Monday, October 02, 2006

1st Quarter ...

The first quarter has ended for FY07. Time to reflect on the goals for the last three months, devise new plans for the second quarter, and begin again.

FY07
1st Quarter Goals:
"The theme is to focus on what I can control." A good theme, but needs improvement.

* "Have 12 stories out for submissions." At this time I have 2 short stories and three flash fiction pieces out. Failed miserably on this goal.

* "Complete SF novel." Success! The late August marathon paid off. I now have 60,000 words of disjointed piffle.

* "Consistently post on blogs (own and others) and critique work of others." Mixed results. I didn't critique others' stories as much as I'd hoped.

* "Keep up with Two Year Novel class assignments." D minus on this score. There are reasons and excuses, but this is a business darn it! We will own up to failure.

On the bright side, I did have a short story published in Atomjack Magazine. This seemed to placate the stockholders and balance out the lackluster achievements listed above.

Onwards and upwards!

FY07
2nd Quarter Goals:
Another lesson learned again: use real numbers when setting goals. Many of the above were rather pie in the sky. This second quarter shall reflect (watch out, overused management acronym coming up) SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound.

* Have web site live by October 9th. Very little writing will be done until then.

* Submit two new stories by December 30th. This should be relatively easy. Story #1 is on the 80th round of edits and is just about ready to go out. Story #2 is on draft four or five and, given a realistic pace, should be ready by the holidays. If I don't throw it out in frustration that is. ;-)

* Catch up with word count for Two Year Novel Class. I need to get back into a groove with the new night schedule but this should be okay at least until the Holidaze.

* Critique one story a month on the Forward Motion Writer community. I expect to post story #2 there and so must reciprocate for good karma. It is the season of giving, you know.

* Complete second draft of SF novel. Doh! There go the SMART goals. If I can't do National Novel Writer's Month then at least I can be there in spirit. November will be the month to deal with this albatross I've been working on for 18 months.

Is that it? More than enough.

3 Comments:

Blogger Cheryl said...

No NaNo?
How is that possible?

October 3, 2006 at 3:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

SMART goals, gee I wonder where you pick up that acronym. I'm glad you are finally using what you learned at Tufts.

October 10, 2006 at 9:18 PM  
Blogger Todd Wheeler said...

What's the phrase? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while? Thanks for stopping by!

October 11, 2006 at 8:01 AM  

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