JanNoWriMo 2017 - A Fresh Start

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mrsmig

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Here we are at the start of not just a new month, but a new year! For those who've participated in these monthly NaNo threads in the past, welcome back! To members who may have just discovered this thread, here is a place to state your goals (writing and otherwise) for the month, track your progress and get/give encouragement. I'll get us started.

January 2017 is going to be unsettled for me - I'm relocating temporarily to NYC for work, and most of the month will be spent trying to find some order in what's bound to be a disorderly time. I'm headed up to Manhattan tomorrow to look at a sublet which sounds ideal. If it is, I won't be under quite as much pressure and can get other things done before my move.

Mid-December my editor sent me her first pass on Book #2 in my series to look over, so along with securing a place to live in NYC, that's my primary goal. Additional goals will get tackled as time allows.

1. Find a place to live in NYC
2. Finish going over editor's 1st pass on Book #2 in fantasy series - currently on Chapter 11
3. Do final draft of Book #3 in series, incorporating beta input from December - currently on Chapter 1
4. Begin editing/revising rough draft of Book #4 - currently on Chapter 1
5. Read three books
6. Walk at least three miles a week
7. Take at least one good long nature walk before heading to NYC
8. Decide on my goals/books for the AW 2017 Reading Challenge
9. Work on my short story for the AW Sekrit Solstice Swap

Whew - I think that's enough. What are your goals for the first month of 2017?
 
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Tamlyn

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I am going to do better this year. I am determined to do better on the writing front, even if I do nothing else better. On the bright side, I've gotten a good start by finishing edits on a chapter yesterday. I've also made progress on the game.

I'm partway into A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty, and given how much I'm enjoying it, it's annoying that I'm still not picking it up when I could. I'm a bad reader these days :(

1. Write Solstice Swap story.
2. Edit two other stories. 0/2
3. Edit five chapters of Book 2. 1/5
4. Game creation.
5. Read five books.
0/5
6. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day.
 

EMaree

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GOAAALLLSS.

Writing:
1. Write 20,000 words.
Reading:
2. Finish a beta read for a friend.
3. Read at least three NetGalley review books.
Health:
4. Get weight back on a downward trend.
5. Use the turbo trainer more.
6. Keep on spinning.
Gaming:
7. Finish Abzu
8. Play The Last Guardian
 

Evabeth

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May 2017 be our best year so far.

1. Organize novel
2. Start first draft edits
3. Tai Chi
 

chompers

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I'm still out of town, but once I get home my goal is 2k a day. I'd like to also make up for the days I will be missing until I get home.
 

eternalised

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Last year, I started out well on my goals... And then completely failed them in March, and just about every month since then. I'm determined to do better this year! I'll start by keeping track of my monthly goals, and then divide them into shorter weekly goals.

January Goals:
  • Write a short story a week. (1/4)
  • Send out my monthly newsletter first Monday of the month.
  • Finish first draft of this month's WIP, called JanuaryWIP by lack of better title.
  • Write two blog posts on my blog per week. (8/8)
  • Rewrite / Edit Allegro Academy #1.
  • Write at least 5 episodes of my serial Blood So Pure. (0/5)
  • Write and edit Ally The Alien.
  • Make a cover for Sally Sleuth.
  • Go through editor's notes for Sally Sleuth.
  • Make Sally Sleuth available for pre-order.
  • Set up cover reveal and book tour for Sally Sleuth.


Goals for this week:

  • Write 2 posts on my writing blog (2/2).
  • Schedule 4 posts for the future. (4/4)
  • Make a cover for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice.
  • Post Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice on Goodreads.
  • Post Piggy Bank Plunder (Snoebels, Cat Detective #1) on Goodreads.
  • Go through edits for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice.
  • Finish first draft for Ally The Alien.
  • Write one short story for #AShortStoryAWeek.
  • Edit three chapters in Allegro Academy #1.
  • Send out my monthly newsletter.
  • Write 10k in #JanuaryWIP. Update: 13k words.
  • Make a page for the Sally Sleuth series on my website.
  • Make a page for the Snoebels, Cat Detective series on my website.
  • Format Sally Sleuth.
  • Make Sally Sleuth available for pre-order.
  • Set up a cover reveal for Sally Sleuth.
 
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CoffeeBeans

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Woo hoo, happy 2017 folks!

Since it's January, I'm making both year and month goals.

Year goals:
  • Finish current WIP
  • Edit Hexes draft
  • Edit Tripwires draft
  • Query something

Not the most outrageous goals, I know...

Month goals:
  • Write 10K to WIP? (finish maybe?)
  • Survive build season at mentoring
  • Finish my last Christmas gift
  • Make soap of some sort (with both color and fragrance)
  • Complete revised budget to compensate for car repairs

Let's have a great year folks!
 

bdwilson

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I keep forgetting to post goals. After my track record of forgetting what they were about a week into the month, I think I need to pick a small list this time around.

January Goals:
  • Finish manual I'm editing
  • Get novella edited
  • Finish short story I was waffling on last month

2017/Constant Goals:
  • Get enough sleep
  • Write 1K words a day: 0/52 (counting weeks so I can update increase the count more often :tongue)

There, that should be enough to start the year :)
 

mrsmig

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A productive first week of January for me. Met my primary goals (secured housing in NYC and finished 1st editor pass on Book #2), so that's a big load off my mind. Read a book during my NYC trip (The North Water by Ian McGuire; extremely gritty but a good read nonetheless) and walked two miles out of my weekly goal of three - accomplished on the streets of the Big Apple, heading to and from my new digs. I was going to walk the additional mile today but it's snowing outside. Posted my list of reading goals for the AW 2017 Challenge, and saved all the titles to my Amazon wish list for easy reference/purchasing.

At my request, my editor is going to try to get the final editing round to me before I head up to NYC to start my new gig, so I've added that goal (along with a couple more) to the bottom this list. Funny how I always seem to get more done when I'm busy than when I have plenty of time.

1. Find a place to live in NYC - DONE
2. Finish going over editor's 1st pass on Book #2 in fantasy series - DONE
3. Do final draft of Book #3 in series, incorporating beta input from December - currently on Chapter 1
4. Begin editing/revising rough draft of Book #4 - currently on Chapter 1
5. Read three books - 1 of 3
6. Walk at least three miles a week - Week #1: 2 out of 3
7. Take at least one good long nature walk before heading to NYC
8. Decide on my goals/books for the AW 2017 Reading Challenge - DONE
9. Work on my short story for the AW Sekrit Solstice Swap
10. Finish editor's 2nd/final pass on Book #2 in fantasy series
11. Take down Christmas decorations
12. Pack for NYC move
 
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eternalised

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An update for this week. Last week's goals:


  • Write 2 posts on my writing blog (2/2).
  • Schedule 4 posts for the future. (4/4)
  • Make a cover for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice.
  • Post Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice on Goodreads.
  • Post Piggy Bank Plunder (Snoebels, Cat Detective #1) on Goodreads.
  • Go through edits for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice.
  • Finish first draft for Ally The Alien.
  • Write one short story for #AShortStoryAWeek.
  • Edit three chapters in Allegro Academy #1.
  • Send out my monthly newsletter.
  • Write 10k in #JanuaryWIP. Update: 13k words.
  • Make a page for the Sally Sleuth series on my website.
  • Make a page for the Snoebels, Cat Detective series on my website.
  • Format Sally Sleuth.
  • Make Sally Sleuth available for pre-order.
  • Set up a cover reveal for Sally Sleuth.

I finished all goals besides drafting Ally The Alien and editing three chapters for Allegro Academy #1 so not too bad.

Here are my goals for this week:


  • Write one short story for #AShortStoryAWeek.
  • Edit short story I finished writing last week.
  • Write 13k words in #JanuaryWIP, until I end up with 30k words total.
  • Make a cover for Blood So Pure, my upcoming serial.
  • Work on the cover reveal for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice for on January 12.
  • Prepare ARC copies of Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice.
  • Set up a book tour for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice.
  • Set up a release blitz for Sally Sleuth and The Missing Mice on January 30.
  • Edit three chapters in Allegro Academy #1.
  • Make small banners for my chapter book series and the Angel of Death Series for on homepage.
 
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bdwilson

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Weekly update!

January Goals:
  • Finish manual I'm editing
    Made significant progress. Not done, but getting there.
  • Get novella edited
    Nothing.
  • Finish short story I was waffling on last month
    Used the setting, characters, and plot in some writing exercises. Those took some different angles on it. No progress otherwise.

2017/Constant Goals:
  • Get enough sleep
    Ha, ha, ha, nope.
  • Write 1K words a day: 1/52
 

Tamlyn

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I have been doing game, game, and more game, and I've been ignoring real writing/editing stuff in favour it, which is... not so good. Better than doing nothing?

I did put aside a day to do NOT GAME stuff, and I managed to finish another chapter and get a good way into a third. I've also made some progress on my SS story.

I finished A Corner of White and have picked up the rest of the trilogy from my library. I also read the latest in the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, and the bonus novella at the end, which I am totally counting as an extra book.

Looking at it like that, it's not so bad. I know how many days I've gone "Nope, not editing, game stuff!" though.

1. Write Solstice Swap story. Progressing.
2. Edit two other stories. 0/2
3. Edit five chapters of Book 2. 2/5
4. Game creation. All the game ever.
5. Read five books. 3/5
6. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day.
On track.
 

mrsmig

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The weather in my area was erratic this week, but I was able to take advantage of a surprisingly warm morning and kill two birds with one stone; i.e. accomplish both my 3-mile weekly walking goal and my nature walk goal in a single trek. I tried to breathe deep and focus on all the good smells (pine needles in particular) as good smells will be few and far between in midtown Manhattan. Also finished a book (Nigel McCrery's Silent Witnesses), which is one of the books on my AW Reading Challenge List. I was a bit disappointed in it - it's a more superficial history of forensics in crime-solving than I expected. And I packed away all the Christmas decorations, so not a bad week for getting things done.

I have a whole separate "to do" list for my upcoming NYC move. This past week was all about appointments. I saw my doctor just to make sure my prescriptions are up to date, took care of some routine medical exams and got a tetanus booster (ouch); also visited my salon to enjoy my "big" Christmas gift from my husband: a day of beauty (facial, mani/pedi, cut & color). I haven't started packing yet - that'll probably begin tomorrow. My sublet is so small that I'll have to make every effort not to overpack.

No writing, though. I've done some critting here at AW and participated in a few writing hashtag games on Twitter, but that's about all. Still waiting for my editor to get back to me with her final pass on Book #2, but that may not happen before I leave on Friday.


1. Find a place to live in NYC - DONE
2. Finish going over editor's 1st pass on Book #2 in fantasy series - DONE
3. Do final draft of Book #3 in series, incorporating beta input from December - currently on Chapter 1
4. Begin editing/revising rough draft of Book #4 - currently on Chapter 1
5. Read three books - 2 of 3
6. Walk at least three miles a week - Week #1: 2/3; Week #2: 3/3
7. Take at least one good long nature walk before heading to NYC - DONE
8. Decide on my goals/books for the AW 2017 Reading Challenge - DONE
9. Work on my short story for the AW Sekrit Solstice Swap
10. Finish editor's 2nd/final pass on Book #2 in fantasy series
11. Take down Christmas decorations - DONE
12. Pack for NYC move
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
Is it too late to make some January goals?

1. Finish reading 20 books (Ambitious, but I have 11 done already)
2. Start and finish beta read
3. Start post-beta editing of my Jack Frost novel (probably will wait for one more beta to get back to me first)
4. Five days a week at the gym
 

mrsmig

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Is it too late to make some January goals?

1. Finish reading 20 books (Ambitious, but I have 11 done already)
2. Start and finish beta read
3. Start post-beta editing of my Jack Frost novel (probably will wait for one more beta to get back to me first)
4. Five days a week at the gym

Never too late for goals!

(And that's a helluva lot of books.)
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
1. Finish reading 20 books - 12 down
2. Start and finish beta read - started
3. Start post-beta editing of my Jack Frost novel (will wait for at least one more beta to get back to me first)
4. Five days a week at the gym - Last week was good. This week starts off poorly
 

chompers

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I'm back home. But I needed a vacation from my vacation, so I haven't done much writing since I got back. Did some reading though, so that has helped me get back into the writing mindset.
 

CoffeeBeans

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Month goals:
  • Write 10K to WIP? (finish maybe?) hahahaha no.
  • Survive build season at mentoring Week 1 completed without any tears or breakdowns!
  • Finish my last Christmas gift Done!
  • Make soap of some sort (with both color and fragrance) Done!
  • Complete revised budget to compensate for car repairs I forgot about this one. What a good idea. I should do that!
  • ADD one beta read (it's only like 80 pages) half done

We're halfway through this month, and I haven't done a whole lot.
 

bdwilson

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January Goals:
  • Finish manual I'm editing
    Finshed the first pass. Have at least one more before I'm confortable sending it back.
  • Get novella edited
    Nothing. Again.
  • Finish short story I was waffling on last month
    Still stalled. Once again I am attracted to new shinies and letting the old ones languish.

2017/Constant Goals:
  • Get enough sleep
    Actually made progress this week! Okay, it's only, like, two days worth, but still.
  • Write 1K words a day: 2/52
 

mrsmig

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Spent yesterday traveling to and getting settled in my NYC place. Too wired up to sleep last night, and wasn't sleeping well before I left home, so I'm beat. I have a noon appointment for a wig fitting at noon but then nothing else until our first rehearsal Monday, so I may actually take a Zzzquil before I go to bed tonight (or just drink a lot of wine). My husband will head home tomorrow so I'm sure some homesick tears are in the offing.

I didn't get any walks in before I left, although I might meet my walking goal today. I might not, though, as the hubs isn't big on walking (he'd rather pop for a cab). So I'm gonna call that goal unmet for the week but give myself the option of amending it if I can convince him to take a stroll or two. It'll be easy to meet my 3-mile goal when we start rehearsal, as our rehearsal studio is almost exactly a mile from my apartment and I'll be making that trek twice a day, six times a week.

I've gotten a fair amount of reading done (halfway through two different books) but no writing.

1. Find a place to live in NYC - DONE
2. Finish going over editor's 1st pass on Book #2 in fantasy series - DONE
3. Do final draft of Book #3 in series, incorporating beta input from December - currently on Chapter 1
4. Begin editing/revising rough draft of Book #4 - currently on Chapter 1
5. Read three books - 2 of 3
6. Walk at least three miles a week - Week #1: 2/3; Week #2: 3/3; Week #3: 5/3
7. Take at least one good long nature walk before heading to NYC - DONE
8. Decide on my goals/books for the AW 2017 Reading Challenge - DONE
9. Work on my short story for the AW Sekrit Solstice Swap
10. Finish editor's 2nd/final pass on Book #2 in fantasy series
11. Take down Christmas decorations - DONE
12. Pack for NYC move - DONE

ETA: My husband surprised me by suggesting we walk to my fitting and then walk back uptown to see where my rehearsal space is. Goal met but I'm beat.
 
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Sage

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Cheering you all on!
1. Finish reading 20 books - 16 down
2. Start and finish beta read - 75% through
3. Start post-beta editing of my Jack Frost novel (waiting for betas)
4. Five days a week at the gym (changing to 5 work outs a week, in case I do multiple ones in one day) - not likely :(
 

bdwilson

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I realized today that I'd made about three different goal lists for this month. Next month I should probably just do one :tongue

January Goals:
  • Finish manual I'm editing
    Still working on second pass.
  • Get novella edited
    Nothing. Again.
  • Finish short story I was waffling on last month
    Still stalled.

2017/Constant Goals:
  • Get enough sleep
    Getting there, sort of. I'm doing okay on the waking up side, not so much on the going to bed side.
  • Write 1K words a day: 3/52
 

Tamlyn

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I have STILL been doing game, game, and more game. The world-building is winding down though so hopefully I'll focus on other stuff soon :p

Finished another chapter, and hope to get at least most the way through the fifth today. Hm, chapters said I was on 2/5, so either I forgot to update or I finished one before I finished the last! Really need to do some short story stuff. Maybe this weekend? I've been at the same spot in my SS story for a while, which is silly because I know exactly where it's going next. I'm just... not writing it.

Read The Cracks in the Kingdom and am now on the third in the trilogy and am loving them.

1. Write Solstice Swap story. Progressing.
2. Edit two other stories. 0/2
3. Edit five chapters of Book 2. 4/5
4. Game creation. All the game ever.
5. Read five books. 4/5
6. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day.
On track.
 

RaiscaraAvalon

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o0o0o I want to play too! I've been working on my goals all month, but didn't know about this thread.

Monthly Goals
• Write 6,000 Words In The Emperor’s Bride
• Write 4 Blog Posts
• Pay Off Phone Bill
• Save 10% Of Income
• Use 60 Connects On Upwork
• Declutter The House
• Use 10 Bids On Guru
• Spend 155 Minutes On Russian Language
• Write 4 Book Reviews
• Write 31 Poems
• Quit Smoking
I'm slowly making my way through, though things aren't happening as fast as I would like.
 
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