The first three months of the year have passed, which means it is time to look back and see if I accomplished all of the goals that I set out to do!
Before we begin, what exactly are Quarterly Writing Goals? They are just goals that I set and hope to attain within three months. These goals all have something to do with being an author...writing a book, editing a book, publishing a book, etc. etc. I choose to do my goals every three months because, for me, that is a decent amount of time to do any of the projects that I do as an author. I choose to make goals in the first place because when I do I am much more productive and motivated.
Now that that's out of the way...
What were my goals for the first quarter of 2019 and did I accomplish any of them?
Goal #1 was to finished A Promise to Keep. I came incredibly close to finishing this book, but I did not actually write the last few scenes. It is painfully close to the end and I am distressed I didn't make it, but I'll be fine. A lot of writing did get done, and the last few scenes have been outlined in detail so it won't take me long to finish.
Goal #2 was to explore IngramSpark so that I am familiar with that platform when I publish with it. I did do this.
Goal #3 was to outline my fantasy novel. This did not happen because I put it on hold until I finished A Promise to Keep, and obviously that never occurred.
Goal #4, similarly, was to world build for my fantasy novel and this did not happen for the same reason as #3.
Goal #5 Change everything to Mandi. This I did do.
Goal #6 was sending Return to Sherwood to my editors. This did not take place because while writing the sequel, A Promise to Keep, I came across many things that needed to be fixed in Return to Sherwood and therefore my editors couldn't see the manuscript yet.
and last but not least, Goal #7 was to read/edit the books that several different young authors asked me to look over. I did this. But I did it rather half-heartedly because reading bad writing is a painful experience that I did not wish to dive into too deeply. I will never be an editor. Ever.
Oh, and of course keeping up with social media/vlogs, which I actually did decently well at this quarter. That's a first.
There you have it. I did some things, I missed others.
So what are my goals for the next three months?
Finish A Promise to Keep I am so very close to having the first draft of this book done! I would like to actually finish it.
Edit Return to Sherwood POV This is a major editing task that I must complete before I send this manuscript to my editors.
Start Cover Artist process for Return to Sherwood This is technically already lined up, but as it hasn't begun yet it's on my list.
Conference in April Again, already lined up, but since I haven't been to the conference yet it is on my list. I do have an undisclosed sales goal for that weekend. We'll see what happens.
Outline my fantasy novel Assuming I ever actually finish A Promise to Keep, I will begin the outlining of my next novel which happens to be a fantasy novel.
Worldbuild my fantasy novel a vital step for a fantasy story...which I intend to get done, as long as I finish the last few scenes of A Promise to Keep.
Start writing my fantasy novel This is entirely dependent on finishing A Promise to Keep (which I WILL do)
Purchase ISBNs an author always needs more of these...but they're not exactly a cheap purchase.
And, as always, keeping up with social media/vlogs.
Those are my goals for quarter #2. I certainly hope to accomplish them and anticipate doing most, if not all, of them for once. But maybe I shouldn't jinx myself.
In the meantime, Happy Writing everybody!
