I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Can’t tell I just watched The A-Team this week, right? :D

One of the things I’ve found most effective in achieving any of my goals is setting a plan of action. I have my long range goals, say a year. Then I break them up into smaller chunks. In this case, by month. Then I break them up again into weeks. Last, I have my daily goals.

This may seem elementary. But how many times have we seen a large, seemingly insurmountable goal and been so overwhelmed that we give up before we ever start?

For over a year now, this is exactly what I’ve been doing. I haven’t accomplished everything – yet, but I’ve gotten so much more work done that I would have without this approach.

There are many goal setting websites out there that can help you organize your priorities and keep track of your progress.

GoalForIt is one that I recently learned about. I’ve just only started playing around with it. It lets you set goals, add the steps you’re going to take to reach plus a place to add pictures for motivation. It also lets you set up a daily to-do list, assigning points to each task. We all like to “get” something when we finish our work like good boys and girls, right?

There are others. Some entail a cost. GoalForIt is free.

For the most part, I use Word and Excel to keep track of my own goals. I get a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment when I can cross out a task as completed.

However you do it, making a plan and keeping track of your progress can go a long way towards keeping you on your path.

Have you used any programs to keep track? Ever tried GoalForIt? How do you keep on track?

Day 1 as a Full-time Writer

Yesterday was my last day at the part time job. Driving home, I felt a huge pressure lift off my chest and shoulders. Today is my first day as a full-time writer. At least for now. We're still not sure if we're staying in Germany or heading back to the States yet. It will probably be another 2 weeks until we hear, but while we're here, I can focus on my writing. I intend to make the most of this time, whether it's only 3 more months or 3 more years.

Last night, as I relaxed on my sofa with Peanut laying beside me, I made my to-do list for today. I've already marked off 5 things as finished, even after sleeping in. Peanut decided to snuggle into the pillows for extra shut-eye too. I thought she looked so cute, I had to get a picture.

One thing that was not on the list today but definitely on the list for tomorrow is catching up on emails. I've let them slide the last two weeks (I know, bad girl). So if you've sent me an email in that time, I promise to respond by tomorrow.

One of the things that did make the list is ordering goodies for my giveaway during Blogmania next month. You probably remember Blogmania from April. I had a pretty good giveaway, if I do say so myself. Well, I'm trying to out-do myself this time. I've got some great gifts coming and as they arrive, I'll take pics so you can see what's up for grabs. I'm centering the theme around my novel, Out of the Shadows. You all have been so supportive of me and my novel, so here's a little give-back. Blogmania is coming soon, just 4 weeks away.

Anyway, time to knock some more items off the to-do list. What's on your plate this week? Any special projects you're hoping to finish up?

Accountability

I've mentioned my accountability group in the past. Today I'm going to talk more in depth about them. Why? Because we're looking to add a few people to our ranks.

A similar group had one opening in December. At the time, it was exactly what I needed to get my butt back in gear. I'd stopped writing. From August to December, I didn't write a word. So, I applied. Yes, there was an application to make sure they found the right fit.

Apparently there were several of us that the group thought would work well with them. Not sure how they made their ultimate decision, but I wasn't the one chosen. Then, one of the women that founded that group offered to spend 6 weeks helping those of us who didn't make it, form our own group if we wanted.

That's what we did. We've been working hard since January to form a group that is supportive yet firm in keeping us on track with our goals. There are 3 of us now and we're looking to add 3 more. Let me tell you a bit about how we work.

We started out making long term goals (LTGs). These are the goals we want to accomplish in the year. Based on these LTGs, we make weekly and daily goals. We post our goals to a private blog. We support and nudge each other on this blog. We also meet once a week for chat to discuss anything that we feel is important. We also got to know each other during this time and I feel as though I have two new friends.

Our goals aren't just about writing. We have writing life (WL) goals, which pertain to other parts of being a writer outside the actual writing. That may include getting a website set up, or taking a class, or reading a craft book. We also have real life (RL) goals. These are goals outside of writing all together that we want to accomplish. It's a plan to help provide balance in our life.

We commit to writing 6 days a week, a minimum of 20 minutes a day. Also, those same 6 days, we commit to some WL goals. Our real life goals are 5 days a week. It's a lot of work, a big commitment. I don't want to scare anyone, but it's important to know that this is a serious group. We're asking for a commitment to the end of the year.

Now that I've told you a bit about the group itself, let me tell you what it's done for me. In the last 5 months, I have edited my first release and got it ready. I wrote a novella, submitted it, received a contract on it, completed the edits and waiting for its release. I finished the first draft of a full-length novel that I was about 50% done. I'm almost halfway through the second pass on it and getting close to starting the editing process. In total, I've written over 75k since January. I've gotten one of my websites redesigned and one of my blogs up and running. I've researched and got a list of agents to query as soon as my novel is ready. I'm completing my goals of taking a class every month and reading a craft book every month. My RL are ongoing, but most weeks, I meet those too. Oh, and did I mention I've made two new, great friends.

I think you'll agree that I've accomplished a lot in 5 months. I owe the continued forward movement to my accountability group. There have been days that I just didn't want to do what I needed to do. The thought of not getting a smiley for that day or having to tell my group that I was lazy was great incentive to keep my nose to the grindstone.

So, if anything sounds like what you need and want right now, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at riley@riley-quinn.com.

Lists

I'm trying something new. To-Do lists.

Lately, I've been having trouble getting things done. It's not that I don't have the time, I'm just not utilizing it well. Case in point, I should have already had the first draft of OOTS finished by now. Yes, I'm close and May 15 is my self-imposed deadline, but really? I swear, if it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.

So back to my list. I was off from the part time job yesterday and I think it went to my head. I put 11 items on my to-do list. 11 time-consuming items. I guess I need to work on realistic expectations, too.

I was able to mark 4 off yesterday. I learned my lesson. Today, I have to work the part time job and I only have 4 items on my list. Blog post (check), work on OOTS for an hour (next), work on Blood Diamond revisions for 30 minutes and read chapter 4 of my textbook for my Intro to World Religions class. I'm almost ready to make an appointment for my midterm in that class. Yay!

Anyway, I'm going to try this out and see if it helps me get my butt back in gear. It's about 2 ½ months until conference and I have a lot to do before then.

Do you use lists? Does it help you? What other methods do you use to manage your time?

Come Monday

I think I had mentioned my experiment – to work on OOTS during the week and a novella idea on the weekends? Well, that's changed a bit. See, a group of us are working through the book, The Weekend Novelist, and I thought this would be a good way to increase productivity. If it worked. Well, a novella isn't big enough. I need an actual novel-length idea to work on. OOTS is the first of a series of 5 and I didn't want to use the second in the series for this workshop as I'm hoping – no, planning – to have the rough draft done by Christmas.

So I'll be working on my urban fantasy mystery for the project, from here on out known as TWN. Wish me luck. We read the introduction this weekend and I skipped ahead a bit to see what's in store for us for the next 2 weekends. It's a different process than I've used in the past, but I'm interested to see how it will work. As for OOTS, I finished chapter 17 last week so that leaves me 3 more chapters to finish the first draft.

On another front, my philosophy class is going well. I finished 3 of the 11 lessons this past week. It's quite interesting. If all goes well this week, I can probably schedule my midterm exam soon. I need about 2 weeks lead time so that should be about right.

Oh, the weather has warmed just a bit. Hubby got the patio furniture put together and we grilled sausages on the grill Saturday night and the neighbors joined us for a nice evening. My blood is still thinner than the Germans, though. After it got dark, I needed a couple of jackets to ward off the chill. The neighbors? Just a light jacket. Anyway, here's a picture of the patio furniture.

How was your weekend?

End of the Quarter

Wow, it's April already. A quarter of the year has passed. I have to say that I'm fairly pleased with how the year has started. I made a list of long term goals that I wanted to accomplish this year. So far, I've been able to cross off three of them as accomplished.

The latest accomplishment is finishing up Blood Diamond and submitting it to The Wild Rose Press for their Jewels of the Night series. I got it in by March 31, which means if chosen, my story will go in a drawing to kick off the series. I recently received an email update regarding my submission. They are going through the entries as quickly as possible so that they can announce the winner of the drawing on June 15. Hopefully I'll know something sooner, but worst case scenario, I'll find out by then.

I'm feeling good and hoping for the best. My CPs all liked the story and had few changes to suggest. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I've moved forward in a bid to keep myself from going crazy thinking about it. I'm back into Out of the Shadows, the first book in a five book series. It's an urban fantasy set in fictional Cedar Creek, TX. I spent most of yesterday working on it, finishing up chapter 15. According to my word meter on the left, I've cracked the 60% mark on word count. I've got 5 chapters left until I finish the first draft.

The concept has changed considerably since I began, so the revisions will be major but I'm excited about it. I had to go back and read a few passages to keep continuity and I really liked what I read. Of course there are things I need to add. That's just the way I write, but there's emotion there that I could still feel even after setting it aside for over 6 months. I'm excited about that.

I've also gotten sucked into another story idea. There's a call for novellas centered around the reunion of the Class of 1985. I graduated in 1989, close enough that the concept called to me. I've got the basics on my characters and I've decided that I'm going to experiment over the next two weeks. I'm going to work on my novel during the week and my novella on the weekends. I'll give it two weeks. My novel is the main focus since I want it ready to pitch at National convention in July. If I find it's sliding, I'll put up the novella until I get the novel finished. If it works, it may be the working model I use to continue the novellas, but also complete full-length novels. Wish me luck.

Oh, I did something different for the novella too. I made a playlist yesterday. I found the top 100 pop songs of 1985 and made a playlist with about half of them. I'm going to try it and if I like it, I may include choosing a playlist part of my plotting process. It was kind of fun.

So, as I go into the second quarter of the year, my goals are to finish and polish Out of the Shadows and plot and finish this new novella. That seems like quite a bit so here's hoping my second quarter is as productive as the first.

Have you been able to cross off any of your long term goals? Have you re-evaluated your goals lately? How do you feel about what you've accomplished so far?

I've got the itch

I'm feeling that itch again. The crafting itch. I'm working on a quilt for my nephew's birthday. I'm already late with it so it's imperative that I don't work on any other sewing projects until I finish this one. But, oh, how I want to.

I've got a list in my head of things I want to make and it's already too late to make some. Well, I can still make them but they would be put away until next year. There was this cute chick in the egg wall hanging. Sigh. I'm dying to try my hand at a laptop bag. I got a new laptop at Christmas and it's bigger than my previous one, which barely fit into my laptop bag. So, of course, my new one won't fit at all. I know what I want and I'm coming up with my own pattern, using techniques from some previous purses I made. I also picked up this gorgeous Asian-inspired fabric. I can see it now. Okay, getting ahead of myself.

I'm also a crocheter. I'm currently working on a little something, okay a big something, for my friend's birthday, which has already passed. See a trend here? She reads my blog so I can't say any more than that but I'm about 2/3 done with it. Waiting in the wings is this adorable pattern I found for a baby blanket with jungle animals on the borders. My brother and sister-in-law had twins a couple months back and she decorated their nursery in baby jungle animals. It's perfect and of course, I have to make two, so…

Amid all this twitching, I'm still writing. Submitted Blood Diamond and playing the waiting game with that one. I'm back to Out of the Shadows and finished chapter 13 and almost done with 14, probably today. Plus my part time job and oh yeah, I just signed up for two college classes last week. I only need 3 to finish my degree so hopefully the third will be offered for the fall semester and I can finish it up. Then to continue on. So, I'm finding that I need to re-evaluate my time management and figure out how I can fit everything I want to do in with everything I need to do. I'm sure it's possible, I just need to be disciplined. Kinda like writing. Hmm…

What about you? Do you have enough hours in the day? Is there something you'd like to do, but have trouble fitting it into your schedule? How do you handle your time management?