Category: Goals - Mell Eight's Writing Blog

June Goals

6/7/2016

As I've said a few times, I'm in the process of moving. It's stressful and time consuming and I haven't had much in the way of free time. I'm starting the new job next Monday, so I have no idea when or if things will calm down. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more writing done, but like the last few months I can't make any promises.

Be Prepared. I need to be ready for any edits and whatnot that come my way. I'm expecting the copy edits for Magnified, the second round of edits for The Case of the Wandering Wolves, and the first rounds of edits for some of the other stories I have coming out soon. Elemental Ride and Ge-Mi: Part One are the next two on my list, but I don't know what LT3's timing looks like. We'll see what I'm sent this month.
Writing. I want to keep writing. I made some good progress last month that I hope to continue with as soon as things settle down after the move. I sincerely hope this is my last month of vague hopes that I'll be able to find the time to write.

May goals: Results

6/6/2016

I'm running late on my goals this month. Very late. In my defense I'm in the process of moving and that's taking up a lot of my time. Here's how I did in May:

Be Prepared. I returned the copy edits for Dragon Dilemma and Dragon Detective to LT3. I also returned the first round of edits for the Case of the Wandering Wolves. I haven't received any additional edits.
Writing. Unlike the last few months, I was able to get some writing done. The Case of the Hopping Hare, the second book in my Trickster's Eye series, is starting to take shape. I've also been working on two possible (currently untitled) knight stories for LT3's Heart of Steal call, neither of which may actually be submitted for it, but it's fun to work on them. I've also gotten some planning accomplished for Dragon Spy.

May Goals

5/1/2016

Right now I don't have any plans for May. My training still takes precedence, but it comes to an end in four short weeks. It's possible I might have more energy in the evenings as the lessons get more focused and less free-time consuming. If that does happen I may be able to get some writing done. I've tailored my goals to reflect that, but--like last month--I don't expect much.

Be Prepared. I might receive any number of fun things from LT3 about my many different stories this month. I received the first round of edits for The Case of the Wandering Wolves this morning. My goal is to tackle those edits and anything else that appears in May.
Writing. As I said above, this is more of a wish than a goal. Maybe this month will let me write, but I can't say so with any certainty.

April Goals: Results

5/1/2016

There really isn't anything to say about my goals this past month. I spoke with LT3 about a few covers. Got a release date for Magnified--September 7, 2016--and Dragon Dilemma went up for pre-order. I wasn't able to accomplish anything in terms of writing. My training is still going well, though. Here's how I did overall:

Be Prepared. I returned the second round of edits for Dragon Detective on time, but didn't get anything else from LT3 to work on.
Writing. I included this goal because I was hopeful, but I had zero time for writing this month and therefore don't have anything exciting to list here.

April Goals

4/2/2016

I'm not entirely certain what to put down in my goals for this month. I'm far busier than I originally expected, so there is zero time for writing. My number one goal also has to stay firmly focused on passing my training course, which means anything that I put on this list is more of a hope than an actual goal. Here's my hopes for April:

Be Prepared. LT3 has a lot of my stories in various stages of the editing process. I need to be prepared to handle whatever comes at me.
Writing. I'm including this goal because I'm feeling hopeful. There is a slim chance my current workload might even out and I'll have at least a few moments each night to write. That's my inner optimist talking, of course, and my pragmatist side wants me to state that it's far more likely that the workload will increase the closer I get to graduation and I'll get no writing done at all.

March Goals: Results

3/31/2016

I was right to worry that I wouldn't have any free time for writing this month because I didn't. I don't think I put one hundred words together for any of my stories. Free time has become a myth and I therefore have nothing interesting to say about my books. Here's how I did in my goals:

Edits. I returned the edits for Magnified to LT3. I have also received and almost completed the second round of edits for Dragon Detective. No other stories appeared in my inbox this month.
Writing. I said that writing even a few sentences would satisfy this goal, but I don't think I was even able to do that much. I'm far too busy at the moment and I don't think I'll put this into next months goals.

March Goals

3/1/2016

I got a new job and it starts this month. It's full time, which means my free time for writing is going to drop drastically. I can't yet say what I'll be able to work on or if I'll even have any time for writing. However, I do have obligations to my stories that I'm contracted for, like edits, so I'm going to focus my free time on those.

Edits. I am already working on the second round of edits for Magnified and hope to have them back to LT3 soon. I am expecting copy edits for Dragon Dilemma, as well as the second round of edits for Dragon Detective, so should those arrive this month I hope to return them to LT3 quickly. Any other edits I receive will also take top priority.
Writing. Writing is something I've been doing for so long that I know I won't be able to stop now just because I have a new job. The question is whether I will actually have any time to write. My focus must be on my new job for now and all my free time must therefore go towards succeeding there first and on writing second. Absolutely anything I can get written in my stories, even if it's only a few sentences here and there, will satisfy this goal.

February Goals: Results

2/29/2016

I didn't do too badly in February. I got a little off track with writing some new stuff, but overall I think I got a lot done. Here's how I did:

Editing. The first round of edits for Dragon Detective was returned to LT3. I received the second round of edits for Magnified too late in the month to finish by today, but I will have them done soon.
Supernatural Consultant. Dragon Soldier is complete and I've submitted it to LT3. Dragon Adventure and Dragon Home have both been submitted to LT3 as well. I hope to hear whether they like them soon. I've also poked at Dragon Spy at bit and it's coming along nicely. Alloy's first book also has a large chunk of planning completed, but I won't start writing it until Lumie's story is complete, which might require multiple books.
Justified. I have completely edited and formatted Justified and I'm really happy with it. I'm in a bit of a conundrum about whether to submit it and could use some advice.
Writing. I did a lot of writing this month, although not exactly in the stories I had hoped to focus on. My Coliseum story is starting to come along and I've resurrected an old story about an incubus called Ink. Both are very interesting to write, and I didn't mind working on them, but I would have preferred to focus on my works in progress instead of starting something new. Still, I can't complain about writing no matter what the story.

February Goals

2/1/2016

February has to be the month of completing things. There are so many stories on my to-do list that have been sitting there unfinished for years. This is the time to get them all completed.

Edits. At this moment I only have the last bit of editing for the first round of Dragon Detective to go. I should have it done quickly, but given what happened last month I have a feeling I'm going to get hit with more edits soon. I'll need to get all of them done this month.
Supernatural Consultant. I only have approximately 8k words left to write in Dragon Soldier. Basically I have to put together the final battle and the aftermath. I can definitely finish it this month. I would also like to get Dragon Adventure written, since it's supposed to be only 10k words.
Justified. This story needs a major round of editing. I would like to get that done this month so I can get it formatted and ready for submission.
Writing. Anything else I work on will fall into this category. I want to write, the more the better, and maybe I'll manage to finish one of the stories that still needs a lot of work.

January Goals: Results

1/31/2016

My goals in January were derailed slightly by all the editing I instead got completed. I would still call this month a success, just not with what I was expecting. Here's how I did:

Editing. The two items originally on this list were Elemental Ride and Magnified and I'm happy to say that I was able to complete them both. Elemental Ride has been submitted to LT3 and Magnified is back with the editor for round two. In addition to those stories I also got the copy edits for Dragon Deception and the first round of edits for Dragon Detective. The former I was able to send back to LT3 and the latter still needs a bit more work.
Submissions. I was also very successful with this. Elemental Ride was submitted yesterday evening and I was able to get my Hanukkah story, Ner Li, and Ge-Mi: Part One properly formatted and submitted. I hope to hear from LT3 soon. I was not able to get any work done with editing Justified.
Writing. Luckily I left this goal open ended because writing ended up not being a high priority this month. I got a lot done in my Coliseum story and some drips and drabs in Dragon Soldier and Dragon Spy, but nothing really came together writing-wise this month. I'm really hoping next month is much more productive as there are a number of stories I would like to complete.