The month of September has been a crazy month, full of endings and new beginnings. Change is happening!
Why? Well, I finally reached the decision, after much contemplating, to quit my job as a PhD researcher. It was tough, but ultimately my heart just wasn’t in it. Last week was my final week, which means I’m now officially unemployed and searching for a new job.
You may be wondering what it is I’m searching for, and I’m actually looking for writing jobs! I’ve been searching and applying quite a bit for either contract jobs or freelance jobs as a content writer, copywriter, or editor. It’s both terrifying and exhilarating, but I’m ready for something new. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Either way, because of all the changes and wrapping up work, I haven’t written as much as I would’ve liked. So be prepared for that, ha. Anyway: here’s my writing update for September! There’s some sharing of what I worked on and what my approach was, if I met my goals (spoiler alert, I didn’t), and what my new goals will be.
What I worked on this month
My project that I call Ice Cold has not made as much progress as I’d hoped. So, my goals were to add another 7k words, analyze Nevernight as my masterwork, and re-evaluate the sign-post scenes I had planned for it.
What did I do? Well, I added roughly 4k and 3 new scenes. It isn’t bad, but I’d hoped to write some more. Hopefully, now that things have settled, and my job is done, I will have more headspace to sit down and write. Actually, most of the words I wrote these past days, so that seems to be a good indication that October will be more productive.
As for the analyzing of Nevernight and checking the signpost scenes again, I did not get around to do this. Probably because I didn’t even put it in my agenda after setting these goals. And if I don’t do that, I just forget. So, note to everyone (and most of all to myself): write down your goals in your agenda after you make them, and actually plan time to do them.
RELATED: OUTLINE YOUR NOVEL USING SIGNPOST SCENES
For Half-bloods, I said I would edit the first 5 signpost scenes and brainstorm the next 5. While I didn’t edit all of them, I did manage to edit the first 3, which is already more than I did last month (which was nothing). So, you know, progress overall. I do like the switch between these two projects, also because they’re in a different stage.
Do you like to switch between projects, or are you more of a one-project-at-a-time kind of person?
My Goals for October
Well, it’s a new month, so let’s set me some new goals! Honestly, these goals will look very similar to the goals of the previous month, so there’s not much surprise there. For Ice Cold, I just want to add another 7k. I think I will be able to manage that next month. And this time, I actually do want to analyze Nevernight and recheck the signpost scenes I came up with. For Half-bloods, I want to pick up the pace a bit. I feel that I can, you know? So, I’m not just going to edit the final 2 signpost scenes; I’m also going to brainstorm the next 5 and edit these as well.
Summing it up
For my own convenience, this is what the list then looks like
- Write at least 7k words for Ice Cold
- Analyze Nevernight as my masterwork for Ice Cold
- Re-evaluate the signposts for Ice Cold
- Edit the next 7 signpost scenes for Half-bloods
- Brainstorm the next 5 signpost scenes for Half-bloods
We’ll see next month if I’ve succeeded!
Do you have some writing projects going? Do you like to set monthly or weekly goals? How do you go about setting them? Do you find it helpful to explain my process to you? Would you like more or fewer details? Let me know in the comments!
