2020 Writer's Goal Tracking System

image from publicdomainvectors.org

I have one planner that has the personal, work, home, and writing goal all incorporated and vying for my attention.  It is impossible for me to separate one part of me like the “writer” and talk only about that because it’s connected to my mental, relationship, and spiritual self.  While I’m attempting to talk about my writing habit, there will be bleed over. 

I’m not a organized person.  Those who know me best will tell you I’m on my personal time bubble.  I am the LAST person they would take scheduling tips from.  Even my husband is befuddled when he comes into my writing room and sees all the calendars, color blocks, and spreadsheets.  “I’m very productive, just not when it comes to the dishes,” I tease him. 

How does it work?  I have 2 planners.  One shows the current week and the other looks at next week.  First, I fill out my retail job hours (always changing from week to week), then I create the weekly meal plan, write a grocery list, and schedule when I will go grocery shopping.  Next I make plans for the blogs, social media, and writing.  After that, I try to get to work completing these plans and “leaving space” for social time, chores, and “spiritual wellbeing.”

Then I use my daily planner to record how I spend my time. I take notes as needed to remind myself not only how I used the time but what I got accomplished.  For example, I brag “I can write and post a blog in 30 minutes”.  In actuality I can write the draft of 3 blogs in an hour and a half then edit, schedule, tag, and find a picture in another hour and a half.  Real talk: I either need more time for blogging or I need to blog less.  But I would never know that without my daily planner recording how long things take.

My daily planner also includes when the sun rises and sets, what day it is in my made up time flow (a system I’ve used for five years), the moon phase, and an inspirational quote—I write all of this in by hand about a month in advance.  It makes for a pretty page that offers some inspiration on those grouchy days. 

I also have a journal where I put all the extemporaneous stuff.  So things I should do, what I accomplished from week to week, what I need to work on, notes on my sigil research. Etc.  MY planners have the processes and actions but my journal has all that secret stuff I’m testing and not ready to share.  My journal is full of thoughts I might want to keep and reflect on where most of the planner stuff will end up being recycled at the end of the year. 

Each week I review "wins" and "opportunities."  I adjust the next week's plans based on last week.  Then I review each month and decide the three things that went the best and three things that went the worst.  I trouble shoot the areas that didn't go well, and tweak my plan for the best outcome.

I’m not good with time, never that, but I am getting better. This year, I look forward to sharing some of my pages and successes and shortcomings.  If you are interested in seeing my pages in action, keep an eye out on my Facebook or Instagram page, as I plan to post pictures there.

Talk to me!  Do you follow a calendar that’s different from a western one?  Have you ever created your own organizational system?  Why, what did it look like?  What was important for you in making it? 

Looking for more planning goodness?  See my personal 2020 writer's goals.  I also have advice on how to plan your first draft and a post on a online goal planner, Habitica and how it might help writers.

Reflections of a Writer: Softwares I've Used to Write a Novel

image from openclipart.org by bf5man

I’ve written four and a half novels in my time.  None of them published, but that‘s not the point of today’s post.  Today I want to talk about the different softwares I wrote with.

The first book was one document in Microsoft Word.  I was on an old school Windows 3.1, outdated even then (but ran well and was a perfect distraction free writing tool), and I transferred the novel to our updated computer for printing with a floppy disc.  All my technology nostalgia comes from writing.  Kept a hard copy of my book in a binder and I was the proudest 16yr old you’d ever met.

Microsoft Word was not an ideal writing platform.  It was hard for me to go back to specific parts in my book to edit.  My dyslexia/visual tracking issues are the stars of this gripe.  Going line by line, chapter by chapter, trying to match the hard copy with where ever I am in the electronic document was torture.  Sometimes I think I hate editing because it was so hard to scroll through this massive document, and not because the process is otherwise arduous.

Worse, a massive Microsoft document made it hard for me to copy paste portions to forums, journals, and emails.  I was sharing this first novel because it was the first in a series.  Sharing the work was time consuming.

There are no places in the same Word document to write notes, an outline, or research. Unable to keep all the work together in a single format, I had a separate binder with research, notes, outlines, and journalling regarding my process.   It was yet another syncing issue I had between the enormous wall of text on the computer and the pages in my binder.

 I write my storiesout of order, but Microsoft Word made piece mailing the work together tricky.  At first, I tried using page breaks to section off the story flow from scenes I wrote that needed in between chapters to connect, but this was lengthy and confusing.  I couldn’t scroll to the bottom of the document to return to where I “left off” writing.  Instead, I had to creep through each page, searching for all the breaks.  Frustrated, I reverted to paper and pen.  Here, I’d write chapters or scenes by hand and hold on to them until I’d got to the part in my story where I could copy them into the master document.

Next time I wrote a novel, I wrote each chapter as a separate document and kept it in a book folder.  This improved almost everything and I recommend another using a standard editor keep all the chapters as separate documents under a book title folder.  The single issue I ran into was that the folder is default organized by title or by last updated or whatever, and I wanted my files organized with the first chapter on top and all the other chapters in descending order.  Took me a good year to realize I could force the alphabetical order to do this if I labeled “1 chapter” “2 chapter”.  The sort is by numerical order.  Some difficulties arose because I write out of order and I don’t know what chapter I’m writing all the time.

It was inconvenient when every time I wanted to read from one chapter to the next; I had to open another document.  For a time, I would keep each chapter separate and have a “master copy” with the whole work, but it was too hard to keep both sets of documents synced.  Inevitably I would add edits to the master copy, not copy paste over to the separate chapter file, and then read the separate chapter file and make major changes over there.  Too much going on.

Next, I went to Nimble.  This seemed to solve all problems.  A single document that let me skip to specific chapters.  And bonus, areas for notes and outlining!  I’d long since given up hope on that.  But, I had a new problem: no spelling or grammar check.  Now I had to paste each chapter from the original document into LangaugeTool online.  LangaugeTool should have connected into Nimble, but my tech savvy husband and I could never make that work.  After LangaugeTool, I pasted the work into Grammarly.  Then I had to take the chapter and bring it back to Nimble.  And when the whole novel completed, I bring it all one chapter at a time to Word. @_@. The software said it would transfer over to Word, but I never made that element of it work and had to give up and copy paste by hand.

  On one side, it was lovely to write distraction free.  On the other side, my typing needs extreme help.  During the revisions, I felt like I was reading the work of a third grader.  It made me question whether I could be a writer.  I’d never questioned whether I was good enough to write and publish before then.  It was a dark time in my career where I faced the extent of my difficulties with the technicalities of writing.

From here, I moved on to Novel Factory.  I LOVE the structure and use Novel Factory for even short stories.  The format of Novel Factory pleases me more than Scrivener did.  Novel Factory has a basic spellcheck that keeps me from being overwhelmed by all my terrible spelling all at once. I still have to bring all my chapters over to the web editor on ProWritingAid, but I’m less overwhelmed.

Like Nimble, Novel Factory has space for character profiles and places in my fictional work, but it goes further and allows me to write out an entire story arc and attach pictures to characters/places.  Novel Factory also has space for multiple drafts of the same work, and I can compare two very different edits for some time without losing either.  There‘s also a place to track submissions within the software.

My main gripe is that the italics in Novel Factory do not carry over to Word, ProWritingAid, or Google Docs.  I have to run back through every copy and look for what I meant to italic.  *sigh* Nothing is hassle free for a writer.  At least it‘s simpler to adapt than handwritten manuscripts?

Talk to me!  What software do you use to write your stories?  What do you like about the software?  Is there anything you’d like to change regarding your current technique?

I Took a Writing Class and This is My Experience

image from openclipart.org by oksmith

In August, I signed up for a writing class run by Megan Beam through Les Conteurs.  The class started on Sept 3rd and run 8 weeks.  It cost me $100.

Why I took the Class:

My friend took the class and recommended it.  She said Megan’s style and mine were similar and she might help me go through the second draft of my novel “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” 

 Megan is a published author in my genre, and I was looking for something to drive me and make me accountable.  I wanted feedback.  

A third consideration, is that I wanted to blog about my experience in Megan‘s class.  I wanted to talk about what it was like to go back to “school” for writing.  I missed regular work shopping.  I wondered if focused assignments would help me this time around or annoy as they had in the past.  I wondered how a writing class would compare to a writers’ group.  I wondered what kind of writers I would meet in class and if I would make friends with them as I had those from my writers’ group.  I even hoped to get insight in how to query agents, publish, and market.  There is so much a published author could tell me.  

As readers know, I haven't blogged about the class.  I think my experience will explain why.

My Experience:

I received no notice on September 3rd, so on the 5th I emailed Megan asking her if I’d missed something and confirming they enrolled me in her class.  She sent me a generic “I’m working on it” email.  Satisfied, I waited.  

I got an invitation into Quip on September 10th.  When I logged in, I saw I would take this class with two other writers.  Both these other writers were in the summer session with Ashley and had already started folders.  What did Megan clean up if she left her previous students’ class work from last class in place?  It made me feel like a fish out of water right away, to be the only new student.  I tried to ignore this and dismiss it as me being too sensitive.  At this point I still wanted the class to work and thought I could still achieve all my goals even if I was the "new kid on the block".

  There were no instructions other than to create a folder and an intro, so I did that. I waited a week before Megan got class running.  Two weeks gone and no actual meeting happening until September 23rd.  

Now the meeting on the 23rd was productive.  We were missing one member but those of us there outlined our desired projects, what we were looking for, and what we planned to do that week.  Megan seemed interested in my work, and it thrilled me.  This is what I’d signed up for, a fellow urban fantasy writer to geek out over my writing on.  Megan never mentioned what projects she planned to work on, which I found strange because my friend told me Megan also wrote and asked for feedback on her writing during class.  I resolved that I would go to her folder and comment on her writing from last class. Though, since she said she'd finalized the work there, if felt a little awkward to comment.  Like when I find corrections to make on a fellow writer's work when I know the work is out for submission.

I commented on Megan and my other classmate‘s work within the week.  On Sept 30th Megan said she hadn‘t read anything and would get to it ASAP.  We had no meeting or chat of any kind.  She didn‘t comment on my work until Oct 10th.  We are over “half” done with the class and I’m just getting feedback.  The feedback inspired edits on my chapter 1 & 2.  One reason I wanted to join class was met, though it's only about 8,000 words of feed back and I was thinking 2,000 words a week minimum at eight weeks and I'd see the first 16,000 words read which would give me a strong direction in my novel.  At that point I'd either be able to continue on my own or sign up for the winter session.

I made edits, asked questions, and in a burst of enthusiasm, posted Chapter 3.  I also went over to her folder and made spent time digging for comments on her work.  She is a good writer.  I enjoyed reading her work, but felt there were too many missing chunks for me to make a lot of commentaries.  Still, I tried.  

To be fair, I received a lot more attention than my fellow student did.  She had three documents up and only got two comments on her outline with no thoughts on her prologue.  

This is where the class ends though.  We got no assignments, no one got concrete advice, and there was no class opening or closing.  We had one meeting over 8 weeks.  I feel cheated.  

In the spirit of full disclosure, I never reached out to her and expressed how neglected I felt the class was.  These typed words are the first expression of my frustration and anger regarding the class.  On the other side, when I sign up for a class, I expect to show up in the classroom and for the teacher to be there.  I don't expect to have to write a letter to the dean asking why my instructor rarely shows up and never has a lesson plan when she does arrive.

Normally I wouldn't bring this issue to public in this manner, but there is no other way to leave feedback on the class.  Both her site and the Quip site she uses don't have any area for feed back.  I could start a direct confrontation with her, but at this point I don't know that I want anything from her.  What I want is to speak in public about what happened and let others make their own decisions regarding the "class".

Can I Recommend the Class?

Obviously not.  I don’t think it was Megan’s intention to quit on us, but she should have communicated more and she should have refunded our money when it became self evident she could not run class this semester.  Or, if she always intended this to be a paid beta reading service with a thirty-minute meet and greet, she should have called it that.  Her actual shop service is vague enough she may legally skate by.  This is why I'm outlining what specifically was delivered for $100.

It was a weird experience, and it reminded me of working with an English teacher who didn‘t want to teach but didn’t know what else to do with their major.

And why Quip when Google Docs and Hangouts exists?  The site choice was a miss for me.  It wasn’t bad, there are just better options.

My experience differs greatly from the summer session, so perhaps a person could go to a future class or have gone to a past class and had a more constructive experience.  It’s $100 gamble though. 

Do I Recommend a Writing Class in General? 

Of course!  Writing class can be a great way to get feedback from a group of fellow writers.  It can help keep a writer focused and writing.  It can give assignments that force a writer to explore topics, genres, and styles that help them grow.   

Talk to me!  Have you ever been to a writing class?  If not would you want to take a writing class and what would you look for in said class?

If you‘ve been in a writing class, how did it go?  What did you do?  Did you learn anything?  Did you make any friends?

My Complicated Past with Writing Prompts

by openclipart.org by j4p4n

As a lifelong writer, I’ve used a lot of writers’ prompts in my time.  The short story: good ones rock and bad ones make you question the others’ intelligence.

Have I ever used a prompt?  Yes.   Prompts have helped me out of writers’ block and sometimes I even have a cool story to show from the experience.

Can prompts help cultivate a daily writing habit? Yeah, but all things considered, I’d rather journal or do daily gratitude as a daily practice than a writing prompt a day.

Would I recommend a prompt to other writers?  Maybe.  My knee jerk reaction to prompts is that I hate them.  They often feel forced, and often I read on and want to defy whatever suggestion it makes.  I assume others hate these things as much as me though a friend pointed out that this might just be my issue.  Most people like when some work is done for them.

All of that said, I’d enjoy creating writing prompts for others.  My favorite part of writing is creating ideas.  I enjoy forming some of them into a story too, but I’ve got more ideas than I have time to make stories.

What do you think about writing prompts?  Do you use them often?  Are they life savers or creativity drains?  Talk to me.

Editing: The Gnat of Writing

image from open clipart.org by Firkin

Recently, I've been writing more quick articles and reviews.  In the past I posted them with no grammar check because I'm not married to any of these little blurbs and editing is exhausting.  If I have to spend hours checking every little thing, I'll never get content out.  All bloggers, writers, and curators know lack of content is a death knell for our livelihoods.  I can't be relevant without constant production.

During this revival, I've realized that having sound content may be as important as having consistent content.  My "personal brand" can't be littered with typos.  What sane editor wants to deal with that?

My blog may be the only time someone sees my writing.  If they don't like the tone and structure in a small informational blog: how will I get them to read a short story or a novel?

To combat my slipshod internal voice, I'm using ProWritingAid on all my blog posts, book reviews, and stories.  This wasn't an easy decision for me because I'm resistant to editing.  It takes longer to edit than it does to write.  It's draining, and it makes me question my ability to be a published writer.  Who would put up with all my little mistakes when there are so many authors who must have a more sophisticated grasp of proper grammar?

Surprise, I don't hate running everything through a grammar check as much as I'd imagined.  There are points that hearten me even.

1. The editing process takes less time the more often I do it.

2. I think my grammar is better.  I'm catching myself more before I hit the editor.

3. I have basic serious mistakes that are crippling my work.

-Example one, I can't keep capitalization consistent for shit.  Don't know why I can't decide if I'm creating a title or if something is a proper noun, but my capitalization consistency is terrible.  It takes a stupid amount of time for me to do a consistency.  No wonder an editor doesn't want to pick me up.  What a flipping nightmare.

-Example two: I can't stick to writing numbers out or typing the word down.  Thankfully, this won't riddle my creative writing but it's all over the blog and I wonder if it exhausts readers.

-Example three: I use two or more adjectives that mean the same thing.  At one point in time, I thought using so many adjectives controlled the tone and drove the reader to my conclusion.  Now I see I'm holding too tight to the reins.

-Example four: I have too many sentence fragments.  This one is the most difficult.  My storytelling style borders on the poetic.  Fragments belong in my work.  But, I may rely too on flow to instill story.

-Example five: I don't use article a or the half as much as ProWritingAid believes I should.  This one I'm still fighting the good fight.  A and the are unnecessary and take away from the tone I want to achieve.  Who knows, maybe the repetitive nature of the feedback will change my mind?

Now that editing takes less time, and I can catch mistakes before I use a check, I resent the process less.  Part of me looks forward to editing because it means I'm one step closer to submitting.

What about you?  Is editing less daunting over time?  Do you have common foils you need to overcome in your writing?  Speak up ^_^

Putting On My War Paint: Time To Twitter

uploaded to openclipart.org by j4p4n

Two years ago, I began an ill-advised campaign to write/freelance blog/publish a book.  I bit off way more than I could chew.  My goals were too broad, and I added in more things I "had" to do too often. I decided the whole circus wasn't for me.  Instead, I focused on my writing, I reached out to agents, and got grass roots and joined a local writers' group.  

Well, I'm back at it again, trying to make something work.  What different this time?

First, my goals are more limited.  I'm looking to create a genuine community and audience for my creative writing endeavors.  

Second, I'll work with a team of fellow local writers trying to stir interest in our different projects instead of trying to shoulder all the work on my own.

Third, I've got a very strict schedule I plan to adhere to.

I will pursue audience by:

1. Posting in The North Alabama Writers' Group Blog, writers group blog I hope my fellow writers will join me in maintaining.  I've been curating it for the last year.  If the blog was a plant, it wouldn't survive my tender care, even if it was a cactus.  20 posts in 33 weeks sounds ok, but the spacing is fubar-ed.  Nothing between April until July and now I'm blitzing posts every four days.  Pacing in my social engineering needs some fine tuning.

2. Reviving my Twitter account and trying to mobilize old contacts while also making new contacts.  Of social media, Twitter seems to be the most manageable for me.   Short bursts into the void seems more tolerable.

 My previous attempts saw scattered successes.  This time, I have a specific plan for each day that should help me interact in ways that will be more meaningful but also be fun.  I also think Twitter will be less frustrating this time vs my last attempt.  The goal this time is to interact with people and show a little of who I am where the goal last time was to funnel traffic to the blog.  It's cool if you guys come to the blog, but I'm not in Twitter for that.

3. Bringing this blog back as a recording tool to track success/failure.  I love analytics and I know there have to be dozens of others who would show up for the statistic updates.  Beyond what interests others, there's something about complete statistical transparency that feels good.  It's a weird moral high ground, but if it makes me happy and accomplished, why not?

4. I will also use the pages option in this blog to create an organized collection of resources I use for writing, measuring analytics, doing the social media, and so on.  It would be soooo cool if this kind of researching helped others, but the pages would be a success if I didn't have to hunt and peck all the time for stuff I half remember once having a link and description to.

5. I will reinvest in my creative writing by taking a work shopping class.  I miss the creative writing classes I took in college and the structure might give me the kick in the butt I need to produce again.  Tired of standing in one place.

6. Write!  The workshop should help but key to the "revive my social media to gain audience" campaign is the assumption I have stories ready to share.

Writers' and Editors Blogs I Read

This list in alphabetical order.

Alexander M. Zotari "Notes from an Alien":This blog centers around book and writing questions/topics Zotari wants to explore.  He only brings the conversation forward if people engage with his posts.  A wonderful way to bring in interested lurkers, though it sometimes leads to repetitive posts.  I enjoy seeing quiet people come out and post, and "Notes from an Alien" succeeds in catching many people's thoughts.

Ari Meghlen: She is a writer and outside of blogging focuses in the fantasy genre.  She gives excellent advice on how to start up an organized writing routine.  She shares her personal writing goals, she updates with her progress, she is one of the hosts of #themerrywriter on Twitter.  Her style is to the point and very approachable.  She's also building a job info list resource for writers.

Cal P. Logan: As I add this entry, he's just getting his blog up and running.  It looks like it will revolve around indie author book reviews as well as some notes on his querying/writing process.  I'm curious to read more

Christopher Graham: Has "The Reading Ape'd blog where he offers a lot of how to's that will interest authors.  I struggle navigating his site as the layout while very good is not intuitive to me, but his articles are worth the work.

Elna Cain: She is a freelance writer who manages I believe four blogs along with her freelance posts. I enjoy her post layouts and while some of her tips/tricks/suggestions are generic, I like how positive and persistent she is.  You can see that she has personally used her own techniques to gain success.

Hannah Heath: a writer who blogs on building one's platform and gives writing advice.  Fun and to the point blog style with a clean visually pleasing blog home.

Jacob Brundle: He promotes his upcoming publication and he writes about different ways to approach the creative process and how that may impact your progress/ you work.  He has a very clean blog with an engaging style.

Jeffrey A. Moulton: He has an interesting quirky blog style that's most at home with the speculation I enjoy in good science fiction.  His style connects odd outside inputs together for interesting conversation and writing prompt fodder.  Fun and offbeat on his blog with dark horror present in his novels.

Joy D Fanning: An aspiring writer she creates content related to the writing process and preparing to write/publish a major project.  As another writer seeking publication, I have a lot in common with her only her chosen genre is science fiction.  She's also part of a blogging collaborative "The Aspiring Author Blog"

Just Publishing Advice: The title says some of it.  This blog gives publishing advice, grammar advise, advertising advice and social media advice.  All interesting and easy to implement.

K. Kris Loomis: An eclectic writer who creates both fiction and non fiction.  She's into reading, yoga, and self care along with helpful suggestions on how to interact with others and build your presence authentically.

K.M. Weiland: author who provides step by step guides and advice to completing creative writing projects and seeing publication through.

Lauren Sapala: is a writer who focuses on the writing and publishing market specifically from the perspective of a highly sensitive personality type.  She approaches problems/issues/concerns from a deeply empathetic core and often provides more sympathizing that step by step advice.  She is patient, well spoken, and encouraging.  Her writing style speaks to me and is very engaging.

Lionel Ray Green: a local writer who encourages me and shares his writing breakthroughs with me. His blog is an eclectic mix of observations, reviews, and market announcements.  He has insight specifically in the horror market.

Morgan Wright: An up and coming author with an amazing twitter presence and what seems to be an extensive, growing blog presence.  I enjoy her layouts and services so I keep and eye on this blog even though these isn't presently much to talk about

Nat Russo: a writer who offers writing advise to other writers.  His book series is fantasy and currently on my "to be read" list.  I enjoy his advise and presence.

The North Alabama Writers' Group: A blog I curate with my writers group.  We post flash fiction, writing exercises, book reviews, and random writing topics we usually talk about in writers group.

An Outsider's Way: a writer's blog about natural healing and poetry.  It's more a spiritual vibe I enjoy that direct advice.  Still pretty writing and worth a peak.

Planet Simon: A fiction writer with insights into the science fiction/fantasy genre.  His site has a wonderful layout and a simple friendly style.

Polar Bear Editing: offers editing and publishing services and as such the blog specializes in publishing/editing advice.  Has a lot of delightful humor in it and fun graphics.  Also hits topical self published books pontoon out the good and bad.


Rachel Poli:  She is a writer who offers advice over different writing hurdles, advertises contests, flash, writes reviews, presents open calls of submission, and also hosts #themerrywriter on Twitter

Stefanie Sears: A freelance creative who blogs her own personal journey and accomplishments.  I enjoy watching her progress and gleaning ideas from her progress as I hope others find in my recording with this blog.

T.A. White: an author I found through her "Dragon Ridden Series" on Kindle Unlimited.  Her blog focuses on updates of the three series she's juggling the release of.  The woman is a machine and an inspiration for anyone looking to publish fantasy in today's market.

Women Writers, Women['s] Books: Love, love, love this blog site.  It offers encouraging and helpful information for all writers and it features female writers and their journey specifically.  It's easy to hear about Stephen King's thoughts, but where is the female experience.  I see Margret Atwood and Amy Tang quotes and advice once in a while, but it's nice to always have a sight I can go to to hear my fellows talk about their struggles in the industry or in their own work.

Writer Writer: a new blog created by Morgan Wright and David Collins.  They have short story contests where they publish the final work for free to their blog.  Views are public knowledge on their blog so you can decide if the potential exposure is worth "giving away" the story.  They also have resources for fellow writers to check out including books, worksheets, and articles.