmith)

Posts: 705

Platinum Member

Topic starter

I have a whole heap of old stories which have not been sent out (ever) or only once (wotf) but which I need to fix 'just one smll thing' in.... and so they have been sitting on my harddrive. So I am trying to motivate myself to go back an tinker/edit these so I can send them out one by one. No one's going to accept them if they just sit on my harddrive forever.

"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines

Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 115 submitted 8 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance

2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections

http://www.gideonpsmith.com

Posted : June 12, 2025 5:38 am

Gideon Smith

(@gideonpsmith)

Posts: 705

Platinum Member

Topic starter

my goal this weekend is to get as many pieces edited and ready to go as possible.

but there are a solid 20+ I can send out into the world with only ninor tweaks. Time to get on that!

"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines

Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 115 submitted 8 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance

2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections

http://www.gideonpsmith.com

Posted : June 28, 2025 9:13 am

Gideon Smith

(@gideonpsmith)

Posts: 705

Platinum Member

Topic starter

not making much progress on the wotf q4 yet (not yet started, still pondering direction) but have got a number of submissions out this week, including some old wotf submissions. This is on the tail of a week or two of editing said stories to be ready to be sent out Smile

"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines

Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 115 submitted 8 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance

2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections

http://www.gideonpsmith.com

Posted : July 29, 2025 6:10 am

Todd Jones reacted

Todd Jones

(@toddjones)

Posts: 842

Platinum Member

Slow, lumbering steps toward my Q4. One month down and the notes on the page are begging me to give them life and write.

sippincoffee typing smash

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford

2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), Submitted, Working on draft
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: ---HM (R Resubmit)
2020 V37: -R--

Posted : July 31, 2025 9:37 am

Dustin Adams reacted

Jason P. Crawford

(@amstard)

Posts: 85

Bronze Star Member

Nice! Exploration is fun!

I finished a 5k story for the Western Colorado University call two days ago and I'm back to plugging away at a novel that's been shelved too many times Smile

Jason P. Crawford
Author of Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi (for now!)
Finalist for 2024 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award
3rd Place Winner for 2025 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award

Q3 V31: HM Q2 V39: SHM Q2 V40: SHM Q2 V41: HM Q2 V42: RWC
Q3 V38: HM Q3 V39: SHM Q3 V40: SHM Q3 V41: HM Q3 V42: P
Q4 V38: R Q4 V39: SHM Q4 V40: SHM Q4 V41: RWC
Q1 V39: HM Q1 V40: RWC Q1 V41: SHM Q1 V42: SHM

Posted : August 11, 2025 1:34 pm

Joel C. Scoberg reacted

Gideon Smith

(@gideonpsmith)

Posts: 705

Platinum Member

Topic starter

Posted by: @amstard

↑

Nice! Exploration is fun!

I finished a 5k story for the Western Colorado University call two days ago and I'm back to plugging away at a novel that's been shelved too many times

I am in awe of your novel-productivity! Wish I could mirror it!!

"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines

Writers of the Future:
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: P Q4: TBD
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2025: 115 submitted 8 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance

2025 goals: a. New Novel b. New piece submitted/month c. 100 rejections

http://www.gideonpsmith.com

Posted : August 11, 2025 2:26 pm

Jason P. Crawford

(@amstard)

Posts: 85

Bronze Star Member

@gideonpsmith I finished that one! Now I'm on to a supernatural investigative thriller. Renaissance-adjacent technology with werewolves Smile

Jason P. Crawford
Author of Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi (for now!)
Finalist for 2024 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award
3rd Place Winner for 2025 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award

Q3 V31: HM Q2 V39: SHM Q2 V40: SHM Q2 V41: HM Q2 V42: RWC
Q3 V38: HM Q3 V39: SHM Q3 V40: SHM Q3 V41: HM Q3 V42: P
Q4 V38: R Q4 V39: SHM Q4 V40: SHM Q4 V41: RWC
Q1 V39: HM Q1 V40: RWC Q1 V41: SHM Q1 V42: SHM

Posted : August 18, 2025 10:36 am

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