January is the month when I finally got treatment for my serial cold and flu symptoms. It turns out that one cold is tiring, but having a cold all the damned time just wears you out.
January has therefore also been a month of recovery. But I got some things done too.
Three Things for January
I set these goals before I got treatment and did not take account of how drained I would still be even once I was less unwell. Even now I still feel like I am not firing on all cylinders, although at least my thinking is a bit clearer now and I have been able to do some light exercise.
- finish a short story – I finished the first draft of a short story and started editing it. Not where I wanted to be, but at least going in the right direction. The original intent was, in fact, to complete revision of the story but I am going to give myself half a mark here.
- revise Song – no work.
- re-engage with crit group – I have been talking to my rit group again, even if I haven’t done much actual crit with them this month.
I’m calling that 1½ / 3, which isn’t good enough when I am well but I am giving myself some slack for my recovery.
Three Things for 2018
Despite that lacklustre performance in January, have I made progress on my yearlry goals?
- finish A Turquoise Song – I’ve done nothing to advance this yet, so the April date I floated in the goal-setting post seems optimistic. I am not going to push this back yet, though.
- submit my work – a goal in two parts:
- submit Song once it is done
- complete and submit short stories
I’ve done work towards completing more short stories, at least.
- produce Livia as an audiobook – no work yet. My voice is still wrong.
Tiny progress.
Next month will be better.
Three Things for February
What a glorious luxury, setting goals only a few days into the month!
- finish a short story
- revise Song – specifically:
- complete prologue rewrite
- revise two more chapters
- get back to doing actual crit work with the crit group
- exercise – as noted above, I have been able to do some light exercise but I need to get back to running again. Not far at first, but something involving significant cardiovascular stress.
This has felt like a long winter, so it’s time to re-energise my work again.