SeptNoWriMo 2019 - Orange flowers, Swallows and Regret

Status
Not open for further replies.

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,173
Location
Virginia
“September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt,
evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.”

- Alexander Theroux, Darconville's Cat


Here we are, clinging to the last shreds of summer and teetering on the cusp of autumn. Personally, I'm ready to make a fresh start - August was a busy and somewhat stressful month. Now that my theatrical schedule has settled into a rhythm, I'm hoping to pick up loose threads on the writing, reading and publishing end. Hence, most of my goals will look familiar:

[ ] Write 5k words on Book 5 of my series - 0 of 5,000
[ ] Read three books - 0 of 3

[ ] Review text of Book 4 of series
[ ] Rewrite acknowledgements of Book 4
[ ] Submit Book 4 to formatter/designer

[ ] Get 1 hour of exercise every week
[ ] Take 3 nature walks
[ ] Lose 3 pounds - 0 of 3

What are your plans and goals for September?

 

Tamlyn

fish skeleton
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
1,467
Reaction score
812
Location
Australia
Here in opposite seasons, I was just thinking it might be time to put away the hot water bottle and extra blanket; then I looked at the weather and the temperature dives again next week.

My goals are very similar to last month, only this time I hope to succeed at them (better). I've put aside the flash piece I was going to edit. It was a New Year's story, so I thought I should get it done around now, but I don't think I like it anymore. Maybe I'll look over it again.

I've made a better start to the month, doing a little bit on the first chapter of Alyssa, than an end to last month. Hopefully I will keep going.

1. Read five books.
2. Finish editing last month's story and edit one other story.
3. Draft one new story.
4. Game planning.
5. Query S&M.
6. Continue writing Haven.
7. Start editing Alyssa.
8. Write/edit each day, with one dedicated writing day per week.
9. Bake a thing.
 

Sam Argent

Rygel XVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
828
Reaction score
70
*Sighs at this week's forecast going into next week*
Since my state is gonna be the Devil's jockstrap for a while longer, I'll just stick with posting 2 more stories(editing almost finished for both) on Amazon and upload 1 chapter a week to Wattpad/AO3.
 

Saoirse

Mi verkas
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Messages
2,624
Reaction score
338
Location
Michigan
Website
erinkendall.wordpress.com
I'm in.

After an abysmal August, I need to step it up.

[] 10k on The Vanishing
[] Complete copyedit of F.
[] Complete editing jobs (3)
[] Read and review at least one ARC
 

Tamlyn

fish skeleton
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
1,467
Reaction score
812
Location
Australia
Week one update for our quiet little thread.

Got a decent start to the month. Written some Haven and a little bit more on Alyssa - not much, but it's hard work, so that's not for lack of effort. I'm hoping to get the first chapter done with at least one printed out pass at the moment.

I think I've finished editing last month's story (need to double check some things) but haven't decided what else to edit. No start on the new story yet because I've been writing Haven. Little bit of game, but not terrible amounts.

Also read Finders Keepers by Emily Rodda, which is not new to me, adult, or from this century, but is at least Australian? (I always intend to read more Aussie authors, but I think that's the first this year *cough*)

1. Read five books.
2. Finish editing last month's story and edit one other story.
3. Draft one new story.
4. Game planning.
5. Query S&M.
6. Continue writing Haven.
7. Start editing Alyssa.
8. Write/edit each day, with one dedicated writing day per week.
9. Bake a thing.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,173
Location
Virginia
The thread has been quiet lately. Personally, I felt a bit battered by August and am still trying to get my feet under me.

The show is open and reviews have been great, but issues that involve me as our union deputy are still ongoing. It's cutting into my time and draining my energy. It's an unfortunate confluence of a well-meaning but somewhat slipshod producer combined with a talented and caring cast which is unfortunately a bit high maintenance. I realized last night that I must to stop waiting for things to settle down there and focus on my own goals, or I'm gonna lose my mind.

I wrote a teensy bit in the past week - really quite pathetic - but nothing else beyond some reading in my current book. I've resolved to do better, starting tomorrow with my day off.

[ ] Write 5k words on Book 5 of my series - 178 of 5,000
[ ] Read three books - 0 of 3

[ ] Review text of Book 4 of series
[ ] Rewrite acknowledgements of Book 4
[ ] Submit Book 4 to formatter/designer

[ ] Get 1 hour of exercise every week
[ ] Take 3 nature walks
[ ] Lose 3 pounds - 0 of 3


 

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
I prepped a post here yesterday, but must never have clicked post after previewing. Oops.

Anyway, running behind this month after doing absolutely nothing for the end of my staycation :tongue Most of the goals I have right now are carry-over, too. My 85K90 book is seriously behind the challenge schedule, as I'm not even remotely close to being done edits which were supposed to be done end of May, but I think I'm okay with that. I'm going to put finishing that off on the list, but I think it's optimistic :p

[ ] Finish the restructuring of my 85K90 book.
[ ] Finish the edit of my 85K90 book.
[ ] Finish plotting the short stories on my board.
[ ] Prioritize my product list.

Now I'm going to hit post before I forget again.
 

Sam Argent

Rygel XVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
828
Reaction score
70
I've been back on track so far this month. Stress from the current state of the publishing world was probably weighing more on my mind than I thought. Now that I'm full steam ahead with the self-publishing experiment, getting work done has been easier even with this darn heat.
 

Tamlyn

fish skeleton
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
1,467
Reaction score
812
Location
Australia
I hope you managed to find some of your own time this week, mrsmig.

I got sick this week, with just a fever or something ('just' hello no sleep and feeling like shit), but it definitely bit into my writing. I actually did get something written each day, but it was minimum, unimportant stuff. However, I got my missed writing day done today (normally I do it Tuesday or Wednesday) so that's good.

Most of today was actually making progress on Alyssa. I've got a first chapter ready to go over again, then after with a fine tooth comb. Otherwise this week (mostly today but not all) has been a bunch of notes and words for Haven, a start to the new story to be drafted (that one was paused by needing more brain than sick-me had), last month's story got the 'finished' stamp on editing, I've decided what I'm going to edit next, and, once again, a little bit of game but not overly much.

Started reading Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. This is the only one of hers I've read, many moons (maybe 15 years?) ago, so I wanted to start at the start and work my way up. But I tend to flick through and go ooh and read there (it's a terrible habit, I know), and then remember I'm actually only at the third chapter and... look, by the time I actually finish it, I'll have read parts of it five times over.

1. Read five books. 1/5
2. Finish editing last month's story and edit one other story. Yes for last month, no for next.
3. Draft one new story. Started.
4. Game planning. Little bit.
5. Query S&M. No.
6. Continue writing Haven. Ongoing.
7. Start editing Alyssa. Progress!
8. Write/edit each day, with one dedicated writing day per week. Yes :)
9. Bake a thing. No.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,173
Location
Virginia
It was as busy as ever, Tamlyn - a cast member had a death in the family which necessitated some emergency replacement rehearsal - but I was able to scrape some "me" time out of each day and am feeling much better about my goals. (I hope you're feeling better, too - sorry you've been sick.)

I finally got up a head of steam on my writing and just topped 1k words yesterday. I'm hoping to get some writing done between shows today so that number could change; I'll edit the final figure if it does. I got the copy for RAGIS (Book 4) reviewed and the front/back matter rewritten and fired it off to my formatter/cover designer, so that's out of the way. And I made a final editing pass on the prequel and sent that to the editor who handled my first three books when I was still with Fiery Seas. We've remained friends and while I'm pretty confident in my editing skills for the prequel, I do value her opinion, and she was kind enough to offer to beta read it for free. (I plan to pay her to edit Book 5 when the time comes; I think I'll need her help then.)

I finished Roger Deakin's Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees and just loved it. It's a gorgeously written series of essays about trees and forests and woodworking which sounds dreadfully stiff and dull but it wasn't at all. I'm normally a fast reader but I took my time with it because I didn't want to rush a single word.

I just barely squeaked in my one hour of exercise this week: walked a couple of miles and did some indoor exercises when the weather didn't suit. I also climb a couple flights of stairs four or five times per performance in my current show (there's an elevator to the stage level but I only take it when I'm really tired). It's not much but it beats the nothing I did last week. Still haven't had an opportunity to go for any nature walks yet, and I'm not ready to say anything definitive about weight loss since that often yo-yos on me.

[ ] Write 5k words on Book 5 of my series - 1,215 of 5,000
[ ] Read three books - 1 of 3

[x] Review text of Book 4 of series
[
x] Rewrite acknowledgements of Book 4
[
x] Submit Book 4 to formatter/designer

[ ] Get 1 hour of exercise every week -
1 of 4
[ ] Take 3 nature walks
[ ] Lose 3 pounds - 0 of 3


 
Last edited:

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
Mini progress!

[X] Finish the restructuring of my 85K90 book.
[ ] Finish the edit of my 85K90 book.
[ ] Finish plotting the short stories on my board.
[ ] Prioritize my project list.
 

Sam Argent

Rygel XVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
828
Reaction score
70
I'll try to add a third story this month on Amazon, and I've been successful so far in uploading a chapter a week on Wattpad/AO3. Just have to keep it slow and steady until Fall drops the temps.
 

Tamlyn

fish skeleton
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
1,467
Reaction score
812
Location
Australia
Week three update!

... sick again. At least it's just a cold so while I feel crap, I'm getting plenty of sleep? Scared the cats with a coughing fit this morning.

I've done a good pass on the first chapter of Alyssa! I sent it to my sisters/a friend in the hopes that they would read it and let me know whether it was interesting (I'm suffering a lot of anxiety about whether I made the right choice on what to work on next). Nothing yet, and if they don't respond straight away, they generally forget and I have to remind them and I feel bad doing that >> But I was actually really getting into the flow of the editing, looking forward to doing it, so that's nice.

I've done a little bit more on the new story, a little bit of game (though that's not going to be until November, probably, since everyone is busy so it's not a priority), and, uh, I'm sure I must have done something else. Maybe not. Being sick and playing games, I guess, means some minimum type days.

Have not made much progress on Assassin's Apprentice. Being a zombie after work doesn't help. Reading a Where's Wally at night. Being late and tired makes it hard to find things so it's now an adult book, not a kid's book, honest.

1. Read five books. 1/5
2. Finish editing last month's story and edit one other story. Yes for last month, no for next.
3. Draft one new story. Started.
4. Game planning. Little bit.
5. Query S&M. No.
6. Continue writing Haven. Ongoing.
7. Start editing Alyssa. Chapter one complete.
8. Write/edit each day, with one dedicated writing day per week. Yes :)
9. Bake a thing. No.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,173
Location
Virginia
Ugh, Tamlyn - hope you feel better soon.

I continued to be marginally productive this week - I started another book (Tristan Gooley's The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs) and made it to (nearly) the halfway point of my writing goal. No exercise this week; I torqued my back Wednesday morning right before a two-show day, and in spite of a 90-minute session with my massage therapist, it's still not right. A good brisk walk might help, or a visit to the chiropractic - maybe tomorrow or Tuesday, when I have a day off from the show.

The show has been extended (hooray for another week's salary), which means it will now close October 13th. I'll also be rehearsing for a concert that final week (fortunately at the same venue) so October is already shaping up to be a busy month, especially since I'm hoping to get Book 4 republished by mid-month. After the show closes I'm unemployed until late February. The owner of the Wild Bird Center where I was working part-time has offered me some hours during the holidays, but I kind of don't want to - I hate retail during the holidays. I'm also a bit desperate to get away for some vacation. Other than my July trip to Tennessee to look after my mother, I haven't had an out-of-town trip since May 2018. I'd thought about going down to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks, but it was hit pretty hard with flooding during Hurricane Dorian and almost everything is closed down while the residents clean up. It would also be super-nice to have my time free to focus on writing and maybe do NaNoWriMo in November.

I added a couple of goals to my self-publishing list: my formatter/cover designer turned things around very quickly and I have a spankin' new cover to be revealed and the galleys ready to review.

The weight continues to yo-yo. What a bore.

[ ] Write 5k words on Book 5 of my series - 2,345 of 5,000
[ ] Read three books - 1 of 3

[x] Review text of Book 4 of series
[
x] Rewrite acknowledgements of Book 4
[
x] Submit Book 4 to formatter/designer
[ ] Review galleys of Book 4
[ ] Do cover reveal for Book 4

[ ] Get 1 hour of exercise every week -
1 of 4
[ ] Take 3 nature walks
[ ] Lose 3 pounds - 0 of 3


 
Last edited:

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,173
Location
Virginia
Slogging toward the end of the month. I got a few hundred words written this week, read a bit, reviewed and approved my galleys, did a modest little cover reveal, got one good nature walk in and met my exercise goal for the week. I also got my fourth book uploaded to Amazon but am waiting for my author's proof to arrive before I hit "publish."

I spent way too much time battling with Amazon this week - trying to get them to take down the illegal POD first editions of my series that apparently are still available from my defunct publisher. Other former Fiery Seas authors were able to get theirs taken down but I can't seem to get mine removed. I don't think I'm losing any real money, but the prices of these illegal first editions are well below those of my self-published second editions, so Amazon is effectively undercutting me, a KDP author. Amazon Author Solutions has told me repeatedly that this is something they can't help with, but I can't get anyone in the Copyright Infringement department to do anything but send me form letters. I've filled out forms and talked to customer service reps who make all the appropriate sympathetic noises but who clearly don't really understand the situation. It's exhausting.

[ ] Write 5k words on Book 5 of my series - 2,628 of 5,000
[ ] Read three books - 1 of 3

[x] Review text of Book 4 of series
[
x] Rewrite acknowledgements of Book 4
[
x] Submit Book 4 to formatter/designer
[
x] Review galleys of Book 4
[
x] Do cover reveal for Book 4

[ ] Get 1 hour of exercise every week -
2 of 4
[ ] Take 3 nature walks -
1 of 3
[ ] Lose 3 pounds - 0 of 3

ETA: Realized I didn't address the weight-loss goal. I weigh exactly the same today that I weighed on 9/1/19, but I think I gained and lost five pounds through the month.
:tongue
 
Last edited:

Saoirse

Mi verkas
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Messages
2,624
Reaction score
338
Location
Michigan
Website
erinkendall.wordpress.com
Final update:

[] 10k on The Vanishing ~Just under 5k
[] Complete copyedit of F.~Haven't received it yet
[] Complete editing jobs (3) ~Completed 2.
[x] Read and review at least one ARC ~Did 2

Not horrible but not great, either. Onward to October!
 

Tamlyn

fish skeleton
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
1,467
Reaction score
812
Location
Australia
Ugh, good luck sorting out the ex-publisher problem, mrsmig.

Overall, I did decently for the month. Given how much I was sick, I'm quite happy with the word-related goals. Sure, I didn't do a whole lot of Haven and only did one chapter of Alyssa, but still. Reading is an entirely different matter. That was terrible.

My sisters got back to me, so I'm confident going forward with Alyssa now. I had a look at chapter 2 but didn't actually do anything more on it. I didn't have time to get back to more writing on Haven either, but I did finish the new story (it's a mess, but I already have a couple of notes written down for how to fix it for when I get to that stage). Also did a light edit on one of my older stories, mostly getting it down under the word count for more markets. It's been rejected a bunch, but I still like it. Which probably means I haven't improved my skill enough yet to see why my old stories are bad >>

I got some more queries sent out, which was hard work, but plugging on. I'd rather try than not send at all, because I definitely won't get anywhere that way.

Read The Martian because I needed an easy, enjoyable read, and I always find The Martian that. So only two books for the month. Probably too much game time when I could have been reading.

Since no game, no players to bake for, so I made sticky date pudding. It went almost-wrong so much, but it turned out yummy.

1. Read five books. 2/5
2. Finish editing last month's story and edit one other story. Yes and yes.
3. Draft one new story. Yes.
4. Game planning. Bits and pieces, plus some crafting related stuff (loot cards!)
5. Query S&M. Yes.
6. Continue writing Haven.4k, plus notes.
7. Start editing Alyssa. Chapter one complete.
8. Write/edit each day, with one dedicated writing day per week. Yes :)
9. Bake a thing. Sticky date pudding.
 

Sam Argent

Rygel XVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
828
Reaction score
70
mrsmig, I hope your books are taken down soon.

I petered out at the end of the month when it came to uploading chapters, but I'm happy with my progress. Now I'm able to consistently get work done despite this blasted heat that still won't go away for another week. "Feels like 100" in the weekly forecast isn't something I like to hear in October.
 

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
I basically checked out for September, but at least I got a few done.

[X] Finish the restructuring of my 85K90 book.
[ ] Finish the edit of my 85K90 book.
[ ] Finish plotting the short stories on my board.
[X] Prioritize my project list.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.