The Writers Aspirant Accountability Thread

Posted by: @marius

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Also got 2nd place in the biggest SF/Fantasy writing contest in The Netherlands. There were 225 entrants, so doesn't even come close to the scope of WotF, but my story has been published in another short story collection. Small victories.

Congratulations! That's awesome news! Well done  

Great website, @joel-c-scoberg! Looking forward to getting your newsletter, and the free story!

@pdblake, 20k is awesome. Just awesome. I bet you can't wait to write "THE END."

Productive February, @gideonpsmith. I hope March continues the trend. I'd love to check out the opening of your Q2 whenever it's ready/whenever you fancy, if you fancy, that is.

@marius, congratu-freaking-lations! That's incredible. 'Small' victories, my ass. Throw that self-deprecation in a dyke!

It's tough when the story refuses to leave your imagination and lie down on the page. I empathize, @adrian. For me it normally means I'm missing the true/internal conflict. I always get what the story is pretending to be about from the offset, but what it is really about doesn't come to me until later, and the words act very stubborn until it does.

@ajschultz6, @clfors, @writhmic, @annax, @kz_richards, @toddjones, @storysinger, @physa, @pegeen, @kent, @jeschleicher, @sconn,  @ericstallsworth, @hannya, @tiinag, @olivia-ava, @abeona, @bon, @tj_knight, @thewritingwolf, @mulch, @robot_drew, @mgamblesee - how did your Februaries go? Remember, February is shorter than every other month, so if things didn't go entirely your way, blame it on the time-bandit called 'February.' What are you planning for March?

My day job has gone a bit skew-whiff, so I'm dialing down the writing to focus on getting it sorted out. Hopefully when it is done and dusted I'll be able to return to writing with renewed vigor and time and energy. As such, my March goal is just:

• Have ~5000 words of my cyberpunk novel ready for critiques. (This is lazier than it looks: it's all written already, and 3600 have already been revised once).

Now, back to the keyboards!

@ease thanks for the nudge. February did not go as planned, but... it was not without some progress. One of my overarching goals for this year is a revise of my fantasy series (5 manuscripts). However, at a couple of conferences last month, more than one pro advised me to have "something else" ready in case an agent/editor likes my writing, but the first story I pitch just isn't a good fit for them. So, I pulled my next novel idea forward in the queue of things to write and have made some progress with that. I also completed one short story (~3700). 

@ease I wish I was in the right mind to write. I can't get traction on my Q2 WotF. I'm taking a pause on writing to let my mind work things out.

@ease Thank you for the reminder! I definitely needed it.

February Goals

• Continue pushing toward finishing the first quarter of the novel I've been working on.  👎 
  • I think I got 3 days of work on this? I really lost the drive for such a long project. I'm going to refocus on shorter stuff again. I need some finished project good vibes.
• Refresh myself on the story that was originally intended to be my Q2 submission. 👍 
  • Smashed it! Draft one complete.
• Research more on options for increasing my professional presense. 👍 
  • I started volunteering for the wonderful Wiscon feminist science fiction & fantasy conference out of my hometown of Madison, WI. Unfortunately it's going to be virtual this year, but still a good cause and community to connect with. 
• Keep feeling out those writing boundaries. 👍
  • I'll give it a thumbs up, because I figured out what not to do. I totally disconnected from writing (aside from journaling) for about 2 weeks, and my mental health was not a fan. I think need some fantastical spillage of emotion and pain (at my characters' expenses and not my own) to stay connected with the fun parts of myself. 

March goals

• Finish a 2nd draft of that story
• 7,500 words in March
• Follow through on the volunteeting with Wiscon

Posted by: @ease

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Great website, @joel-c-scoberg! Looking forward to getting your newsletter, and the free story!

Thank you! And I hope you enjoy it   It's a slightly tweaked version of my first published story in Daily Science Fiction. It's not available online any longer (RIP DSF) so I thought I'd give it a new home through my newsletter.

Posted by: @ease

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My day job has gone a bit skew-whiff, so I'm dialing down the writing to focus on getting it sorted out. Hopefully when it is done and dusted I'll be able to return to writing with renewed vigor and time and energy.

I hope you find your balance soon. I've been there, as many of us have I'm sure, when job and life demands don't allow time to write. I'd be up for giving your cyberpunk novel a critique if you're looking for more eyes on it.

So, February has been crazy. No time for socials or anything, and I was rarely online. Objectives were also out the window, simply because I was too busy with other things and had to adapt.

February objectives:

• Minimum 10k. No real idea (I didn't track) but I'm fairly sure this was done.
• 3 more flash drafted. DONE
• 3 pieces edited, even if not fully. I think so, lol (gosh, I'm a mess)
• At least 5 submissions. Perhaps? I suppose? I ended up with 12 subs pending, so yes?
• Keep the slush pile at a managable level. What a struggle, I received 50 each week, and only cleared the pile early March.
• Start on a fantasy novella I've been asked to beta read (at least reading + draft comments done) Started, but only completed this today.
• Learning: at least one lecture/workshop/self-study. NO
• Keep on filling in my follow-up table. NO (and that's why I don't really know what I did all month)

The issue is, I'm quite sure March will be even worse haha. Let's try not to set objectives that are too ambitious, then.

March objectives:

• No minimum word count. Surviving will be enough.
• Learning activity: explore poetry, and write a few poems using different forms. I know nothing of poetry, that's why I categorize this as a learning activity only.
• Keep submissions at a reasonable level (minimum 5 pending at any time).
• Brainstorm for a novella.
• SLUSH. This will be the main objective. With Translunar opening to subs, I'll need around 3h each day for slush reading, starting mid-March.
• Reduce online presence to a minimum, so that I have time for all these objectives.

Anything else would be a bonus.

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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oh and after warbling on about the non-goals I did last month I forgot to do what I came in this thread to do - state my goal/s for this month

March Goal: keeping it simple - get a Q2 finished and submitted! There's a long way to go on that road so I'm not sure if it will happen, but thats the goal

I must admit, entering this thread I couldn't remember if I had even SET a goal this month. I was thinking maybe I would have to settles for March goal being to set one lol

However, I did, and fortuately I kept it simple and focussed - submit to Q2. Which I did, having finished up edits on a piece. Wasn't thrilled with it but its in and I don't think I had bandwidth to produce anything better so.... onwards and upwards!

April Goal:

I wrote 6 flash at the beginning of the year as part of a writers group. They are all still in first draft version. My goal for April is to pick one and take it through to final version. Or as near as I can get it.

I didn't keep count all that well last month, but I don't think I made those 20K words. Probably around 15K-ish, but I did do a lot of editing of previous words. I also wrote a story that I considered sending in for Q2, but eventually decided not to. It was just too gore-y, especially on the first few pages. Don't know why I'm so into horror at the moment.

I think I'm gonna step back from the short stories for a while. There's this editor of a big publishing firm in The Netherlands that's asked me for some of my novel stuff a while back and I still haven't sent him anything because I'm scared to. I think I've been using short story writing as a procrastination device, so I'm gonna try to regain my focus.

20K again in April! Already 2454 words en route.

Time to check on the March goals

• Finish a 2nd draft of that story - 👍 
  • I don't think it will be a good fit for WotF though, so I'll probably have to come up with somethign else over the next few months.
• 7,500 words in March - 👎 
  • Work on that 2nd draft took a lot, and my habits slipped a lot in March.
• Follow through on the volunteeting with Wiscon - 👍 
  • This has been nice. I realized I have a conflict that won't let me attend, which is a bummer, but it's been good to engage in a supportive, passionate community.

April Goals

• Sit down to write at least 30 minutes per day without distractions. I have to build those habits back up.
• Read / listen to one craft book for some inspiration
• Pick an idea for Q3

I never ended up posting anything for March goals, but if I had, it would have been to submit a story for Q2. I did manage that, so hurray.

In April, I'd like a solid start on my next story (like the opening scene, outline, anything to get it started). I have a vague idea, and I'm trying to steer myself to make it fun (I naturally lean on melancholy) so will see if I can keep course.

Posted by: @adrian

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March goal: Finish a Q2 story and submit it. - Done. Last minute. With way too many edits. This story was a roller coaster. I have no idea what to expect from it.

April goal: Sucker for punishment or not, I'm going to try a similar strategy this quarter, with getting a rough idea of a story in the first month, then trying to execute it in the third month, and leaving some more sizeable story time in the middle for novel writing. So my goal this month is:

1) get a rough story outline (idea, characters, ending) for a WOTF entry.

2) Get a chapter done on my novel (even if terrible, just to get this show moving).

Good luck to everyone else on their goals!

Posted by: @ease

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My day job has gone a bit skew-whiff, so I'm dialing down the writing to focus on getting it sorted out. Hopefully when it is done and dusted I'll be able to return to writing with renewed vigor and time and energy.

@ease, hope work settles down and you get some more writing time! I certainly get waves of that too. It's nice in the windows of stable and more predictable writing time. Things do seem easier... 

Late in this month. March's goals were finished. April has no real goals as I've been decorating and my office is full of furniture waiting to be put back where it belongs (mostly bookcases full of books, what else?).

I have started to plot a new novel and will start on that as soon as I can get to my desk. So the only goal I really have is to just get some writing done, eventually.

@pdblake That's good. No matter how small, keep the burners going no matter how busy things get. I like to treat writing like I treat exercise. Even if I can only put in a half hour, or even ten minutes, I do so to keep the habit alive. Those daily inputs compound over time