Read this on galpod.com.
It's been an interesting month. I'll jump right in with going over the goals I set for myself for September, and I'll talk a little about how it's going in the end.
September Goals Progress
1. Re-write the main scenes in LP: I've done the re-write of three more scenes. Initially, I wanted to do the main ones first, but then I decided to go by order. The thing about re-writing a story is that it's never done, so I think I need to be more precise about what I'm trying to achieve in a re-write.
2. Finish reading Fight Club: done. And I went to watch the film with my friend, which was lovely. I will write a review/thoughts hopefully later this week but possibly next week.
3. Generate 20 ideas: to my utter surprise, I actually did. Maybe about five of them are remotely any good, but I did generate 20 ideas of stories I could write if I wanted to. Which was the point. I'm debating now which short-stories book I'll read (once I finish reading the current Brandon Sanderson), recommendations are appreciated.
4. Read through chapter 36 of Moby Dick: Ah, so close. I'm currently struggling with chapter 32, which is a categorising system of whales. And that is the reason I'm struggling. Luckily for me, we have a break next week, so hopefully, I can catch up.
5. Go to one open mic: nope. It's funny that this is a difficult task for me because all I have to do is go, but I just couldn't find an open mic evening in which I felt like going out. Because I'm out every week now on my courses, I feel like I need the rest of the week to recuperate. Also, I think going to new places scares me. Also, I suspect my resistance about putting myself out there on a stage plays out to delay my progress on this particular goal.
6. Learn seven chords with practice: yes. I now know a bunch of chords.
7. Play and improv on at least seven songs: Well, I have seven songs in my list that I'm technically able to play, but I feel confident with about three of them. So I'm counting this as a partial success.
8. Find a pool, start a membership, go swim at least once a week: yes. Well, last week I didn't go swimming because I was ill. But other than that I'd say I've got this well underway.
9. Go over feedback, chat to my supervisor about main issues with the draft, have an understanding of what needs fixing and a schedule for the re-write: yes. Now all I have to do is re-write the damn thing.
So, the concrete goals are working fairly well for me. I particularly like that I know where I am with each of my goals. Some of the goals need to be more specific, some of them need to be more realistic, some of them make me pause and ask myself: "why is this so damn hard for me?" (see #5). What I did find is that on weeks I do get all my tasks done, I sometimes have little time for other things that I was doing before, such as cooking and blogging. Which means I'll need to find time for those as well.
Goals for October
1. Finish re-writing LP manuscript in the first person. I'll worry about other re-writes later on. I have 12 scenes left, which means I'm going to have to put some back into it. Reward: book a massage.
2. Pick five ideas to develop into short stories; develop one idea (plot, characters, place). Reward: new coloured pens.
3. Read through chapter 84 of Moby Dick. Reward: not feel like an idiot on discussions (like earlier this week).
4. Go to one open mic evening. I think I'm going to get a friend to come with me. Actually, I think I'm going to get her to book it for us.
5. Finish my current module and next module on my piano course.
6. Add three more songs to my practice list.
7. Be confident with five songs. Reward (for all last three): book a concert/music performance.
8. Swim once a week. Reward: a haircut.
9. Finish re-writing the academic paper. Reward: date night at a restaurant.