Mar 03, 2014 10:53
February was my month to Fail at All the Things. I'd have to double-check, but I don't think I accomplished any of the things I had on my list.
*double-checks*
Okay, there were a few things on the list that were so easy I couldn't flub them.
* Keep tracking diet & exercise: I failed this, but honorable mention for only missing the three days I was at a con.
* Try to net 1500 calories or less per day: I did not succeed at the 1500 calories or less, but I did make an effort, so technically accomplished. I guess.
* Finish posting RA
* Talk to beta readers about RA: for a given value of "talked to".
* Put the list of RA tasks into a sensible order: I did this, and haven't looked at the list since.
* write some dragon bios for Flight Rising: I've been better about doing this throwaway item than anything that is actually a priority. Naturally.
And with this post, I also manage:
* Figure out March goals by the end of the first week of March
The rest of the list was pretty much a loss.
I have done some editing on RA, but not enough that I feel like I have made any real progress. Editing it still feels like a monumental and amorphous beast. I've eaten a few meals of the whale, but there's still a whole lot of whale left. Actually, the problem with the whale metaphor is that I am at the "fiddling" stage of the project, which means the whale is an arbitrary and fluctuating size. As with digital painting, it's less that I am going to "finish" editing than that at some point I have to surrender. "There, that's as good as I'm going to make it because I'm sick of looking at it." I am not yet at the point of surrender.
I noticed some scenes the book doesn't need: they're background for the setting but not plot-relevant and don't further the central character relationships. Part of me says "this manuscript is ginormous, so anything that isn't plot-relevant or essential to character development ought to be axed". And another part is just "screw standard length expectations. I think the scene is interesting and I want it to stay." I don't know which voice I should listen to. x.x It's easier to leave them in at this point (if I cut a scene then I have to write a new bridge between the remaining scenes) so I've left them.
Anyway, March goals.
* Keep trying to average a net of under 1500 calories per day. That's "try". You are not allowed to call this goal "failed" unless you stop trying, eg, give up on tracking and abandon exercising.
* Keep editing RA. You are not allowed to call this goal "failed" unless you actually stop editing, eg, don't even look at the manuscript for consecutive weeks.
* Track creative stuff again. On the spreadsheet. Whatever it is. Including all that stuff you didn't track in February, like dragon bios and LJ posts. Yes, I noticed that you quit paying attention to what you'd done. Why do you think you feel like you did nothing? Because you weren't counting any of it! Count it this month.
There, that's three things. Maybe they will feel more manageable than the longer list from February.
goals,
writing about writing