Weekly Goals - January 28, 2018

Still having a hectic time in life, and still attempting to meet my January goals. Time to recap how things have gone this week.

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn. - Didn't have a chance to write anything on this project this week.

2. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP. - Didn't have a chance to write anything on this project either.

3. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series. - Met with Lyndon this week, and worked out the primary plot for book two. We have a general idea where book three will go. Plan is to work on this in February and March, although we may shift to March and April if need be.

4. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.  - Exceeded this goal, with around 900 words written on my short story "Toll Road." Things are progressing on this one, although it may exceed the expected short story length I was going for when it's finished.

Now, my goals for the coming week (coming up on the end of the month as well):

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn.
2. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP.
3. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.

Weekly Goals - January 21, 2018

Well, running a bit late on providing my weekly progress report. Sadly, things have been hectic in life for a week or two now, and just had time to work up the progress report tonight. Still attempting to meet my January goals. Time to recap how things have gone this week.

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn. - Right around 700 words on this one. Still need to put together a semblance of a plot, but for now, I'm 'freestyling' it, I suppose.

2. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP. - Around 1000 words this week.

3. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series. - Met with Lyndon again this week, but we still didn't sit down and hash this out yet.

4. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.  - Completed this goal, with just over 625 words on my short story "Toll Road."

Now, my goals for the coming week:

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn.
2. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP.
3. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series.
4. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.

Weekly Goals - January 14, 2018

Well, now on the second week of the month, and things are slowly progressing toward meeting my January goals. Sadly, between extra work excitement, and things getting back into the regular routine after the holidays, output was a little limited. Time to recap how things have gone this week.

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn. - Right around 800 words on this one. Not great, but better than things had gone over the past year or more. Still need to put together a semblance of a plot.

2. Complete 1750 words on a new Aston West novella. - Didn't even get started on this goal.

3. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP. - Around 1200 words this week. It did take me a few more days than I had anticipated, though.

4. Complete 2500 words on my sci-fi suspense/mystery novel. - Didn't even get started on this goal.

5. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series. - Met with Lyndon again this week, but we still didn't sit down and hash this out yet.

6. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.  - Completed this goal, with around 700 words on my short story "Toll Road."

Being as how certain goals seem to be languishing, I'm going to do some adjustments for the rest of the month (maybe I'll have a chance to catch up in future months). Now, my goals for the coming week:

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn.
2. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP.
3. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series.
4. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.

Weekly Goals - January 7, 2018

Well, it's been almost a week (give or take a few days) since I posted my weekly writing goals geared toward meeting my January goals, so time to recap how things have gone this week.

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn. - Was only able to get down a little over 1500 words on this one, but finished the prologue and am rolling on the first chapter. Still need to put together a semblance of a plot.

2. Complete 1750 words on a new Aston West novella. - Didn't even get started on this goal.

3. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP. - Completed this goal, with just over 5000 words. It did take me a few more days than I had anticipated, though.

4. Complete 2500 words on my sci-fi suspense/mystery novel. - Didn't even get started on this goal.

5. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series. - Met with Lyndon this week, but we didn't sit down and hash this out yet.

6. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.  - Completed this goal, with around 700 words on my short story "Toll Road" (which technically is a story that I'd started a while back. Eventually, I'll need to get back into plotting out some new stories).

And now, my goals for the coming week:

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn.
2. Complete 1750 words on a new Aston West novella.
3. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP.
4. Complete 2500 words on my sci-fi suspense/mystery novel.
5. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series.
6. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.

January 2018 Writing Goals

So, as I mentioned, I need to get back in the habit of setting goals, and then being held accountable to those goals. Those who've followed me long enough know that I used to do this, and it helped considerably more than whatever it is I'm doing currently.

So, here they are...my writing goals for the month of January:

1. Complete 13,000 words on Before the Dawn. This will require 3250 words per week, or a little over 1000 words per day, writing three days per week.

2. Complete 7,000 words on a new Aston West novella. This will require 1750 words per week, or 850 words per day, if I write two days per week.

3. Complete 20,000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP. This comes up to 5000 words per week, or 1000 words per day if I write five days per week.

4. Complete 10,000 words on my sci-fi suspense/mystery novel. This will require 2500 words per week, or 500 words per day if I write five days per week.

5. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series.

6. Write 2500 words on a new Aston West short story. This will require 625 words per week, which should be able to be completed in a single day.

So, these goals are a bit sport, especially since I haven't really kept myself in "writing shape" over the past few years. So, let's hope that I can keep things going.

I do plan on addressing my goals weekly, so for simplicity (rather than set up another post), I'll summarize this week's goals here:

1. Complete 3250 words on Before the Dawn.
2. Complete 1750 words on a new Aston West novella.

3. Complete 5000 words on my "Demonkiller" WIP.

4. Complete 2500 words on my sci-fi suspense/mystery novel.

5. Work with Lyndon to plot out the last two novellas in the Max McCannor series.

6. Write 625 words on a new Aston West short story.

Writing Goals for 2018

Well, 2017 wasn't much better than 2016 had been. So, I think some changes in process will likely be needed. So, I plan to get back into the weekly and monthly goal-setting mode that I was in back in the days when I had a bit more productivity. I also need to have a bit more specificity in mind with these, so that I can maintain the focus.

So, here goes:

1. Complete the first draft of my fifth Aston West series novel, Before the Dawn. I plan to finish this by the end of September, so that I can work on edits and hopefully have it out to the public by the end of the year.

2. Complete a third Aston West novella. I would like to have this finished in March, so that I can hopefully get it out in June (maybe in time for Smallville) and tide folks over until the next series novel comes out.

3. Complete the first draft of my in-work "Demonkiller" WIP. Hopefully I'll have an actual title for this soon, but I need to try and finish this by the end of March, so that I can work edits after finishing the MaxMcCannor novellas. My hope is to have this out to the public by the end of May, so that I can have copies available for Smallville in June.

4. Complete the first draft of my in-work sci-fi suspense/mystery novel. I don't anticipate this being finished anytime before the end of December, and will likely be a 2019 release.

5. Finish the final two novellas in the Max McCannor series. Lyn and I have discussed this, and our plan is to plot out the last two novellas in January, then complete the second novella in February and the third in March. Sporty!

6. Write six Aston West short stories. I would like to finish one of these every two months, and hopefully I can get back on track with my triple-shots (my most recent one featuring Sweet Embrace actually came out in 2015, sadly).

All in all, it's going to be a busy year, but I have a bit more confidence that my re-focus on goal-setting will help. Thanks to everyone who's purchased copies of my books, and I'm looking forward to bringing you even more this year.