Goals

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers. Yes, it is still the Christmas season, a part of the season that is neglected to the detriment of our spiritual lives. It is the celebration of these twelve days of Christmas that pull us away from the material indulgence that has preceded the Holy Day and into the Day’s true meaning.

I read many articles by writers on goals. A word count goal is useful, very useful. But then again, some suggest that just focusing on a word count can be destructive to the final product, to the creativity of your work.

I have been successively achieve my monthly word count goals for sometime now. I find it to be a motivator, an encouragement and a confidence builder. My word count goals are also very low by the standards of most; only 12,000 new words a month; a good sized book every year. Still, at times, even today, the last day of the month, I struggle to meet this goal.

For this month it has been the holiday that distracted me, but more substantially it was this project to the left, installing a new door, as the month was coming to a close, that derailed me from a less frantic end of the month as I fight to make my goal for December. This was a complete rebuild of the rough opening, removal of the old door, rotted framing, the existing 3/4” T&G sheathing and exterior wood siding, (without damaging the existing aluminum siding that covers the house) and an exterior re-sheathing with 1/2” board, against which the door would rest, over the new framing. Of course I used flexible adhesive flashing around the opening before the final placement of the new door.

My wife didn’t believe I would complete the task in a day but I got the door in secure enough and installed the lockset before we went out to work our retail business Friday night. Ten hours non-stop for me, then off to work. My wife helped me placing the door and cleaned up after me from time to time. A 1/16th of an inch more to the left would have been ideal but I was being crunched for time. If the door is ever so slightly askew, it is only because the salesmen recommend that I remove the door from its’ frame to paint it.

And what happened? To my horror, I realized the next day that I had written nothing on the day of the door; the last relatively warm day of the season. I missed on my goal of writing ever day. I beg your forgiveness.

Not only that, but my mind was completely consumed with everything home repair (I am surrounded by work to be done on the house) leaving my mind blank of any concepts or scenes I had been developing for my stories. Right now I am working on “Life on the Farm”. I will be writing any scenes that pop into my head, completely disregarding an orderly timeline, as I need to produce over 3,000 words today. I do include my blogs, this blog in my word count.

Now that 12,000 word goal truly appears small when you include my blogs. But I have many other things to work on besides new word production. As a self published author without a team to help edit or market my books, my tasks are expansive in scope. I have the first draft of “Partisans of the Blue; The Dauntless Recruits” (yes I changed the title, from “A” to “The”) that I need to type out from my notebooks, and that is only the beginning of the editing process. I hope to create several illustrations for my works and I need to research and develop my own marketing strategy. Besides these labors I need to continually invest in my home repairs and our business, and I need to create consistent content for my blogs.

Looking at my blogs over this last year, I have been negligent in providing posts on a regular basis. I am particularly disappointed in not having spent more time on my blog, “No Sanction”. For 2015, I will be creating posting goals for each of my blogs. For this blog it will be once a month, on or around the first of each month. I would also like to raise my word count goal to 15,000 new words a month, particularly if I will be blogging more.

Accomplishing your writing goals will drive you forward as a writer. Make your goals achievable. Don’t be discouraged by low goals. Meeting those will be much more rewarding and helpful than even coming close to a higher goal that you were not able to achieve. Life happens, you can’t write 24/7. Accomplishing goals on my home repair have also been very useful in building my confidence. Make goals in other aspects of your life as well. Be realistic in creating your goals. Be even more realistic in accomplishing your goals.

I lost my fulltime job nearly ten years ago. Self motivation can be a struggle, especially in disadvantageous circumstances. But as this year closes I find I have come to encompass an even greater goal that I have been working to achieve these many years since I lost my fulltime employment. That goal would be to go beyond a forty hour work week in useful and productive labor, though not always gainful.

My persistence in my writing and all aspects of book production has developed into many consistent hours of dedicated work throughout the week. A slightly improved income has given me the resources to consistently make marked improvements on our home. I have a part time retail business to run with my wife. I am a building designer and have been inspired to invest more time into that aspect of my life. I have also been known to build some pieces of furniture. In this light I have recently achieved for more weeks than not a plus forty-hour work week. I will be documenting my efforts more precisely for 2015 with this goal in mind; a fifty-hour work week, and from their, sixty, seventy and beyond.

God Bless you all in 2015.

Open to Ridicule

I did it. I made my goal for November. No, I wasn’t trying to write a novel in thirty days. My goals are not vast. Many caution against being obsessed with word counts. It was simply a very hectic month and I needed to put out 1,500 words Sunday.

So I am filling in a few openings in “Partisans of the Blue; A Dauntless Recruit” and I’ll be done with the first draft. Another common piece of advice is to go for quantity, not quality, when writing your first draft. I would have to agree, unless you have not written much in a long time. Be attentive to your sentence structure, spelling and grammar. Refresh the knowledge that you have not had to access since high school or college. Writing makes one a better writer; another sage piece of advice. Once you have noticeably regained forgotten lessons, go for it.

Most of what makes your writing, different than the story, good to great happens in the editing process and progress.

To protect my work I do not wish to convey too much of my next book. However, in this digital and connective age of the hacker you want to protect your work by cataloguing the process.

Our villain of “The Partisans of the Blue” lives in my hometown at a time when there are no longer any political parties, but for the government. These members of the non-party hold weekly gatherings to promote the agenda and many to pursue more nefarious pleasures. Of course the gathering includes a seven course meal. Our villain is recorded enjoying two such meals in the course of the story.

So, here is the menu I created from some basic research. The accompanying wines are not clearly specified. Any epicureans who would like to comment or ridicule, I would be appreciative of your advice.

-Beluga Black Caviar ( with crackers) and Champaign.

-Tomato Basil Crab Bisque

-Whole Maine Lobster with drawn butter; serve with a White Burgundy

-Filet Mignon with Braised Vegetables; here our villain, to establish him as a man of particular tastes, has ordered the French Syrah replaced with a specific Pinot Noir of his liking.

-Goat Cheese salad with a Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

-choice in desserts; Chocolate Soufflé or Baked Alaska

-Coffee

Then we have a meal in which our villain was called in to resolve a dispute between the head cook, who desired to serve his courses with a selection of beers, and the sommelier.

-Oysters Rockefeller with Champaign (yes, he sided with the sommelier)

-Fennel and Almond Soup

-Parmesan Encrusted Trout with Hollandaise Sauce

-Spice Lamb Chop with Chickpea Purée

-Rustic Baby Kale Salad with Raisins Walnuts and Goat Cheese

-Baked Apple with Raisins, Cranberries and Apricots

-Chestnut Praline Latte

Possible problem with this last menu; this would be in mid-June.

Epicureans, release the hounds, let loose the war machines, storm the gates, breech the walls.