Weekly update: Feb 28 to March 6

Weekly word count: 4050

I managed to just squeak through on my word count for this week.  I'll have to do better next week, especially since writing is going to be very difficult during March Break with both kids home all week.

It's been lots of fun watching the reviews and feedback come in for Metamorphosis.  Thus far the consensus is good.  It's a different feel from the first book, a less frantic pace which I feel suits the long nights and more natural rhythms of life up North. 

I finished the first draft of Rose on the Grave, the second short story for Spirit Sight.  It still needs a lot of work but should be ready for another pre-Hallowe'en release. 

And we had a fantastic workshop with the Ottawa Romance Writers this month.  All about practical goal setting and not letting your fears block your dreams.  I think the information on common fears and how to overcome them will be very useful for creating powerful character growth arcs (as well as personally).  But it was the goal setting which really caught my attention.

Cynthia Boyko recommended setting 3 practical, realistic and concrete goals for the next 90 days.  By only focusing on the next three months, it doesn't get overwhelming while still keeping a sense of urgency and focus.  The goal needs to be something that can be easily determined if it was met or not.  "I'm going to get more serious about my writing" is too fluid.  "I'm going to write for half an hour a day" is either happening or not, no debate.  She cautioned against getting too ambitious.  The point is to succeed, which means leaving room for unpleasant surprises.

So here are my goals:

Write at least 4000 words per week. (This was already a goal, so  I'm keeping it in the loop)

Have at least 2 weeks where I write each day Monday-Friday. (Too often my time gets bumped for appointments, errands and other life stuff.  In three months, I should be able to manage two full weeks of writing.)

Do at least two tweets per day for my upcoming promotion.  (I am still promo-shy when it comes to letting people know what's going on.  Time to stop being embarrassed to toot my own horn.)

Next month's workshop is on editing.  Edit Like A Pro with Laura Paquette.  Another one I'm looking forward to.

Simple, direct and theoretically achievable.  We'll see what happens.