August Status Report: 2012 Goals

As expected, the return of my day job has slowed the progress of my 2012 goals.  However, I’m happy to report I still accomplished something on most of my goals.  The numbers may be a bit lower across the board, but I’m proud of myself for writing every night, even after a long day at work!

1) Submit five pieces of writing to contests, journals, literary magazines, or the newspaper.

I submitted three poems to Wordrunner eChapbooks‘ call for poetry relating to the theme of “found.” Two of the  poems I sent were chosen by my readers in the Poetry Poll series.  Unfortunately, I had to eliminate  the third poem because after reading the fine print a little closer, I found out at least one of the poems had to be previously unpublished (including blog publication), so I rallied by writing a new poem to complete the trilogy.  Wish me luck!

In mid-August, the winners were announced for the Write It Your Way (Writer’s Digest – Summer Stories) and unfortunately my story Blueberry Hunt didn’t make the final cut, but I’m still really proud of how it turned out.

So far this year, I’ve submitted four pieces which means I’m one submission away from reaching this goal!

At the moment, I am working on a story to enter in the Sixteenth Annual Zoetrope: All Story Short Fiction Contest, (Deadline October 1)

2) Finish minor changes in my first novel.

I didn’t get to work on this goal as much as I would like, mainly because Novel #2 has most of my attention.  Even still, I managed to get a small block converted from the third person to first person.

Starting word count:  7,657
Ending word count: 7,975
Total word count: 318

3) Work on my second novel.

The numbers don’t quite reflect the time and effort that has gone into this project this month.  A slight plot change (one of the characters threw a little curve ball), a couple chapters ago created the need for some tinkering in the end sequence.  My muse and I spent many hours pondering, brainstorming, and scribbling until we came up with some viable solutions.

Furthermore, the completion of a Love List for this project has me moving full throttle to finish it.

Starting word count: 64,427
End word count: 66,210
Total word count: 1,783

4) Send out five query letters and be ready with a synopsis.

This goal remains on hold as I work to complete the total overhaul of Novel #1.

5) Keep up with my blog.

Even though I’ve cut down on how many posts I write each week, I remain consistent in updating on a regular basis.  Thank you to all my readers who continue to stop by to read and leave comments. Your visits are very much appreciated.

That being said, I am in the process of making a big decision.  The motivation to finish my second novel is so high right now, I want to take advantage of the momentum and finish it by the end of September.  In order to do this, I may have to cut down to one or two posts a week to give myself more time to write my novel.  I love my readers and I want to write for all of you, but my story is calling me!

6) Network more with other writers.

It’s a little slow on this front, but I’ve decided that’s okay.  Until I figure out how to get around the social networking block at work, I can’t be as connected as I’d like to be with the writing community. I’m hoping to have something worked out soon so I can visit other Facebook pages and tweet more often!

My thanks goes to everyone who has stopped by and followed me Facebook and Twitter.

My Facebook Page has grown from 178 to 188 Likes.

On Twitter, my followers have grown from 283 to 287.

I tend to update my Facebook status while I’m working on Novel #2 and sometimes I can be rather entertaining in the middle of a writing binge.  To join in the fun, please visit my sidebar to follow me on either network.

7) Inspire other writers to keep writing.

As always, I hope I am a positive presence!

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c.b.w. 2012