Quarterly Goals for April-June 2016

Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wow. That’s depressing. The quarter is over and I’m reviewing the goals I set for myself in January. I’m not exactly pleased.

On Jan. 8th, I posted these goals.

1. Finish the rewrite of my WIP.
2. Make a plan for funding the editing/cover design for WIP.
3. Produce a solid draft of a short fiction piece I’m preparing for a compilation with a May deadline.
4. Put work in on a poem and a short fiction piece I'm preparing for submission later in the year.

Of these goals I’ve completed one and a half? Ish? Yikes.

#1) I am not yet finished with the rewrite of my WIP, but I’m almost there. I should be finished within the next week. I could make excuses (two illnesses and unexpected trips out of town) but the truth is that I just didn’t push hard enough to finish in the time frame.

#2) I have been working on a budget for the editing/cover costs for my WIP. I feel confident that the funds will be ready when my manuscript is ready.

#3) I don’t have a completed draft. I have a solid outline and a decent start on it, but it’s not ready for submission. Best case scenario: it’ll be ready. Worst case: I’ll finish it late and have another short piece for submission elsewhere. Not a waste either way.

#4) I decided to put the short fiction piece on the backburner and focus on the poem. I have been working on it and it will be ready for submission this summer.

So, before I spend any more time beating myself up over failures, I’ll set some new goals for the 2nd quarter.
 
My Second Quarter 2016 Goals:

1. Put the WIP through my own edits and make it ready for beta readers.
2. Outline a novella I have in the works.
3. Research the holy-living-crap out of self-publishing as I am looking into that route for my WIP.
4. Research editors and begin recruiting beta readers.

 
There it is, folks! Wish me lots of uninterrupted hours sitting at my desk.

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