2019 Goals Check-in – February

I don’t want to blow anybody’s minds this early in the year, but I recently had an epiphany: February is a short month. Like… 1-3 days shorter, depending on the year and the month you’re comparing it to.

Crazy, right?

This particular February has felt even shorter, at least partly because I’ll be moving next week. In lieu of a stand-alone article, and given how quickly March is bearing down on us, I thought this would be a good time to check in on my 2019 writing goals.

It’s been a month since I posted my writing resolutions; have I kept up with them? Is everything going amazingly or have I given up entirely? Let’s find out!

Don’t worry; I don’t plan to do this every month¹. However, I do plan to make occasional status checks, and course-correct when necessary.

Spoiler: It’s already been necessary.

Just as a refresher, here were my goals for the year:

My 2019 Writing Goals and/or Resolutions

1. Figure out the difference between goals and resolutions
2. Finish querying See These Bones
3. Complete the rewrite of Investigation, Mediation, Vindication
4. Once IMV is done, requery it
5. Write the first draft of Red Right Hand (the sequel to See These Bones) by the end of the year
6. Get back to writing poetry
7. Blog at least once a month
8. Write another short story in 2019 and share it on this site
9. Have something available for purchase on Amazon by the end of the year

So how am I doing a whole month later? Let’s find out…

Figure out the difference between goals and resolutions

I’m still working on this one. It’s a journey, people!

Finish querying See These Bones

So… per my stated goals, I sent out queries for the first few weeks (5x/week). I even got some nibbles (one partial and a full) which was fantastic. However, I also heard from the agent who had originally requested a R&R. She liked the changes, and the fact that I was willing to make those changes, and we’ve been exchanging emails (at an admittedly slow rate) on what my goals are, both as a writer and for See These Bones, ever since.

If she does offer representation, I’ll almost certainly accept, so my motivation for additional queries has flagged somewhat in the meantime. If things don’t seem to be working out, I’ll dive back into the querying process.

Complete the rewrite of Investigation, Mediation, Vindication

Three resolutions in and weve already reached one that I’ve given up on. Lame!

I spent several weeks banging my head against the rewrite of IMV only to finally realize something: I don’t like the rewrite very much. The writing is a vast improvement over the original version, but that was about all that could be said for it. More egregiously, the new version wasn’t solving any of the prior version’s pacing issues. So I’ve decided to table this rewrite for the short term; I need to let it ferment in my brain until I can come up with a better plan of attack.

Once IMV is done, requery it

Well, if I’m not rewriting IMV, I definitely can’t requery it. That’s just science, dude.

Write the first draft of Red Right Hand by the end of the year

So here’s the good news corollary to the bad news of my IMV rewrite falling by the wayside: I’ve started writing Red Right Hand instead! I’m currently struggling a little bit with ‘second book’ issues — maintaining pace, voice, and style, while also recapping the high points of what happened in the prior book for potential new readers²–which has led to a dozen different introductory chapters and several annoyed tweets or facebook status updates, but it feels great to be back in this world and writing these characters. I’m excited to see how far I can get over the next few months.

Get back to writing poetry

Finally, a resolution I’ve actually been able to keep! I’ve continued to make Thursdays my unofficial poetry day. I’ve sent a few submissions off, and have been working on completing poems for a Christmas themed collection³. I also shared my first poem on this site at the end of last month, and will share a new one next Tuesday.

Blog at least once a month

I guess this post technically means I’m still keeping up with this resolution, but I’d planned for February’s post to be more than just a simple status update. Still, given February’s totally unexpected (and heretofore unknown) shortness, I’ll cut myself some slack. Next month, I’ll delve into some fun writing topics instead.

Write another short story in 2019 and share it on this site

This was always a goal for October and later, so I’m not too concerned that I haven’t even started on it yet.

Have something available for purchase on Amazon by the end of the year

Stay tuned. I hope.

So there you have it… a report card that any mother would be… horrified by, if we’re being honest. Lots of incompletes and ‘who knows’, but with the exception of the dumpster fire that is the IMV rewrite, there is at least some measurable progress being made. And in a month that saw snow fall on the streets of Vegas (seriously; what the hell was up with that?), I’ll take whatever positives I can find.

As mentioned, I’ll be sharing another poem next week. Otherwise, I’ll see you all back here in March, when I will hopefully have more news to share (and from my new house)!

1. Both for your sanity and for mine.
2. Or those who, like me, read so much that everything starts to blur together
3. Those who know me in real life will know that’s a weird theme for me, and especially for my poetry, but whatever