August was not a good month for me.  I did get what I needed to get done, but not most of what I wanted to get done.  For that reason I’m going to change up these progress posts again.

I got back from vacation at the end of July and didn’t do great that next week, but not horrible.  Then I completely froze up when the weekend came around and I had 25+ items on my to do list.  It overwhelmed me and it took far too long to work through that list, causing me to fall behind on other tasks.

I also realized that I keep pushing myself to do more than I need to in order to stay on schedule.  I like being ahead, but I feel like I’m trying to push myself too hard.  I changed up my monthly goals to reflect what I MUST get done to reach my deadlines, not arbitrary goals that mean nothing to me.

And… I feel like I spent a lot of time this month stumbling as I struggled with what added scenes to write for Tristan’s Choice and where I wanted to go next in Shifting Cargo.  I kind of realized that I hadn’t done a major brainstorming session in God knows how long and it showed.  I was flailing, drowning, and it was seriously holding me back.  I feel like I should probably schedule a brainstorming session maybe once a week or so to make sure I’m still moving steadily forward.

 

Lessons Learned:

• Too many to do items on my list in one day impairs my productivity.  I should stick to no more than 5-6 items/day.
• There is such a thing as working too hard.
• I need to get better at treating my writing more like my day job.
• While I’m a pantser, I need to remember that clearly seeing the path in front helps to keep me from stumbling.  Brainstorming matters!

 

Mila’s Shift

End of August Goal: Finish recording.  Make progress editing audiobook.

Progress: N/A on Audiobook.  Focused on last minute updates to launch set for 9/15 for ebook/paperback/hardcover.

Deadline Status: N/A

 

Tristan’s Choice

End of August Goal: Finish Draft 4 (Rewrites).

Progress: Added 13 new scenes, rewrote 1 scene, planned out 14 additional new/changed scenes.

Deadline Status: On Target

 

Shifting Cargo

End of August Goal: Reach 42,817 words written.

Progress:  Reached 35,778 Words.

Deadline Status: On Target

 

September 2019 Goals

• Mila’s Shift: Finish recording.  Make progress editing audiobook.
• Tristan’s Choice: Reach 50% Draft 4 (Rewrites).
• Shifting Cargo: Reach 42,889 words written.

 

Release Deadlines:

Ebook/Print

• Tristan’s Choice: January 15, 2020
• Terra’s Fate: May 15, 2020
• The Alien’s Pet: September 15, 2020
• Shifting Cargo: January 15, 2021

Audiobook

• Mila’s Shift: Not Set