JulyNoWriMo 2018: Come In and State Your Goals!

Woollybear · Jul 15, 2018

This is a general note of support - I've read through the challenges above and :wow: I need another cup of coffee.

Hang in there, all of us.

[ ] begin book 2 in a serious way. This one will get into the many ways climate change impacts earth systems - everything from melting ice caps and the feedback that creates to the acidification of the ocean dissolving shelled sea life. Weather events, fire risk, desertification, altered migration patterns. Mass extinctions. Fun! I'd like 50K words of first draft but will be happy with 15,000. About 7000 bad words written so far, so yay.

[x] Begin collecting rejections on book 1. I've got five queries out and AR ... between the six I expect some rejections any day and some non-responses. If I get two rejections (and four non-responses) I'll tick this off as done. One rejection down but will likely have another in the next few days since I queried ten more agents--many of whom promise fast turnaround on decisions

[ ] Get a better sense of self-publishing. Begin identifying cover artists.

[ ] improve the website. I set it up last month but only as a beginning template.

[x] Learn what the heck watt pad is. That should only take a few minutes. This looks really selectively useful. I think I like it. I definitely like the motivation and philosophy inherent in it.

Jaymz Connelly · Jul 15, 2018

mrsmig - hopefully the publisher will print your fifth book, since it's the final in the series. I hope things settle down to a more even pace in the showbiz side too.

Patty - good luck with your submissions!

As for me - Not much has happened this past week because of the rib area injury thing – I was in too much misery to do anything. When you need to cough a lot sore muscles in that area are a trial. Not 100% better yet, but much better than I was. Still not doing much that requires physical movement, but at least the brain is functioning for words again.

[ ] Work on The Crystal Throne – 1,645 words
[X] Finish crocheted blanket
[ ] Make peanut butter cups and brandy truffles test runs - PB cups turned out great
[ ] Write fanfic story – got a basic outline down
[X] Attempt new recipe for homemade caramels – big fail ☹
[ ] work on knitted sweater (Christmas gift)

Tamlyn · Jul 16, 2018

mrsmig - good thoughts for next week and with the book

I'd update but no real things to update >> maybe next week

bdwilson · Jul 16, 2018

Things started, nothing finished.

Not sure I'm going to make it through this book. I'm reading it on my phone, because the file from the library didn't work with my (old) Kobo. I don't enjoy reading on my phone, so it's harder to do when the book is not catching me. We'll see. If I'm bailing I should do it this week so I still have a chance to pick up our other book club option for the month.

I printed out what I have for the short story, which is still unfinished, and discovered I am already massively over the word count. This could be a problem.

[-] Read A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold
[-] Read Fire & Ice by Patty Jansen
[-] Finish short story for next Alphabet Anthology
[ ] Pull together draft of a different short story and finish
[ ] Go through my kick-knacks for stuff I can give away
[ ] Give away the give-away pile
[X] ~~Camp 1 - 8~~
[X] ~~Camp 9 - 15~~
[ ] Camp 16 - 22
[ ] Camp 23 - 31
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 27~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 28~~
[ ] Edit every day: Week 29
[ ] Edit every day: Week 30
[ ] Edit every day: Week 31 (July portion)

JJ Crafts · Jul 16, 2018

Quick update from me:

[] finish outlining /rough drafting the second half of my YA Scifi (so ten chapters) - I've officially finished outlining the 23 chapters in my plan now I just have to go back and add one scene, add one new chapter and rewrite a scene. Hopefully will finish by next week
~~[] post a query in QLH for my fantasy WIP~~ - no longer doing this as my fantasy WIP is indefinitely on hold

arikdiver · Jul 17, 2018

Quick update:

[ ] Complete edit of Act 1 novel - Made good progress, ~5000 words to go.
[X] Two Blog Posts
[X] Read 2 books - half way through first
[ ] Finish knitting sock - Have a replacement needle. Am unlikely to finish in 12 days but will keep going.

Jaymz - ouch. Hope it's getting less painful.

ValerieJane · Jul 17, 2018

1. Write 50k words on MS2 draft - I broke 10k words today!
2. When MS1 returns from critique partner, make appropriate changes (realistically, cut about 10 or 15k from manuscript) - not necessarily this goal, but I thought of an important connecting scene that will strengthen this MS
3. Return to QLH to add finishing touches to query letter for MS1
4. Start compiling a list of agents and publishers to send first batch of queries - tons of bookmarked websites and Bewares and Recs threads so far. Haven't made it to an actual spreadsheet yet

Woollybear · Jul 20, 2018

Congrats to the progress and effort!!

[x] begin book 2 in a serious way. This one will get into the many ways climate change impacts earth systems - everything from melting ice caps and the feedback that creates to the acidification of the ocean dissolving shelled sea life. Weather events, fire risk, desertification, altered migration patterns. Mass extinctions. Fun! I'd like 50K words of first draft but will be happy with 15,000. 15,000 Done!.

[x] Begin collecting rejections on book 1. I've got five queries out and AR ... between the six I expect some rejections any day and some non-responses. If I get two rejections (and four non-responses) I'll tick this off as done. Two!

[ ] Get a better sense of self-publishing. Begin identifying cover artists.

[x] improve the website. I set it up last month but only as a beginning template. Starting to flesh it out a bit.

[x] Learn what the heck watt pad is. That should only take a few minutes. I still like!

Tamlyn · Jul 20, 2018

Third (and second) week update.

I still haven't done a lot >> Lots and lots of game words. I managed, even in the midst of game words, to make sure I stopped and did some real editing on my writing days so I have done a couple of chapters, gotten some stories out into the world, that sort of thing.

But mostly game.

Books... so I am really bad at reading ebooks. I've read two books now, and that's because I stopped not reading my ebook and picked up a paperback (omnibus) - Truckers and Diggers by Terry Pratchett. I'm halfway into Wings as well to round it out. Shorter books, but also just nicer for me to read. I mean, I was reading Xanather's D&D book, but stopped the moment I had to hand the physical book back so only had a PDF copy. My Hugo reading has gone terribly too - all the books I've read have been the ones I read previously or got from the library as a physical book.

I can be pretty terrible at reading physical books too but I'm worse with ebooks

(and I have so many good ones to read!)

One week to turn things around a bit more.

1. Read five books. 2/5
2. Continue game planning. Too much!
3. Continue transcription. Little bit.
4. Draft one short or flash and edit one short or flash. 0/1, 1/1
5. Plan Haven (and consider viability). Kind of started some notes.
6. Edit Marietta. 3 chapter done.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. So far, so good.

mrsmig · Jul 21, 2018

Some progress this week - got both the proofreader edits on Book 4 and the cover design. I am not 100% happy with the cover but we were on a very tight timeline (reveal is next week) and the designer just couldn't seem to stop adding new design elements every time I'd send it back for a tweak. Fortunately the proofreader edits weren't painful, and I got them reviewed and approved fairly quickly.

I ordered some signage and decided what to use as door prizes for my reading/signing next Saturday - I'm giving away tickets to both my current show and the concert I'm doing that evening. They're my personal comp tickets so they won't actually cost me anything, but they have a decent dollar value. Now I have to figure out how to use Rafflecopter to do an online/social media giveway during the month-long run-up to Book 4's release August 28th. I commissioned a "Gemeta Stone" pendant from a jewelry designer I know, and got a really nice piece at a decent price, so that'll be my featured item.

Next week is going to be so crazy I can barely stand to think about it. I have Monday off, thank goodness, but I will be rehearsing for the concert (Leonard Bernstein's CANDIDE) all week while still performing the final week's schedule of my current production - plus preparing for the signing on Saturday. I think I have enough books to sell at that event, and the publisher is going to try to get me some ARCs of the new book as well.

Needless to say, there was not much writing accomplished this week (I actually wrote yesterday but the word count was so small it's not even worth updating my numbers below) but at least the audition earlier in the week went well. Still waiting to hear if I got the part or not.

[ ] Write 15k fresh new words for July Camp NaNo - 1,464 out of 15,000
[ ] Write ten guest blogs/interviews/other promo for release of Book 4 - 1 of 10
[x] Approve final cover design for Book 4
[x] Go over proofreader edits for Book 4
[x] Prepare giveaway promo for Book 4

syntellsmith · Jul 22, 2018

Last year I only made it 6 chapters around 44k of my project. This year I may start a new one and hopefully reach 50k.

Jaymz Connelly · Jul 22, 2018

It was a very disrupted week this week so another week of not accomplishing much for me. I managed a few words on CT, and got a few more notes down for the fanfic story, and I did one pattern repeat for the knitted sweater. At this rate, it'll take me 2 1/2 years to finish the thing. lol We won't have tradies all over the house this week so I'm hoping to accomplish more. I NEED to finish the fanfic story before the end of the week (it's a birthday present). I'm hoping to do a small batch of the truffles too, but we'll see. That might be put off until August. CT is on hold until the fanfic is done. I really need to stop goofing off and get something done before the end of the month.

[ ] Work on The Crystal Throne – 1,704 words
[X] Finish crocheted blanket
[ ] Make peanut butter cups and brandy truffles test runs - PB cups turned out great
[ ] Write fanfic story – got a basic outline down
[X] Attempt new recipe for homemade caramels – big fail ☹
[ ] work on knitted sweater (Christmas gift)

bdwilson · Jul 23, 2018

Right, I gave up on the first book. I have absolutely no interest in continuing and haven't even opened it in about a week. I'm going to swith to the other option for our book club this month.

I've done an edit pass on the short story. There are fewer gaps than I thought, which is good. I've working on entering my changes (did the review on hard-copy) and will fill in as I hit the gaps. That's looking doable. Camp is also looking doable (with the editing goal as a part of that). The rest, however, are looking doubtful.

[-] Read A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
[-] Read Fire & Ice by Patty Jansen
[-] Finish short story for next Alphabet Anthology
[ ] Pull together draft of a different short story and finish
[ ] Go through my kick-knacks for stuff I can give away
[ ] Give away the give-away pile
[X] ~~Camp 1 - 8~~
[X] ~~Camp 9 - 15~~
[X] ~~Camp 16 - 22~~
[ ] Camp 23 - 31
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 27~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 28~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 29~~
[ ] Edit every day: Week 30
[ ] Edit every day: Week 31 (July portion)

Woollybear · Jul 23, 2018

Actually made a small bit of progress on the website, woot!

ValerieJane · Jul 24, 2018

1. Write 50k words on MS2 draft - Made it to about 12k words
2. When MS1 returns from critique partner, make appropriate changes (realistically, cut about 10 or 15k from manuscript) - working on cuts
3. Return to QLH to add finishing touches to query letter for MS1 - Working on it! Possibly done, but that's scary.
4. Start compiling a list of agents and publishers to send first batch of queries - Made an actual spreadsheet with 11 agents! Carefully vetted, researched, checked in Bewares

Feeling good!

mrsmig · Jul 29, 2018

I am so glad this week is over. Yesterday was my book signing, which was something of a disappointment - I had hoped to be placed somewhere nearer the main action (ideally in the lobby of the theatre after the matinee performance of my show), but my slot was at 11 AM in a building somewhat removed from the main action. I had so little walk-in traffic that I ended up not doing the drawing for the door prizes, nor even the reading. (And no, the publisher wasn't able to get me ARCs in time for the signing. Not surprising, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

I did sell nine books so it wasn't a total loss, and I had some nice one-on-one chats with the people who did drop by. I had time for a bite of lunch (fortunately there were food trucks at the event), then did my matinee, then got another bite to eat and kicked back for about an hour, then had a sound check/last minute rehearsal for the concert, which followed at 8 PM. I got home after midnight, too tired to even unload the leftover books from my car. We close the show after today's matinee performance, and then I have a week before my next little gig, which is a similar summertime open house at a different theatre next Sunday. I'll be performing in two concerts for that. I don't know if their lobby gift shop will be open during the event; if it is, I ought to see if they've got an opportunity to sell books there - but right now I just can't face it.

Of course my cover reveal for Book Four happened in the midst of all this, so I had to update my website, build a new page for the giveaway and post on social media like a madwoman. Now I have to start writing blog posts for the virtual tour, which will start when the book releases at the end of August. I launched my Rafflecopter giveaway - here's the link if anyone's interested (the necklace is really pretty) - and it's moving along, albeit slowly.

Did I get any writing done, you ask? BWAHAHAHAHA...

::shrieks, then curls into a little ball and sobs quietly::

[ ] Write 15k fresh new words for July Camp NaNo - 1,464 out of 15,000
[ ] Write ten guest blogs/interviews/other promo for release of Book 4 - 1 of 10
[x] Approve final cover design for Book 4
[x] Go over proofreader edits for Book 4
[x] Prepare giveaway promo for Book 4

Jaymz Connelly · Jul 30, 2018

[ ] Work on The Crystal Throne – 1,704 words
[X] Finish crocheted blanket
[ ] Make peanut butter cups and brandy truffles test runs - PB cups turned out great
[ ] Write fanfic story – got a basic outline down and one scene half-written *sigh*
[X] Attempt new recipe for homemade caramels – big fail ☹
[X] work on knitted sweater (Christmas gift) – first pattern was too complex – it’d take me two years to get it done, and I really want it for THIS Christmas, so I’ve switched to a different pattern and it’s going MUCH quicker. I’ve got the back almost finished.

While I did actually manage to work on The Crystal Throne, writing on it is paused while I write the fanfic… which is late because it’s giving me much trouble. ☹ The brandy truffles are being moved to August goals because there are enough chocolates sitting around, waiting to be eaten right now. So, I think I reached about half my goals. Hopefully I’ll do better in August.

mrsmig · Jul 31, 2018

Well, it's the final day of the month, and I can't say I'm sorry. It's been way too fraught for my taste. My show is closed and I only have a couple of small gigs booked for the next several months, which means although I'll be unemployed, I'll also have loads of time in which to write. Some of that time will be taken up with writing blogs and other promo for the release of Book 4 at the end of August, but I'll address that in the August goals thread, which I'm off to start now.

Hope to see you all there!

[ ] Write 15k fresh new words for July Camp NaNo - 2,996 out of 15,000
[ ] Write ten guest blogs/interviews/other promo for release of Book 4 - 1 of 10
[x] Approve final cover design for Book 4
[x] Go over proofreader edits for Book 4
[x] Prepare giveaway promo for Book 4

arikdiver · Jul 31, 2018

Argh, so little time to write. I hope everyone did better with their goals than I did:

[ ] Complete edit of Act 1 novel - Made good progress, ~5000 words to go.
[X] Two Blog Posts
[X] Read 2 books - half way through first
[ ] Finish knitting sock - Am almost to the toe. Didn't quite make it.

Will carry my goals over to August. See you in thread.

Tamlyn · Jul 31, 2018

Jaymz - some of your baking things might not work, but it all looks delicious in my mind (and I am envious).

Final update.

I ended up with mostly ticks, but I don't think I did as much this month as I should have. Most of my words and daily writing was game. I did manage to get a story drafted in the end - and I made sure I wrote the last few paragraphs it needed on the 31st. Leaving it that close to done and failing the goal would have been shameful >> It's a mess, but I figured out what I wanted to do with it in the end so hopefully it'll be fixable.

Then there were some more game words. And maps.

Four chapters edited for Marietta, which is not bad but not great. I figured out what to do with the next couple of chapters at least of Haven. One of my four hour days was probably not actually four hours, but I was writing in between medical appointments and car problems and... the effort was definitely there so I count it.

And more game.

I really need to sort out my priorities.

Reading was poor in the end. Failed at my Hugo voting and just didn't really get much read - the three I did read were all in the one week. Sigh.

1. Read five books. 3/5
2. Continue game planning. Too much!
3. Continue transcription. Finished one lot, moved onto the next.
4. Draft one short or flash and edit one short or flash. 0/1, 1/1
5. Plan Haven (and consider viability). Little plans.
6. Edit Marietta. 4 chapters done.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. So far, so good.

Saoirse · Jul 31, 2018

Final update:

[x] Copyedits for Fireborn - releases tomorrow!!
[x] Cover reveal
[x] Publish Fireborn Went live yesterday
[] Finish 2nd round edits on secret project Not enough time. First project for August!
[] Try not to stress about anything :sighs: I did, unfortunately.

bdwilson · Aug 1, 2018

Final update:

[-] Read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
[-] Read Fire & Ice by Patty Jansen
[X] ~~Finish short story for next Alphabet Anthology~~
[ ] Pull together draft of a different short story and finish
[ ] Go through my kick-knacks for stuff I can give away
[ ] Give away the give-away pile
[X] ~~Camp 1 - 8~~
[X] ~~Camp 9 - 15~~
[X] ~~Camp 16 - 22~~
[X] ~~Camp 23 - 31~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 27~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 28~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 29~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 30~~
[X] ~~Edit every day: Week 31 (July portion)~~

Not as much as I wanted on the non-daily things, but oh well. On to August!

JulyNoWriMo 2018: Come In and State Your Goals!

Woollybear

Jaymz Connelly

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Tamlyn

fish skeleton

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

JJ Crafts

arikdiver

Making magic with words

ValerieJane

Woollybear

Tamlyn

fish skeleton

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

syntellsmith

Jaymz Connelly

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

Woollybear

ValerieJane

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Jaymz Connelly

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

arikdiver

Making magic with words

Tamlyn

fish skeleton

Saoirse

Mi verkas

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker