Well, as you can tell from the spread of bunnies, I didn’t quite make it halfway through my month’s goals. Still, I did far better this month than I did in February.
I’m not going to berate myself for not getting more done–you can drive yourself crazy with what ifs and there’s no changing the past, so you’ve got to keep moving forward. (Yes, I decided halfway through that sentence to see how many cliches I could toss in.)
I did make some great progress in terms of critting other people’s novels, including finding another novel that’s quite a lot of fun to read–it reminds me a bit of Good Omens. Humorous, but with an undertone of seriousness.
I also managed to skip a chapter while critiquing a different novel, which has probably led the poor writer to some confusion as I go back to crit the previous chapter(s) (multiple now with revisions). Hopefully my comments won’t be too difficult to sort out… I’m enjoying the story, and felt terrible for making such a mistake!
In other words, I’ve been procrastinating from editing Upgrade by critting other peoples’ novels. At least I’m getting something done, right?
For April, I have a lot of things planned: Camp NaNoWriMo, editing Upgrade, working on the Demons trilogy. I’m also going to be in Ireland for a good portion of the month, so will have the added distractions of family and fun and general emerald isle gorgeousness. But I also think it will be a great source of inspiration for my muse.
Expect an April Month Map tomorrow… I haven’t assembled it yet as I’ve been enjoying my last week in Brooklyn, including going to the Botanical Gardens yesterday–it was so beautiful! I wish I’d had a camera to take pictures of the cherry trees, the magnolias, the koi… I love springtime, and it’s already passing by fast–a couple of months and summer will be here, with heat and bugs…and beach!
And, of course, more writing!
I can understand, critting others’ novels takes a lot of time and patience, so you don’t beat yourself up for not making progress in other areas. I’m currently taking a lengthy break from my novel so I can return favors for the critiques I got on it. Using something like Scribophile is a huge investment of time, but you get thorough feedback in return, so keep your chin up.
My chin’s up, no worries! I love Scrib and my stories have become so much better since I started using the site. I’d never complain about the time I spent critting–it’s still being productive, even if it’s not what I originally planned to focus on.
One way of meeting your daily To-do list: don’t make it too long.
About writing: write every day.
Yip, every day.
Go to the park, run, be outside. Live. Get material for your blog and novel(s), but write every day.
Well, most days, at least.
For March I was focused on editing Upgrade, but didn’t get enough crits on it until late in the month. This month, I’ll be bouncing between writing and editing… You’re right about not putting too much on the To Do List–I tend to bite off more than I can chew, something I’m working on.
I think goal setting tends to increase overall productively irrespective of whether you meet the goals, so yeah, focus on what you did manage to achieve 🙂
Enjoy Ireland – look forward to some pics.
You’re right about that–I definitely got a lot more done this month than I would have without goals in place!
Thanks! I shall take lots of pictures–my sister has my camera which I shall be reclaiming when I get over there.
*productivity
I was thinking that you did do a lot of critting this month! So it’s not like you didn’t accomplish something during the month. 🙂
I can’t wait to hear about your Ireland trip(wave to Elise when you fly over) and I hope to see pictures!
I bet the botanical gardens were beautiful. I’d love to go visit something like that but I don’t think there’s anything close to that around here. I am hoping to go to the zoo in the next month or two with the kids.
I made good progress with some things, just not what I was expecting to! Progress is progress, though. 🙂
I shall definitely wave… Will be in England a couple of days hopefully but mostly Ireland with my grandfather. Lots of pictures will be shared–we’ll see if any of my photography class lessons have stayed with me, lol.
Zoos are good, if the animals are rescues who can’t be released into the wild. We have an animal sanctuary at home that we often took our Girl Scout troops to. I hope the kids have a great time! Sorry you don’t have a botanical garden nearby, though… If you’re ever in NYC at a good time, head over to the Brooklyn one. It’s so, so beautiful and big.
Hello fellow Scriber! It’s awesome that you’re going to be in Ireland! Gather lots of inspiration and encouragement from your travels and be sure to post pictures of your trip when you get back. Know that I’m going to be stewing in jealousy the whole time!
I’ll be posting pictures while I’m over there, hopefully–staying for three weeks so will be blogging about many of my experiences most likely. 🙂