• 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 not do so well putting together the motivation story arcs as I had intended. Instead I got distracted by outlining the first act of the book. So, although I did not do the goals I had planned I did get something done. Progress was made I suppose.

My goals for next week:

• List out plot and character motivations
• Map out scenes for one motivation story arc

I will keep the same goals for this next week. I want to get a handle on the motivations for this novel because it could potentially end in a couple different ways. I know the ending I want but it will be interesting to see what test readers will think of the ending I intend to use.

What did I learn this week?

I don't think I learned anything for the last week. I have not been working as much on the writing as I would like. Other distractions lure me away. Perhaps I ought to make a goal not to do these other things instead of making writing goals. That would certainly provide more time for writing.

I hope everyone had (and will have) a good week of writing.

Last Week's Goals:

Dreamer's Rose: Write 5K new words.
Blew right past this. I wrote about 17K net words on it this week. I'm on Chapter 23. (This one has some really short chapters.) It's finally coming together.

The Shaman's Curse: Go through the first five chapters with the checklists for beats, paragraphs, and saying it only once.
Nope. I didn't touch this. Or the query. Or the synopsis. Dreamer's Rose was flowing and I didn't want to stop that.

The Ignored Prophecy: Let it rest a bit longer, except for the chapter exchange.
Easy goal.

Blood Will Tell: Let it rest at least another week.
Another easy goal.

This Week's Goals:

Dreamer's Rose:
Keep working on this. In about ten chapters, I'll come to a place where I need to add a lot of new material. So I'd like to get up to that spot by the end of the week. Get to what is currently Chapter 32.

The Shaman's Curse:
I'm keeping my goal from last week. Go through the first five chapters with the checklists for beats, paragraphs, and saying it only once. Keep working on the query. Force myself to go back over the synopsis. I'm fairly happy with what's in the synopsis, now. But I think the writing style sounds like I tried too hard. I want to make it sound more like the same tone and voice as the novel.

The Ignored Prophecy:
Let it rest a bit longer, except for the chapter exchange.

Blood Will Tell:
Let it rest at least another week. (It would anyway, as long as Dreamer's Rose is going well. )

Edited to Add:
What I Learned:
For Teraen, who has been plugging it mercilessly at every opportunity, I did download and read Lukeman's pamphlet on query letters.
Meh. It was worth about what I paid for it. (Free.) If you already know how to write a business letter, there are maybe one or two points of interest. Otherwise, far too didactic for my taste. "There is one way. My way. I will tell you, but I will also hit you over the head in every single chapter to buy one of my other books." Evidently, he never read SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS. Specifically, the chapter titled Once is Usually Enough.

Going on a vacation to do nothing but write doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get a lot accomplished.

Telling people I am an author when I've never even tried to get something published is both fun and embarassing.

How I did:

Pretty good. But not spectacularly. I followed my husband to a conference at the Swan Resort in Orlando. He was there to speak, I was there to write. But the days are at least 8 hours shorter on vacation than they are in real life, and somehow the time just evaporated. I got about 3 chapters edited. One totally needed to be rewritten and the other two needed tweaking. On a happy note, when I was on the airplane, I pulled up the next chapter, and just sighed with delight. It's a beautiful thing when my own writing gives me happy chills. I wish it happened more often.

How I'll Do This Week:

I have SO much to do before November. I've got to get started on worldbuilding and characterization for Nanowrimo and yet I don't want to give up editing Earth's Gate. I feel like the book is starting to feel polished, and I think getting out of the groove would be a very bad thing.

Worked on getting Bellian prepared for NaNo. Just about finished.

My Alpha Reader (brother) came through and I got three pages of notes of good feedback for Panix.

Converted about fifty pages of Motes & Meddles to 3rd POV.

Next week?

So I got on a roll with the editing this weekend, and finished revising all the chapters I'd already written (to incorporate a subplot I had decided I needed to finish up The Good Samaritan).

Then I wrote another 13,000 words and actually finished it! Eek!

quote:

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so I can properly bask in the glory of having finished something.

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Many congratulations.