Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Making Plans to Progress – ROW 80 Round 4 Update #9


Well, I don’t have much to report today.  I’ve made virtually no progress on my December goals so far – I think I’ve written a grand total of 849 words, and that was my last update post.  It has been / is going to be a busy week, so I’m not sure how much writing I’m going to get done, but I’m going to try to fit it in somewhere.  This weekend, we have our holiday pops concert with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra (my husband and I sing in the Symphony Chorale).  We had our first rehearsal with the conductor last night (the Chorale has its own director, but of course the orchestra director conducts our joint concerts) and I feel much more confident about the music.  We also have rehearsals with the orchestra on Thursday and Friday nights, and then concerts on Saturday and Sunday.  I’m hoping I can get some writing in on Saturday during the day while my husband is at work, but I also need to clean the bathroom, and start at least making lists for Christmas preparations (there’s really only two weekends left to get stuff done that I need to mail – eek!).  And then tonight, my only rehearsal free night of the week, I’m going to a play with a friend.  

Here’s a brief update, mostly to reiterate my goals for myself and come up with some ideas to start meeting them.

1) Writing - 10,000 words
As previously noted, I’ve only written about 849 words since NaNo ended, and they were all for my update post.  I don’t think I’m going to count those towards the 10,000, because the purpose of the goal is really to make progress on my fiction writing – I want to finish the storyline of my NaNo project, and then start working on the stories that were my original NaNo plan before it was hijacked by the new shiny.

I still have one more lunch hour this week (I have a working lunch on Friday), and I also get off work early on Friday and before everyone else in my house, so I’m going to try to get some writing in then.  I can also get up early and get some writing done before going to my exercise class on Saturday, and save the other stuff for later in the day.

2) Post Writing-Post Round Up monthly
I didn’t get my November links posted on Monday, as I previously said I would.  I had intended to do that on my lunch hour on Monday, and then I remembered that my laptop is refusing to access the internet here at the University.  It will go up this weekend – I’m determined.

I’ve also collected a few “after NaNoWriMo” links, so I may do a special edition post round-up later in the month.

3) Visit and comment on at least 5 other ROWer's blogs per week
I have not yet done this.  I think I’ve commented on one other blog, and visited a couple.  I’m thinking this is a good Sunday morning task.

4) Revamp Blog
This is such a broad goal that I probably need to break it out into steps.  I’ll try to find some time on Saturday to look for resources on how to code (or modify code for) a template.  If anybody knows any good sites for how to do Blogger templates (or a site where there’s good prebuilt templates), I’m all ears (or maybe eyes?).

5) Prioritize
This should probably actually be the first goal on my list, since figuring this out would really help me achieve all my other goals.  I think on Friday, I’m going to take some of my “early out” time and start making lists of things I do, and which are actually important.

So, there it is, a plan of sorts.   I hope all of you are having a wonderful week!


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds like you have a busy week. Break a leg with the concerts! (Not sure if show business superstition goes to what you're doing, but figured rather safe than sorry!) I wish you luck finishing up the holiday stuff. I'm still waiting on one thing myself that I would get done if it were entirely in my control. I wish you the best for your holiday plans and your goals for the month.

S.H. Aeschliman said...

Congrats on keeping up with your update posts & thanks for commenting on my blog! =*)

I too have issues with prioritization. I know what my priorities are, but I often ignore them to do the easy things first (which are less important) than the harder, more important things. Always a work in progress. Le sigh.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Gypsy.

Rebecca said...

Nice to meet a fellow Montanan! Sounds like you have a busy December ahead of you! Prioritizing is hard. Then doing what I "should do" is even harder. I wish you luck and a good week!

Unknown said...

Hi Gypsy! Enjoy the concert, and don't put yourself under too much pressure to write. What with Christmas coming up and your concert and just finishing NaNo, there's a lot happening for you. Adding more pressure to the mix is almost always counterproductive for me, so perhaps a rest, and coming back to your writing fresh in the New Year, would be good?

I can send you a copy of the fast drafting reference sheet via email if you like. And thanks for dropping by my blog. :)

gypsyharper said...

Hi Gloria! I think "Break a leg" is pretty much appropriate for all forms of performing arts. Thanks! Hope your holiday plans are going well!

Sione - yes, doing the easy things first is always a problem for me as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Rebecca - I didn't know there were any other Montanans in the ROW challenge! Nice to meet you!

Lisa - yes, more pressure tends to make me freeze up and get even less done, so we'll see how the month goes. I do still want to get some writing done, but Christmas prep will probably have to come first. Thanks for stopping by!

Jennette Marie Powell said...

It's tough to write in December - so much to do! My daughter is big into band and choir, and graduated this past year, so this is the first year I don't have a bunch of concerts to go to - seems so strange! She really misses singing. Enjoy yours, and pick up the writing when you have time - even if that's in Jan.!