I'm Back - And With Goals for July

Hey ya'll! I'm back and am ready to start posting again.

For those of you who don't know, I've been gone for the last five weeks on a study abroad trip in Spain! It was awesome. I definitely recommend that you try to study abroad if you still can. My language skills improved, and I got to see such beautiful places. I went to Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, and I even went to Austria to visit a friend, which was a lot of fun. I took tons of pictures, which I'm going to compile into a video and post on YouTube for ya'll to see.

Spain was amazing, but I'm kind of excited that's it's over because I have a lot of fun things planned for the back half of the year. In the front half of the year, I couldn't wait to do those things, but I didn't want to think about them till after Spain. I needed to focus on what I had to do at that time and then enjoy Spain before working on these upcoming projects.

But Spain's over. I can finally get rolling on some of these things I've been putting off because it just hasn't been the right time. But now's the time!

I want to first review the Year Resolutions I made at the beginning of the year, and then I want to make my monthly goals for July.

I had five year resolutions:

1. Begin Friday 10 Minute Stories

I was planning on posting every Friday a short story from some 10 minute writing prompts I had done. I did it for a month and then dropped that idea when I realized most of my short stories were funny whereas my longer fiction is quite the opposite. And the short stories weren't that good anyway.

I eventually turned to making a YouTube channel and have been posting more regularly there, which is what this goal was really about.

2. Recite My Poetry At Open Mic Nights

Accomplished. I've done it twice already this year. It was pretty nerve-wracking, but it was ultimately a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to doing it more in the future.

I feel like speaking poetry and performing it is important to enjoying poetry. I want to not only share the words on the written page but also me speaking them. And I've always wanted to do something artistic with my voice--whether that be singing or reciting poetry--and I've finally found that outlet.

3. Receive 25 Rejection Letters From Literary Magazines

My total now is 9, but I've stopped submitting to literary magazines. I feel like submitting to them isn't worth it because it takes up a lot of time for very little payback. It's difficult for me to even find literary magazines that I want to submit my poetry to. My tastes are pretty choosy so I don't like what's being published most of the time. Then, it's hard for me to find literary magazines I enjoy and think will likewise enjoy my poetry.

I suspect there's a better way for getting my poetry and my name out there. I've decided to pursue those options rather than the literary magazine route. Another drawback about submitting to literary magazines is that they will not accept previously published work, and they consider anything that has been published online to be "previously published". I can't put my poetry online if I'm wanting to submit to literary magazines. It's a tough situation, so I've decided to stop submitting and promote my work online instead.

So that resolution has likewise been dropped.

4. Publish My First Poetry Chapbook

I haven't accomplished this yet, but it is happening this fall! All the poems have been written, and it even has a title: Sensuality. (the period is included in the title). It has fourteen poems. I have a few more things to do concerning it, and I cannot wait to release it. It'll be sometime in September or October.

5. Finish Revisions for Episodes 3-10 before May 25th

This was for my current novel in progress--Volume 1 in The One and the Other Series. Each volume is separated into various episodes. Originally, Volume 1 had ten episodes, but now it has only nine.

I accomplished this resolution. I finished all the edits, prepared it for beta readers, and sent it off to them before I left for Spain, which was my big goal for the first half of the year.

Those were all my year resolutions: 2 accomplished, 1 waiting to be so, and 2 have been dropped by the wayside. Oh well, that's life.

Now, here are my goals for both the month of July and the rest of the year:

1. July Goal - Write 20 poems

This is a lofty goal for me. The most I've written in a month has been 8. I have tons of ideas for poems and I really want to get cracking on them. Also, I'm beginning work on a concept for a full-length poetry book. I've been procrastinating on it because it intimidates the shit out of me. With my chapbook Sensuality., I had already written most of the poems before knowing I would publish them together. This full-length book is the first time I've had to write poems to purposefully fit a concept.

I've already written a couple so far. I'm aiming to write a poem a day, understanding that some poems will take multiple days to write and I'll probably miss a day every now and then.

2. July Goal - Finish Recordings for Sensuality.

I've wanted to record myself reciting all of the poems from this chapbook so I can release them alongside it. I started recording a few weeks ago when I was in Austria with my friend. We recorded most of the poems, and it went really well. Way better than I thought it was going to turn out. I'm very surprised and excited. I can't wait to share it with people, but there's a few poems we didn't get to that I need to record on my own. Then, my friend--Thaddeus Cochrane--will produce them, and I can release them with the chapbook this fall. Keep on your toes. That is coming soon.

3. July Goal - Post Regularly on YouTube

This is both a month and the rest of the year resolution. I want YouTube to be a platform where I can reach out to people and share my art through. Hopefully, I can get into a schedule soon.

4. Year Goal - Write 35 Poems

Last year, I wrote 27, and I want to surpass that this year. I hardly wrote any poems during the first half of the year. I think I wrote like 4. If I write 20 poems in July, I hope to catch up and then continue writing so I can pass last year. I have tons of ideas for poems that I want to finally get down to writing.

5. Year Goal - Recite at More Open Mic Nights

I want to do this a lot more in the fall. Then, I hope that I can also use this to promote my chapbook. I think it'll be a lot of fun.

6. Year Goal - Finish Beta Reading Stage and Begin the Final Rounds of Revisions for Volume 1 of The One and the Other

I'm hoping to complete the beta reading stage sometime in the early fall, and afterwards, I'll analyze the data. I want to start the final edits before the end of the year but I don't know if I'll be able to finish them by then. I don't know how much I'll have to edit or how long it'll take because I've never done this type of thing before. I won't know till I receive my feedback. While it's being beta read, I'm focusing more on poetry.

Those are all my goals for July and the rest of the year! I'm really excited and can't wait to share all of these things with you. I hope you're as excited as I am! Stay tuned. We'll keep in touch. Thanks for reading!

#monthlygoals #writing #betareading #yeargoals

Wrap-up for May and Spain Trip!

Hey guys! This will be my last post for a while since I'm leaving for Spain in a few days. I'll be on a study abroad program for five weeks. I want to take a break from writing and creating so I can just focus on enjoying the experience of being in another country. I've never been outside of American before!

Every month, I make a post where I update you on my goals for the previous month and set goals for the new month. Though May isn't over yet, I've decided to go ahead and recap my goals.

1. Finish editing my novel

Accomplished! I can't believe it. After finished, I stared at it in awe for a few minutes, and every now and then, I randomly go "I wrote a book! I finished my novel!" I try not to get too excited though because I'm not truly done with writing my novel till I finished the edits post-beta reading. But I'm so close. *screams in jubilation*

This also accomplishes my year goal of Finish Revisions of Episodes 3-10 by May 25th!

2. Finish enlisting Beta Readers

Also, accomplished. I was really getting discouraged about this one. At the end of April, I had gotten three of my friends to agree to beta read, which is awesome but I also wanted some people I didn't personally know to beta read too. I advertised around for them on various social media platforms--Youtube, Reddit, Goodread. But I couldn't find anyone. Then, I joined a Facebook Group with the specific purpose of hooking up authors with beta readers, and I found success! Quickly and easily too! I was so surprised. Two people volunteered, so I have a total of 5 people beta reading. Since 3-5 betas was what I was shooting for, I couldn't be happier with this number.

3. Get my novel ready for Beta Readers and send it off

Accomplished. I formatted the manuscript how I wanted and came up with various questions for each episode. I've also already sent to everyone. It looks like the beta reading process isn't going to take as long as I thought it was. I might have received all my feedback by the end of the summer. We'll see!

4. Post 3 more YouTube Videos

Accomplished. I've already posted 3 YouTube videos, and I'm about to post another one once I finished editing it. I did a video advertising for beta readers (which I'm going to take down soon since I have my beta readers), a book review, and a movie review. I told you they would mainly be reviews. Then, the one I haven't uploaded yet is another book review.

I had a very great month! I accomplished all of my goals, and I'm so proud of myself. Now, I can go to Spain and relax. But, honestly, I concerned about not having a writing project to work on while I'm there. I might have writing withdrawals. My eye is already wandering to some other poetry and novel ideas. Ugh, there's so many I want to write too! But probably, once I get to Spain and get busy, I won't be thinking about such things.

Search Engine History for Writing Research

• Is it humid in the mountains? - Humidity apparently decreases with altitude. (PS I should get out more)

• Dead vegetation - images

• Concussion symptoms

I'm not making a list of goals for the next month. I will post on here once I get back to share what I did on my trip and to tell you what writing things I have planned. Writing-wise, I broke up my year into what I wanted to do before Spain and I want to do after Spain. I have some fun things planned, and I can't wait to share them with ya'll.

Have a great summer!

Falling Somewhat Behind But Still Chugging Along - May Updates

Hey guys. How was your April? Mine's been a rush. I'm kind of falling behind and losing my energy, but I'm getting there. School is almost over, and this summer is going to be exciting!

Let's look at my goals for last month:

1. Finish Revisions for Episodes 9 & 10 (which are now 8 & 9)

Almost complete. I finished episode 9 right about mid-April, and I have a few scenes left of episode 10. I haven't had a good weekend in a couple of weeks to keep myself on tract when I fall behind during the week. Surprisingly though, I haven't had to write entire new scenes for episodes 9 and 10 like I've had to for the other episodes. Many of the edits have been line edits or tweaking small things.

2. Post more YouTube Videos this month

Accomplished. I actually didn't do as many as I wanted to do, but I still did many more than in March. That's good enough for me! I made several different types of videos: reviews, poetry, etc.

3. Start looking for Beta Readers

Accomplished. I did say to "start" looking for Beta Readers, so the fact that I'm not finished looking yet doesn't matter. I've got some "yes"s which is great. I've never done Beta Reading before so I've been nervous about the whole process, especially finding people to read.

4. Perform poetry for an Open Mic Night

Accomplished. This was the second time I've done such a thing, and it went a lot better this time. I could tell the audience was listening and they seemed to enjoy the poetry. I talked about the experience in more detail in one of my YouTube videos or you can read about it here.

So now that April is over, it's time for my goals for May:

1. Finish editing my novel

I only have a few scenes left of Episode 10, which is the last episode. After that, there's still a few minor things I need to do to completely finish the edits.

2. Finish enlisting Beta Readers

For now all my Beta Readers are people I know, but I want to find some people I don't know through the internet to read my novel. If I just rely on people I know, then my sample of opinions is going to be too narrow for my liking. I was going to be active on Critters.org but I just haven't had the time or the energy. I'll be posting a call on other internet platforms for Beta Readers soon.

3. Get my novel ready for Beta Readers and send it off

Once I finish the edits, I want to format my novel so it actually looks more like an novel on the page. I also need to create questions to ask at the end of each episode.

4. Post 3 more YouTube Videos

All of next week is going to busy for me, so I don't think I'll be able to do any till after that. I have several ideas--mainly reviews.

I'm a little stressed out with school and my writing. I only have a few weeks left to do all of this because

I'm studying abroad for five weeks this summer in Spain, and I'll be taking two classes towards my double major in Spanish. My flight leaves May 28th to Madrid. I can't believe it's less than a month away. It seems unreal. I've never been out of the country before, so I'm a little nervous but I know it's going to be so much fun. Since I just want to enjoy the experience of being in Spain, I won't be writing anything or posting on Youtube or this website. I'll tell ya'll all about the trip when I return, though.

Search Engine History for Writing Research

• Hospital monitors/machines

• Minimalist - geometric architecture

• Men’s clothes - I don’t know what guys wear apparently (I don’t know what anyone wears in my novel to be honest)

• Small bag name

• Rocky mountains

• PTSD symptoms

• Ferries

• Mountain lodge - image

• Tasers/stun guns - images and wikipedia page - I watched a video of someone getting tased and the prongs being pulled out--definitely looks painful. Sorry characters.

Rejection Letter Count

None this month because I have no submissions pending. Yeaaaah. I've basically given up on my goal to reach 25 rejections this year. So, that means I've completely given up on two out of five of my New Years Resolutions. I've already accomplished one (performing my poetry at Open Mic Nights), and I'm so close to accomplishing another (finishing my novel edits).

How's your May looking? Do you have any plans for the summer?