Did I really not accomplish anything this week?

Here, we are at the end of another week. I was on vacation all week, camping off of Lake Superior. Didn't have any internet access, but I had my laptop and electricity, so you would think I would have written SOMETHING. No, not really.

I can only give myself a three out of 16 for reaching my goals this week. I did however attend a one day writer's workshop yesterday, so that should count for something. I learned lots about the business of writing, as well as making new contacts. 

 There really were people at this conference. Everybody must be at lunch.

I tried to make friends with the alpacas. It was held on an alpaca farm so I had to take in the atmosphere. And honestly, there really were people at this event

How does your garden grow?

I know I said that when I started this blog that I wasn't going to post pictures, because as fun as they are they also are time consuming and I just do not have enough hours in the day to get all my goals met as it is, without added pressure. But today I just had to give you a visual as to why I have once again not met my goals this week.

This would be my vegetable garden, mainly the beans, which have exploded in the past week.   

 Usually it is another week or so before they are in full swing, but since we had a mild winter, I was able to plant my seeds by mid-May. Each year I seem to feel the need to plant yet another row of bush beans. The yellow wax beans are really good.

 And this is what I have been picking every night. And you know they don't take care of themselves at this point. These guys are just hanging out waiting to be cut and washed and thrown in a pot of water to be blanched so they can go in the freezer til winter.

Did I do any writing this week? I scored a six out of sixteen. Amazing that I even got that far, but I promsie I will not give up. Next week is another week and another chance.

Wish me luck with the beans. And head over to my other blog to see another of my gardens.

Where did I end up by week's end?

Despite all of the other issues I have been encountering for the past week and a half, not to mention the migraine that plagued me for four days, I scored an eight out of 16 on my goal meter for the week.

I wrote for four hours, added to all of my social networks, posted two posts on the Dino Chronicles, hmm? and that seems to be about it. Next week, I have to, have to, have to submit something! I have a few leads on magazines where I could send a couple short stories and non-fiction pieces. I just have to get on it.

I also have to do some research for my novel. I have discovered that it may be harder for my protagonist to track down the baby she gave up for adoption than I had thought it would be. Oops, hope I didn't give away too much of the story. Oh, well. It will keep you waiting on the edge of your seats for the book to come out, right?

I also have got to call the police department to see if those kids next door can really be running their ATVs up and down the side road all day every day. The noise is making me crazy!

Where did the past week go?

Oh, I know where the week went. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Not only did my computer at work give me grief, but a storm took out the internet at home - I think I wrote about that somewhere already. Then there has been the usual hassle over everything at work and my home life has suddenly turned soap opera.

Today, however, seems to have seen an upward swing. All the computers in my life are currently functioning properly. Both the children are coming around, to the point that I have put one of them back on the Christmas list, and I am holding onto hope for the other one. And my mom - well, I have always promised her that I would never write about her, so I can only say that I am optimistic about where she is at right now.

Somehow I have still managed to work on my novel an hour a day. I really messed up yesterday, however, by not posting on my other blog, but sometimes I have to give in and not write one if I know it is not going to turn out well. My masses hopefully understand that.

So, even though I had a few setbacks this week, I am hopeful to slug out my goals by the weekend.

Did I reach my goals this first week?

I think I did pretty good this week. In the crazy system of goal-reaching that I have, I scored ten points out of 16.

I posted on both my blogs, I added 18 contacts to all my social networks, I tried really hard to not waste time on the internet. On the downside, I only wrote for five hours - it sure felt like more than that, but that is what my figures show. I also did not submit anything anywhere.

But do you know what they always say? You gotta leave room for improvement. If you start out at the top, you have nowhere to go but down.

How did I spend another holiday?

Except for the family holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, where you really are obligated to spend some time with the family, I greet many holidays as a day off of work, which means a day to get in some extra writing time. I mean, really, what else is a person to do on Memorial Day, Labor Day and the Fourth of July? I wake up on those days, say "yes I don't have to go to work" and jump on the laptop. Well, or I try to.

Today I had a two hour commitment to Kinship, which is an organization here in town which matches disadvantaged kids with mentors to give the kids extra one-on-one time with a caring responsible adult. So I helped out at a Kinship fundraiser, visited with a few people, took some pictures. It was an ok time.

Then I bought fourteen dollars worth of junk food from other fundraisers in town and headed home to the hubby who had been mowing the lawn when the temperature was pushing 90 and the humidity was 95%. Did I tell you that it was warm where I was at too?

ROW80 progress: I did get in two hours of writing - actually I'm rereading and doing minor editing on my book, getting back up to speed before adding to it. I had written up to Chapter 17 on the really rough draft and in the past week have reviewed up to Chapter 7. As far as my other goals, I think I am on track. More figures will be coming out on Sunday.

Hope you had a safe and productive Holiday.

What are my writing goals?

I've tried different ways to focus on my writing and to actually be productive. I gave myself daily word count goals. I used a timer, forcing myself to keep writing for an hour at a time each day. Just recently, I came up with a longer list, something for me that was more doable, as there was more variety. Not only was I going to write a certain amount each week, I wanted to grow my social network as well as do research for my current novel and spend time researching various markets. I wanted to strive to submit something somewhere each and every week.

Trying this for the last month, I've been somewhat of a failure. July 1, however, was my new starting point, from which I would jump into all of my goals.

Here they are:

1) Write for a total of nine hours a week. I know it doesn't sound like much, but that is an hour a day plus two on weekends. Did I tell you I work fulltime? That takes a chunk of time out of my week. There's lots more to the writing career than writing, though, so keep going down the list.

2) Add to my social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Good Reads, Pinterest) twice a week.

3) On the flip-side of #2, don't spent more than an hour a day social networking. This is my biggest time-drain. Do I really need to know that Jess just came back from a ten-mile run or that Pat is going to take a shower? Do I really need to look at all those pictures of flowers from Portugal? Or horses from Bolivia? Really?

4) Research markets, editors, agents, etc, for one hour a week. Unless I want everything I write to stay in my laptop or file cabinet, I have to find places to send it and people to read it.

5) Submit something, somewhere once a week. Same as for #4.

6) Continue posting on my original blog, The Dino Chronicles, three times a week. Post my writing progress twice a week on this blog.

Is that enough to keep me busy? The worst part is that it is summer here now, and our summer is so short that all I want to do is sit outside in the sun. Doesn't help either that my writing space is in the basement, except that it is the coolest place in the house.

And away we go...