SeptNoWriMo 2018 - Oh, It's A Long, Long While

[mrsmig]

It's a long long while
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September

And the autumn weather
Turns the leaves to flame
And I haven't got time
For the waiting game

- September Song, Maxwell Anderson​

A new month is upon us, and it's time to set our goals for September. I'm expecting both some stress and some travel ahead, so I'm backing off on my goals a bit:

[ ] Publish first edition of my new author newsletter
[ ] Write two blogs
[ ] Read two books
[ ] Complete my August giveaway (notify winner, ship out prize)
[ ] Set up my September giveaway
[ ] Go back through my WIP, organize sections and decide which opener I want to go with
[ ] Write 10k fresh words on WIP

What about you? What are your plans for September?

 

[Jaymz Connelly]

Well, I got nothing done last month, but it's now officially SPRING! so let's see if I have more energy this month. The AU historical thing is looking like it'll be around 60K for the first draft which is nothing short of astounding for me. My usual long story length is somewhere between 20 - 30K. I really need to pull the finger out for the knitting too. I've got to get the sweater done before it gets too warm. When it's too warm, my hands get sweaty and the yarn sticks to them. The rest of the stuff, I won't fret if I don't get it done. I don't really need the candied ginger until the middle of October. And the other stuff, well, it'll get done eventually.

[ ] make candied ginger for marmalade
[ ] finish first draft of historical fantasy/au story (32,667 of 60,000)
[ ] get the garden ready for summer
[ ] read 1 book
[ ] paint front gate
[ ] spring cleaning (i.e. organize the boys to do the spring cleaning)
[ ] try to get more done on the sweater Christmas present

 

[arikdiver]

I really need to get some writing done, but renovations on our house are monopolising my time, so will copy across the same goals from august and hope I do better.

[ ] Complete edit of Act 1 novel
[ ] Two Blog Posts
[ ] Read 2 books
[ ] Start fixing up garden

I hope all gets sorted out with your publisher mrsmig.

You reminded me I need to start fixing up our garden this month, Jaymz, so I have added it to my list here so I don't forget.

Good luck with your Sept goals everyone.

 

[Tamlyn]

My goals are pretty much exactly the same as for August. Most of my game planning is map stuff so I won't be able to fall back on that for writing so often though. Otherwise the only change is edit one short instead of two.

Currently reading Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher, and it is a lot of fun.

1. Read five books.
2. Continue game planning.
3. Continue transcription.
4. Edit one short.
5. Continue Haven.
6. Edit Marietta.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week.

 

[EMaree]

Might have overdone it with the goals a bit this month, but hey, I want to give it all a shot!

[ ] Writing: Finish the DtS word doc merge.
[ ] WRITING: Finish the DtS (epic fantasy with m/m romance) edit
[3k/30] WRITING: Write 30k.
[1/4] WRITING: Blogging catch-up! June, July and August recap posts as well as a one-year-overdue Helsinki photo post.
[Wk2] WRITING: Get to week 5 of the Couchto80k writing course.
[ ] WRITING: Start the Witch of the Western Isles (urban fantasy with f/f romance) book rewrite


[0/6] READING: Read 6 books.


[ ] HEALTH: Lose over 5lbs.
[ ] HEALTH: Finish Couch to 5k and start doing regular 5k lunchtime runs with the Zombies, Run! app
[ ] HEALTH: Continue increasing strength work to build up core strength/squats/quads for roller derby.

LISTEN: Listen to The Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor, the Alice Isn’t Dead Podcast, the Bright Sessions.
[ ] LEARN: Finish the Mindshift course.
[0/5] ART: Create and share five illustrations.

 

[Saoirse]

August was horrible, with the exception of a new release and 2 poems. I'd like to do better this month.

[] 2nd round edits on secret project
[] Try again to nail down idea/plot for antho
[] One freelance article
[] Start dictating again

Annnd that's it.

 

[Kjbartolotta]

Yay SeptMoWriMo. Gettin' closer to the big event. Let's do this:

[ ] 20k again.

Easy, right? Except it's already the 2nd and I didn't do crap yesterday, today ain't looking good either so that'll be four days w/o writing a word. Booo.

Main goal for September, figure something nice out to get/do for GF's bday next month. It's the big 4-0, and she is totally calm, happy, and self-actualized about it (while I'm a fair few years younger and am already not dealing well with that inevitability). But I love her and wanna do something awesome, complicated by, well, money and all that. I already got her this Megalodon tooth a year or so ago, which was a major score and I don't know how to top it. Gotta think hard. Nice thing about loving a Bohemian artist-type, they care very little about stuff/things/expensiveness-of-said-things. But there's a higher bar than most when it comes to creativity & panache.

 

[Jaymz Connelly]

Good luck with coming up with a totally awesome pressie for your GF, Kev. I'm sure whatever you dream up, she'll love it.

Hope everyone is making progress, no matter how small, on their September goals!

First week of September down and all I've done is work on the story. I'm getting close to the end of the first draft though. I'm hoping to be done it by the middle of next week, then all the other stuff will get some attention. It helps tremendously that the weather is warming up. Daytime temps for the next week are all in the low to mid twenties! Woo hoo!

[ ] make candied ginger for marmalade
[ ] finish first draft of historical fantasy story (49,344 of 60,000)
[ ] get the garden ready for summer
[ ] read 1 book
[ ] paint front gate
[ ] spring cleaning (i.e. organize the boys to do the spring cleaning)
[ ] try to get more done on the sweater

 

[mrsmig]

End of a busy first week of September. Most of my time was spent prepping for a big family wedding (mostly fun) and dealing with book promo stuff (mostly not fun - I loathe doing giveaways). It looks like I won't have to travel down to Tennessee until later - my mom's doctor finally told her she'd be in rehab "at least" a month to recover from her pelvic fracture. Because she's so elderly and yet insists on living alone, they're reluctant to let her go home until they're certain she's fully recovered. So maybe, once the wedding stuff is over with, I can focus on my writing.

I'm thinking ahead to November and NaNoWriMo, but can't decide if I want to participate this year. Not feeling the fire yet.


[x] Publish first edition of my new author newsletter
[ ] Write two blogs
[ ] Read two books
[x] Complete my August giveaway (notify winner, ship out prize)
[x] Set up my September giveaway
[ ] Go back through my WIP, organize sections and decide which opener I want to go with
[ ] Write 10k fresh words on WIP

 

[Tamlyn]

That week crept up on me. Had a lovely bush walk today, which was fun but exhausting, and now I have to do some writing but I think my brain has already gone to bed. We're planning an overnighter in a couple of weeks , and today was as much about seeing how my arthritic feet handle it as anything.

Otherwise, I don't know I've done much this week. A little bit of writing (but more minimums on work days than anything), little bit of transcription, uh... Done a couple of chapters at least.

Have not finished Clockwork Boys even though I have had only one chapter left for a few days. This weekend has just been really busy.

1. Read five books. 0/5
2. Continue game planning. Maybe?
3. Continue transcription. Little.
4. Edit one short. Not yet.
5. Continue Haven. Little.
6. Edit Marietta. 2 chapters so far.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. Yes.

 

[Kjbartolotta]

Having such a bad time this month. Spent the whole year so far chomping at the bit to start my First Draft of Destiny, then, when I do, I remember how miserable the experience can be. Ergh, I've done this before, but I can't seem to remember how (Note to self: Just write, dummy). Oh well, good reason to do NaNoWriMo this year (though I've already committed to not winning). Jamyz is a wordcount beast as usual, but I think we're all relatively realistic and as focused as life will let us be this month. So high fives all around.

Hope yer mom is OK, MrsMig! Never easy, my momma's got a lotta years left but is on her own too, health issues she's faced have been hard because I don't always have the resources or time to help, as much as I'm willing to drop everything if I need to. It's been a godsend that's she's been all-but-legally-adopted by the neighbor family, since otherwise it'd just me worrying about her.

Thinking of sitting down tomorrow with some of the courses EMaree suggested. But for today, it's mid-afternoon and I can barely get to 500, and I see the Xbox looking at me coquettishly...

 

[bdwilson]

I pretty much checked out of updating threads for the last couple of weeks, but I'm coming back in for the new month. (And putting on a few of the things I've already done, just so I can cross them off )

[X] 3-Day Novel Contest
[ ] Brainstorm for NaNoWriMo project
[1/4] Reconcile YNAB every week
[X] Edit every day: Week 35 (September portion)
[X] Edit every day: Week 36
[ ] Edit every day: Week 37
[ ] Edit every day: Week 38
[ ] Edit every day: Week 39

I might try adding weekly goals during my check-ins, or I might just go with this. Haven't decided yet

 

[Saoirse]

Update:

[] 2nd round edits on secret project
[x] Try again to nail down idea/plot for antho 966/10k written
[] One freelance article
[] Start dictating again

 

[mrsmig]

I pretty much checked out of updating threads for the last couple of weeks, but I'm coming back in for the new month. (And putting on a few of the things I've already done, just so I can cross them off )

I do this all the time. Sometime you have to throw yourself a bone.

 

[bdwilson]

I do this all the time. Sometime you have to throw yourself a bone.

Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[Tamlyn]

Halfway through the month! And I've, ah... done not much again. Oops?

I'm still doing a bit of writing, but once I do my minimum at work, I then do some map asset stuff for my D&D game. Which is not productive, but is a very peaceful way to spend my lunch break. I finished editing another chapter, did a little more transcription, um, um...

I tried writing little blurbs or summaries for the first drafts I've got sitting around (so I could send them to my sisters and say which one sounds interesting so I should work on it next). The one I basically wrote off a blurb was easy! The others are horrible messes. It was something I did though.

Otherwise I finished reading Clockwork Boys and have started The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. A reread, but I need something both gentle and familiar at the moment.

Now hopefully I shall play some Tomb Raider. (I preordered, but I didn't want to play after work so was waiting till the weekend and now I've just been noodling around. I love the games, but I'm not looking forward to dying a lot in violent, painful ways )

1. Read five books. 1/5
2. Continue game planning. Maps bits?
3. Continue transcription. Little.
4. Edit one short. Not yet.
5. Continue Haven. Little.
6. Edit Marietta. 3 chapters so far.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. Yes.

 

[mrsmig]

Felt like I spent all week spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. Wedding stuff took up the whole weekend - it was all lovely, but I'm glad it's over. I've been pimping my September giveaway (details here - free ebook, y'all!) and dealing with publisher issues, which have sapped me of any desire to write. Started a blog post and then lost interest in it. I feel like I've been reading the same book for months now - a biography of Alexander Hamilton. It's interesting but man, it's dense. And while we were spared any real impact from Hurricane Florence, the weather has been wet and generally dreary.

So bleah. Got to get out of this rut. Maybe if I can get my WIP tidied up, I can see where to head with it.


[x] Publish first edition of my new author newsletter
[ ] Write two blogs
[ ] Read two books
[x] Complete my August giveaway (notify winner, ship out prize)
[x] Set up my September giveaway
[ ] Go back through my WIP, organize sections and decide which opener I want to go with
[ ] Write 10k fresh words on WIP

 

[Jaymz Connelly]

mrsmig - hope your mum is recovering well. I hope you can get past the issues that have temporarily squashed your desire to write. Glad to hear you didn't get more than rain from Florence too.

Kev - you can do it! Show those words who's boss!

bdwilson - I see nothing at all wrong with putting down stuff that you've already done this month just so you can cross it off. Those items count!

I've actually accomplished more than just writing this week.

[ ] make candied ginger for marmalade
[X] finish first draft of historical fantasy story (59,254 of 60,000) and ready for my CP
[ ] get the garden ready for summer - close to being done
[ ] read 1 book
[X] paint front gate (AND the front fence too)
[ ] spring cleaning (i.e. organize the boys to do the spring cleaning)
[ ] try to get more done on the sweater - actually getting some done on this!


As for the writing, well, the story is done, I think, but it's not like what I usually write. For starters, I don't think there's any humour in it at all(verdict will not be reached until my CP reads it - I never think I'm particularly funny). I'm giving myself about a week to get my head out of that world and then I'll try to go back to The Crystal Throne and see if I can't make some progress on that one.

 

[EMaree]

[X] Writing: Finish the DtS word doc merge.
[X] WRITING: Write 30k.
[3/4] WRITING: Blogging catch-up! June, July and August recap posts as well as a one-year-overdue Helsinki photo post.
[ ] WRITING: Finish the DtS (epic fantasy with m/m romance) edit
[ ] New! WRITING: Write 50k
[Wk4] WRITING: Get to week 5 of the Couchto80k writing course.
[ ] WRITING: Start the Witch of the Western Isles (urban fantasy with f/f romance) book rewrite

[1/6] READING: Read 6 books.

[X] HEALTH: Finish Couch to 5k and start doing regular 5k lunchtime runs with the Zombies, Run! app
[ ] New! HEALTH: Try a Parkrun!

[ ] HEALTH: Lose over 5lbs.
[ ] HEALTH: Continue increasing strength work to build up core strength/squats/quads for roller derby.

[1/3] LISTEN: Listen to The Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor, the Alice Isn’t Dead Podcast, the Bright Sessions.
[ ] LEARN: Finish the Mindshift course.
[2/5] ART: Create and share five illustrations. [Silly Sharklady Doodle, More Serious Art of Same Character]

 

[bdwilson]

Right. New items for this week, which have an impact on the old items

New for 17 - 23
[ ] Finish copying files off hard drive
[ ] Format hard drive
[ ] Reinstall Windows
[ ] Check to make sure computer is booting again
[ ] Reinstall all the programs

*sigh*

[X] 3-Day Novel Contest
[ ] Brainstorm for NaNoWriMo project
[1/4] Reconcile YNAB every week
[X] Edit every day: Week 35 (September portion)
[X] Edit every day: Week 36
[X] Edit every day: Week 37
[ ] Edit every day: Week 38
[ ] Edit every day: Week 39

 

[mrsmig]

A slightly better week than last one. I finally opened up my WIP file and started the organization process. This included some rewriting, which kind of fired up the ol' writing juices. I won't get anywhere near my 10k goal this month (and it'll be hard to sort out new writing from rewritten stuff), so I'm going to call that goal a bust in advance. Publisher issues continue, but at least I don't feel stymied right now.

I continue to plug away on Alexander Hamilton, but I won a copy of our own Calla Lily's new book Demons For Tea, so I may take a break from nonfic and read some horror instead. That'll be relaxing.

[x] Publish first edition of my new author newsletter
[ ] Write two blogs
[ ] Read two books
[x] Complete my August giveaway (notify winner, ship out prize)
[x] Set up my September giveaway
[x] Go back through my WIP, organize sections and decide which opener I want to go with
[ ] Write 10k fresh words on WIP

 

[Jaymz Connelly]

So... for all my grand plans to do a bunch of other stuff this week - yeah, that didn't happen. The quasi-historical thing won't let my brain go. I think I did so much research and wrote so many notes, my brain thinks I should be using more of that info in the story. I did get some more done on the sweater though. I'm about half done the front (back is already done) so, if the words will settle down a bit, I should hopefully have the sweater done by the end of October, but we'll see. Spring cleaning and ginger making will happen this coming week, as well as finishing the garden stuff. The only thing not getting done is the book reading. I'll eventually get back into a reading mood, it's just right now I'm in a doing stuff mood, so stuff is getting done (even though a lot of it isn't what's on my list).

[ ] make candied ginger for marmalade
[X] finish first draft of historical fantasy story (68,656 of 60,000) and ready for my CP (my brain isn’t done with it yet *g*)
[ ] get the garden ready for summer – 1 bed left to mulch and a bit of top dressing and it’s done!
[ ] read 1 book
[X] paint front gate (AND the front fence too)
[ ] spring cleaning (i.e. organize the boys to do the spring cleaning)
[ ] try to get more done on the sweater – progress is happening

 

[Kjbartolotta]

So... for all my grand plans to do a bunch of other stuff this week - yeah, that didn't happen. The quasi-historical thing won't let my brain go. I think I did so much research and wrote so many notes, my brain thinks I should be using more of that info in the story.

Ah, research. Last year it was the French Revolution and East Asia, this year it's Central Asia. And I might even do something with it some day (but not today, because I just dropped my WIP at 35000 words to write something else. But it's good, feel inspired to finish this story and can't wait get back to the WIP).

Unlikely I'll hit my goal this month, which is not the end of the world since I am moving along decently. Also trying out the courses EMaree suggested at a slow pace, but very interesting tips for learning and avoiding procrastination. So thank you, E! In other news, the bday's gift I'm getting Emily kicks so much ass, I amaze myself.

 

[Jaymz Connelly]

Ah, research. Last year it was the French Revolution and East Asia, this year it's Central Asia. And I might even do something with it some day (but not today, because I just dropped my WIP at 35000 words to write something else. But it's good, feel inspired to finish this story and can't wait get back to the WIP).

It is far, far too easy to get lost down the research hole and not get any writing done at all, isn't it?

 

[Tamlyn]

Another week over. Still not much on the writing front, but my sister and I did an overnight hike on the weekend (since it was a long weekend and we had Monday to recover ). It was good. I didn't sleep at all and only made it all the way back through sheer stubbornness, but it was still good. We adapted some things to cover my inexperience/slightly broken body (she had the big pack with the camping stuff while I had a lighter pack, etc) and I had to take lots of painkillers, but at least today it's just muscle soreness mostly, rather than my poor joints.

It did apparently inspire me a bit since I got home and even with no energy wrote a bunch of notes for a probably long form thing. Which I might work on instead of Haven, even though I shouldn't, but hidden princesses and knight-pirate-spies sound fun >>

Another chapter done, no words on game and only a little bit of map stuff, still haven't even picked a story yet, fair chunk of transcription and I'm calling that a pass (over pass, really, I should have done other stuff when I fell back on transcribing for the day).

Finished The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Since I needed something to read after that, and didn't have time to choose, I just grabbed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I felt like rereading it a while back but as soon as I started I realised I actually wanted something meatier now. I did enjoy it still - especially after getting back from the hike on Sunday and where a book I didn't need a brain for was perfect. But now I have to find something more grown up to read, I think.

I am in danger of falling down a Stardew Valley mods hole though...

1. Read five books. 3/5
2. Continue game planning. Maps bits?
3. Continue transcription. Yes.
4. Edit one short. Not yet.
5. Continue Haven. Little.
6. Edit Marietta. 4 chapters so far.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. Yes.