Day Thirty-One: Coming Up With Goals (And a Wedding)

the pretty part of the wedding.

and the ugly part.

Today, we went to the wedding of a former student. It was so very hot, and the whole thing was on an inclined hill. Like a literal hill. Like the chairs were at an angle.

It was a gorgeous day, as you can see, but holy God in Heaven if my knee wasn't already screwy.  And now we are both sunburned beyond red reason.

Anyway. I've spent the rest of the day sleeping off my heat stroke and working on a playlist for the next scene, where a new character is introduced. I really like her, but I don't think she's cool enough. I hope she's cool enough.

This is my last week before I head out to Europe. And my goal for this week is to make goals for the rest of the year. I have a year to do something really important, and it's Day 31 of 365, and I don't feel like I've done enough. I need to come up with some sort of bullet-pointed list of what I want to get accomplished, like a syllabus for myself.

I'm having that meeting with my mentor this week, so that will help a lot. Right now, this is my tentative goals list:

Figure out how to write on this blog. Right now, I'm sort of using it as a diary, but I'm finding it boring. So perhaps I can refocus a little more. Maybe do a two-sectional, like personal life and growth and then whatever I learned that day in writing?

Write a couple short stories. I feel like I should be doing more than just working on this book. I know that people say to focus on one project at a time, and I probably should, but I can't just focus on one project for one entire year. I will have one manuscript to show for it.

Read more. This will pick up when I have my third semester project kick in, I'm sure. But right now I've gotten through my reading for Ireland and I have been slacking since my packets ended. I need to have more independent reading outside of my assigned school work.

Stop freaking out about stupid crap. I'm such a bundle of nerves, and I don't know why. I've been a lot happier since starting the Year of Writing, but I still have this feeling that there's a ticking clock somewhere. You only have so-and-so many days left, and after that, you must rejoin the rest of us in the real world. What are you doing on Facebook?! YOU ARE WASTING TIME! YOU ARE GOING TO BE A FAILURE! YOU WILL NEVER BE AS ACCOMPLISHED AS LINDSEY STIRLING, VIOLIN EXTRAORDINAIRE! WORK WORK WORK WRITE WRITE WRITE!!

Write more. Right now, I'm writing actual words anywhere from a half an hour to four hours a day. I'm working on my story (reading other things, researching, finding music, talking it out) maybe four hours a day. That means that on my busiest days, I'm only working eight hours. On my least busiest days, maybe an hour. That's not good enough. If this was a real professional job, which is how I'm treating it, that wouldn't be enough. Yes, I work seven days a week, but still. Going back to the last bullet point, I feel like this is my only shot and I'm wasting time. So I need to figure out a better writing tactic than "Whenever I feel like it," which is what I touched on a couple of days ago.

Connect with other writers more. We're looking at what conferences to attend, and I am going to ask my mentor about networking online. I can't really go to readings anywhere other than here, since I live in a cornfield in the middle of the country. I already have a lot of really cool friends who write, and I want to keep supporting them and learning from them. (Psst, we're gonna be doing a blog train soon!)

In the meantime, I still need to exchange some currency and print off all of my tickets and insert my passport information into my airline website. I don't know how I'm going to keep up with the blog while I travel, but we'll hope for the best. Be patient with me while I figure this out. It's all a part of the process.

What are your goals? How are you feeling about your writing?