With five months behind me, I thought it would be a good time to go back and look at my goals from January to see how things are going, and if I need to make any adjustments. It might make more sense to do this in July, half way through the year, but I’m a teacher, and my school year is ending, so it feels like a good time to do a check in and see what I need to focus on over the summer.

2019 Writing Goals: The June Check In

1. Write every day, at least 200 words. I find setting the bar low helps motivate me even when I’m exhausted, and usually I end up writing a lot more than 200 words.

I have not written everyday, but I have written the equivalent of about 380 words a day. Not amazing, but its something. I could make excuses about having a baby, not sleeping, etc., but I think I really just need to improve on my consistency. I want my daily average to be closer to 500 at next check in, but with editing coming up, I have a feeling it will be lower. Editing doesn’t net me words, but it’s a crucial part of the process.

2. Finish a draft of The Island Experiment (Kepos Chronicles, Book 3) by summer (hopefully sooner).

I’m so close to finishing the first draft! The editing on this one’s gonna be a doozy, but as they say, you can’t edit what’s not there. I’m wrapping up the denouement now, and I have one or two more POV chapters to add into the middle. Not my usual writing process, but I made a few changes and need to go back and add some set up.

3. Publish The Island Experiment this year, ebook and paperback at the same time.

I’m still on track to meet this goal, as long as I don’t get caught in an editing loop.

4. Do some book signings and get my books in local used bookstores.

I’ve already done one book signing this year, and this summer I plan to reach out to some local bookstores. I should have done this a long time ago. In fact, I have the email written and saved in my email drafts folder, I’m just too afraid to hit send. I need to work on that.

5. Attend 2-3 local writing conventions.

So far, I’ve attended zero. I think I may end up only attending one this year, but at least I’m working on this goal. I think I’ll be okay with just one.

6. Give a presentation/talk at a school.

I’ve got something in the works for this one, but nothing’s official yet, so no details.

7. Write a weekly blog!

So far so good! I missed my Sunday deadline twice and published on a Monday. Once I was slammed that weekend, and the other time was because I screwed up the scheduling button and thought I had published a post when I really hadn’t. Always check your work, friends!
That’s all of my January goals. I’m making pretty good progress, and don’t feel the need to massively change any. I would however, like to add a couple more.

8. Publish 1-2 short stories on Amazon this year.
9. Make my own covers for those short stories.

I’ve got some good reasons for adding these two goals that I’ll probably touch on in a future post.

Anyway, that’s my goal check in. How are you doing with your goals? Any changes? Surprises? Knocked them all out of the park and had to create new ones? Let me know!