• What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them?
• Describe what you worked on.
• Set goals for next week.
• Did you learn something during this week?

Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).

• Writing on a novel
• Characterization
• World Building
• Relevant research

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Last Week's Goals

I did a decent amount of work on the outline this week. I found that I need to have a visual method of organizing the plot points to better organize them. Currently I'm using the software program Storybook, which allows me to reorder scenes by dragging and dropping them however I want. This visual interface has also helped me balance the number of scenes between all of the subplots.

My goals for next week:

• Outline Focused Conflicts

My goal this week is to finish balancing my subplots with similar numbers of scenes. If I complete that, I will then want to intermingle those subplots with the primary storyline. Using the visuals in Storybook I can better see how frequently these subplots appear in the story. I have not gotten to that point before, but I hope that it works for me.

What did I learn this week?

I have learned that I am a visual person and need to see all of my plot points and their relationships to plots and subplots in order to organize my story. What I'm doing now is similar to my attempt with index cards to organize my novel. However, I did not like that method since those index cards were the only copy of my notes and that concerned me. With a software program I can back up the notes should anything happen to my files.

DREAMER'S ROSE: Finish up the new section at the beginning and start work on the revisions.
No, but I'm this close.

THE SHAMAN'S CURSE: Let it rest a little before trying to cut some more.
Easy goal.

THE IGNORED PROPHECY: Make the revisions as the critiques come back.
Yes.

BLOOD WILL TELL: Work on the synopsis some more. Send out some more queries.
Yes and yes.

SEVEN STARS: Let it rest. Keep making notes as things occur to me.
Another easy goal.

OTHER:
Update my blog and try to keep it updated at least once a week.
Yes.

Next Week's Goals:

DREAMER'S ROSE:
The same goal as last week (and the week before).
Finish up the new section at the beginning and start work on the revisions.

THE SHAMAN'S CURSE:
Let it rest a little before trying to cut some more.

THE IGNORED PROPHECY:
I've got a chapter exchange going on this one. Make the revisions as the critiques come back.

BLOOD WILL TELL:
Send out four queries, now that I've got a synopsis.

SEVEN STARS:
Let it rest. Keep making notes as things occur to me.

OTHER:
Update my blog and try to keep it updated at least once a week.
Work on my new short story "The Wrong Lion". Revise "The Bard's Gift" as appropriate and send it back out.

1) Resubmit my last WotF entry somewhere - Yes and it's already been rejected (again), so I submitted it somewhere else, too.
2) 200 words a day on Mudlarks - Yes and then some. I think I've added almost 6K to the novel this week.
3) Keep revising TGS - Yes and I'm getting soooo close to the end of the revisions I can taste it!

Goals for This Week:

I recently created such a function to decide what writing project I will work on next.

I apparently programmed the thing to refresh every half hour.

That's my way of saying I've not been setting and achieving goals for a few weeks now. But, at least I can say I managed to get plenty of work done.

UPCOMING WEEK
Mainstream novel: I want the first nine scenes (first four chapters) ready for critique by this time, next week. In fact, I might be interested in doing a chapter swap with anyone else who has a mainstream / mystery / romance manuscript they'd like critiqued.

SF novel: I've been doing research on this story for quite some time. I want to get back to the writing!!! I don't even care how much I get done, just as long as I can write something!

(others): My next WotF entry will get some attention this coming week, as well.

Slowly but surely I'll finish it, then I'll have a second book to my name.
Once is an accident - twice is a pattern.

Written / Projected - on a week by week basis
171 / 250
177 / 250
180 / 250
185 / 250

I hope to have a beta reader take a look at SF while I'm gone, too.

Huh, how are those for lame goals. Well. I did get the scenes added. woohoo
I'm working on the notes for the new book. Its a YA SciFi with a teen boy as a protag and mysterious boxes that open portals into girls bedrooms. Working title is The Box. LOL. I'm starting the plotting this week and writing random scenes for background and to keep my daily word count up.

SF has had the first chapter read by 5 people, and I've made some changes based on those comments. I'm going back into a full revision and plan to have a version ready for a beta read by the end of April- after vacation. So I should have have done by next week.

There's this crime that went more-or-less unpunished...

Which is symptomatic of a general breakdown of my aliens' society...

Which follows directly from the aliens' arrival on Earth and the discovery that they are not the only intelligent life in the universe (something they have yet to come to terms with).

Then I stepped back and saw what seriously looks like books 1, 2, 3 of a trilogy.

I have only one novel I am currently working on, some rough outline for some future ones, but for now, just the one. I have a really hard time switching from one project to another, so until this puppy is off to be crited, I just jot down the ideas and figure they'll wait.

My novel is currently entitled For the Gods, though I don't like the title. It is a retelling of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, set in my own vaguely Asian fantasy world. I have written a first draft, but that was pretty much just throwing words on paper to get the basics out.

My goals for this week:
1) Rewrite the last chapter.
2) Get my WOTF story to crit group.
3) Crit the other WOTF stories I have sitting on my to-do list.

This is a fun little place that WBSchmidt is nice enough to post every week!