July update

O.k. practising the art of honesty here, this month could have gone better, a lot better. In my defence I was away on holiday for a good portion of the month and to be honest it took longer to get back into this writing malarkey then I first thought. As the month has gone on I have got better, after my blog post my writing didn't really register till the 22nd, my best writing day was the 30th when I clocked up just over 1,700 words, so when I do get into writing I can get the numbers up. Anyway here is how my goals stacked up.

1. Write my first novel
I probably did the most work on this goal, I found my original notes in my old notebook and there was actually more there than I remembered so that was a plus. I've got a rough outline and a good idea of direction, I now know my main characters name and some features, I am hoping to finish all the initial planning by the 15th August so I can make a start on writing the actual novel, but I am reasonably happy with my progress.

2. Write 2 new short stories a month
This is one of the main places I fell down, I didn't write any short stories, however my main goal for this was 12 new short stories by the end of 2013 so with a bit of luck and time I can till do that by writing 3 stories in other months, so I’m not to disappointed not happy but it could be worse. Though this does mean more work for two months later in the year.

3. Write and sell a readers letter
This is the goal where I have to submit something, so I have come against a brick wall with lack of confidence to send the damn letter off, but I have written a letter and it is ready to be sent, I just have to find it in myself to click the send button.

4. Start and complete the writers' bureau comprehensive writing, poetry and competitions courses.
I don't study well in the weather so I did something really important last week I brought a fan for my room; I'm hoping that will help with the output. What I did do was re-read over modules 1 and 2 for the comprehensive to remind myself of that info and I read module 1 of the poetry course. Not a massive amount but a small nudge in the right direction. I also found my old rough notes for comprehensive assignment one and there was quite a lot there! I've pretty much written it, it just need putting in the right order, editing and typing up on my computer so I am hoping to get my first assignment off on 11th August for comprehensive.

5. Open degree with Open University with creative writing and design
For this I finished a rough timetable and read the study guide, trying to remind me of all the work I've got to do which in retrospect was a bad idea as I’m not worried about the workload. Oh well on wards and upwards, I did study the first few weeks before the accident so I will quickly work through the first few weeks and then go to 1 chapter a week.

6. Read 5 writers’ books
I re-read the positively productive by Simon Whaley which I really wanted to do though it sparked me off on writing up these long term goals into short and medium which took up some writing time but which will certainly help in the long run, I recommend this book to all writers, it is a fabulous kick up the arse, I finished it on the 31st and have wrote both on the 1st and second this month. I also made a start on the night time novelist which has been extremely useful in my novel planning so far.

7. Read 20 new books and 26 total books by the end of 2013.
This is another place I fell down, I did read a lot when I was away but it was all magazines! Though that did include 2 writing magazines, 3 design magazines and a travel magazine, so I’m not going to beat myself up to much but try harder next month.

8. Writing courses
I'm sorting this out this coming week. (I could have done something this month but didn't... cough)

9. Join a writers group and attend once a month
I'm a shy person so I have been finding it hard to call up about this, I have found a writing group and found where they hold meetings, which is thankfully only a 20 minute walk from me and I know when the next meeting is, I AM going to call up on Monday and see if I can come along. (I also found a local poetry group which meet each Tuesday which I may look into.

10. Keep up with blog posts
It should be quite obvious looking at this blog I scr**ed up royally on this one, again I was away and I didn't have internet access during that time, I did however write up a list of blog ideas which I'm looking forward to writing up. So hopefully I will do a lot better on this one next month. (It's not like I can do any worse.)

Best writing day – 30th July: I wrote just over 1,700 words, read freelance market news and finished up my long, medium and short term goals list.

Worst writing day: Well I didn’t write anything between 2nd-22nd of July (Away for most of this time) however I did do reading on some days and research on others. My worst days were 11th and 19th July. On the 11th I was travelling and instead of reading like planned, I catched up on ZZZZ’s during that time and I came back on the 19th and had work as well so I was shattered.

The Good: Finished a letter and Novel planning.
The Bad: No new short stories, studied very little.
New words written: 5000
Submissions: 0
Competitions entered: 0
Books read: 1
Magazines read: 5
Old words gone over: Novel planning and rough work for comprehensive assignment one, looking through it all roughly4000-5000 words
Income: 0
Expenses: £47.21 (Combination of magazines and stationary)
 

Writing restart

After such a long break from writing, it's time to get back to it. Due to the break I think it would be best to give myself a little direction, some goals to work towards so I know where I am going. For the last half of 2013 I have 10 writing goals I would like to achieve. Can I? Only time will tell, but I will give it my best shot. I will update on the first of each month (or as close as possible with how I have got on. I think I have chosen a good time, it's not only halfway through the year but it is my birthday today, so it's like my own personal New Years. Apologies to those who don't enjoy these type of posts, please do skip and I will update once a week with writing articles.

1. Write my first novel

I have the initial idea outlined (very roughly) and some of the main characters but there is still tons to do! The story arc, character profiles, character names (only of the main character so far), pov, style, timeline etc. not to mention actually writing the book might help. I am going to aim for a rough draft of 100,000 words by the end of December. I'm thinking I will have my first go at national novel writing month in November to write the main bulk of the novel which leaves 5 months to write the other 50,000. If I use July for planning that's 12,500 a month. (Help!)

2. Write 2 new short stories a month

So I can get some writing practice in, work on different ideas and characters. Not so sure about submitting anything just yet, but maybe towards the end of the year.

3. Write and sell a reader's letter

This is my first stepping stone on the way to publication, hopefully it will be a fun and fruitful journey, though I am expecting a lot of headaches, rejections and bumps along the way.

4. Start and complete the writers Bureau comprehensive course:

Unbelievably I still have not even got the first assignment off for this course, I think this has been down to bad luck, procrastination (I am currently doing a anti- procrastination course, I've done the first 3 weeks and I finish the last week this weekend), and a large amount of fear as no one other than me has really read my work before, they may tell me I am no good and to never write again!!!!!!!!!!!! OK so over dramatizing but that's how I feel, so I really need to get up the courage to send this off.

The Bureau's poetry course:

It's the same story here, I need to grab the bull by the horns and just get up the courage to click the send button!

The writer's bureau writing competitions - the way to win

A friend got me this for Christmas this year (knew I shouldn't have told anyone I write) its the smallest of the three courses I have got so it would be good if I could finish this one this year and it may finally give me the courage to submit to a competition, and stop me making any stupid beginner mistakes.

5. Open degree with open university in creative writing and design

Due to the car accident I had to pull out of my two courses for this year so I am going back to the big red book for next year, and will hopefully complete it this time round, as I already have the book from last year, I plan to make a start with it this month and get ahead for once in my life.

6. Read 5 writers books by the end of 2013

I would like to read 4 new writing books this year, these are the nighttime novelist, book in a month, two teach yourself books: get started in creative writing and write short stories and get them published. And chicken soup for the soul inspiration for writers. I would also like to re-read Simon Whaley's The positively productive writer.

7. Read 20 new books by the end of the year and 26 books in total.

I have been neglecting my reading lately, especially of new books and authors and I cannot be a good writer if I am not a good reader (or so others say, and you know it kinda makes sense!) so for the end of this year in between the hard slog of the work above, I want to relax with a good book. (26 books mean one a week till the end of the year.)

8. Writing courses:

I would like to be able to go to Simon Whaley's two courses in September and October this year. September is on the 28th and 29th called writing for the magazine market and October is on the 26th and 27th called Destination: travel writer. I still need to book places on both courses, find accommodation and find out if there is public transport going to near the venue as I don't feel like a 4 hour walk from Shrewsbury station (times like this I really wish I could drive a car!) but I really would like to go as I am interested in article writing and feel it best to learn from someone I have heard of and go further afield.

9. Join a writers group and attend once a month

I really want to start taking my writing seriously and it occurred to me I don't know any writers personally (I follow a few blogs) so I would like to join a writers group and go each month till the end of the year.

10.  Keep up with blog posts

I would like to keep up with my blog for the end of 2013, I plan to update at the start of each month my progress on these goals, then I have some ideas for article series on writing the first series will be called back to basics and will focus on the beginnings of writing. Other tile's are: Leveling up; competition success; 101; 1,000 - 100,000; Passions and dreams; 10,000 hours; resilience/rejection. All that should keep me going.

That should certainly be enough to keep me going! I'll update on my progress on the 1st August.

Getting back to it

Yes it has been a pitifully long time since I last posted on this blog, I know, but there is a genuine reason for once. You see at the end of last year, I was hit by a car coming home from work, the car went into my legs, my face then went into the car and then the road. Thankfully I am fine, though I lost my two front teeth, I have had fakes put in, which look real enough though I cannot actually eat on them. I got a large gash across my head from hitting the pavement and various cuts and bruises along my leg and arm. On the upside I got a ride in an ambulance, and a stay in hospital, with lots of short story ideas. On the whole though I would not advise this! It's extremely painful.
I had to postpone my two open university courses for next year, which was a bit of a pain, but I'm alive so I am not complaining to much. Now I am back on my feet it's time to get back on the horse so to speak and get down to some serious writing, I have lots of lost time to make up and I've had lots and lots of downtime to think up ideas for shorts stories, poems, articles and novels. I also have some ideas for this here blog of mine, I plan to post my writing goals in the next week for the end of 2013 and update on my progress at the start of each month. Hopefully this will make me feel accountable, and get my pen moving in the write direction. I have also had some ideas for writing articles series, which I will post more about at the start of next month, which I am hoping you will all enjoy, I plan for the first series to be called "Back to basics", so watch out for that.

Is everyone else still carrying on with their writing? I would love to hear how you are all getting on!

Take care, and look both ways when crossing the street.

Happy writing.