Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for short! (We’re serious, not sombre!)
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
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Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
- Write a story a day in May – everyone!
- Revise at least 10 short stories – Iraide
- Write two short stories. – Jami
- Attend one writers’ conference – Julie
- Write fable for WordFactory competition – Sonya
- Re-read the backstory pieces I wrote in May and see if I can use them within my novel – Monique
- Research the market – Jami
- Focus on my serial – Maureen
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends. )
Don’t forget, if you need inspiration for a story you can still get ALL THE PROMPTS from StoryADay May 2016 and support the running of the StoryADay challenge at the same time. (I’m really proud of this year’s collection!) Give a little, get a little 
Click here. Now only $2.99
I know it’s almost halfway through July, but I leave for study abroad halfway into August, so this writing goal is pretty much for the next four to five weeks. I’m a student, so the hardest part for me is getting into a consistent writing schedule since every few months my daily schedule changes and when I’m at school it’s really hectic. So my goal is to write everyday, at least 100 words (but try for more), just to start to develop that habit. I don’t think I can accomplish anything before I reach this goal.
Oh, how I know what you mean. I’m not a student but my kids are at school and my life is hugely affected by its gravitational forces!
Good for you, for committing to writing a little every day. In order to avoid the ‘oh crap, I missed a day’ guilt spiral, I also use a ‘words per month’ goal. You might want to give yourself a ‘Get out of jail free’ card, or something, so if you miss a day here and there you don’t feel like a loser. Just making the commitment and coming back to it, is a great big deal!
Well, apparently I didn’t set any goals for June, which is good because I was relaunching the 7 Day Story challenge and hosting StoryFest and then traveling for the rest of the month. So I consider it a bonus that I got a couple of new scenes for the novel written on the plane. Including the kernel of the final scene. Yay!
This month:
* Finish the draft of the novel
* Share it(/the most recent parts) with the critique group
* Start revisions. (At least make a plan for the second draft, using Stuart’s book. Set goals (including having a polished first-fifty pages before the Writer’s Digest conference in mid-August)
* Critique a friend’s YA novel
* Blog entries, daily, about my writing progress at julieduffy.com
* Work on revising the StoryADay Warm Up Bootcamp
Hmm, that seems like quite a lot. Better get my time organized!
I’m keeping my focus only on two projects this month.
Revise the first draft of a novel.
Write 10,000 new words of fiction.
Good for you. I’d love to hear how you organize your writing time and divide it between those two, as I’ll be doing the same in August.
Hi, this month I am going to re-do the Story A Day Warm Up Course that I attempted in April, but taking the time to work through it properly. Reading it through this morning I am seeing lots of things for the first time. Think I was in too much of a rush in April, and also this time I am reading printouts rather than on screen which I think works better for me (too easy to scroll down and miss half of the information). Hoping to finish in July but I’ve got til September if not 🙂
Hey Louise, glad you hear you’re going back over the course. It was originally designed to be a ‘OMG THIS IS FAST’ course, but I’m going to rework and expand it as a slower, more comprehensive course. I’d love your feedback on what pacing works for you
And don’t forget about the audio tracks. They might help you revise/catch stuff.
Hi, all,
So, my plans for June were: more editing on the novel-length mystery I’m working on
and writing a well-tuned first 10 pages of the screenplay I’m writing (based on a past Camp Nanowrimo novel).
I did some work on the mystery editing (although not as much as I would have liked). I don’t have 10 pages of the screenplay done (I have around 4), but I have done the grunt work to make this go better (I hope!). I went through the first draft novel I had (over 400 pages) and reworked things into a more usable plot (I really hope). It’s a Canadian political thriller (which is, perhaps, an oxymoron).
This screenplay work is related to my July plans. I’m doing a screenwriting bootcamp (once a week class for 4 weeks, 3 hours a week plus whatever homework) and I wanted to be prepared. So most of this month’s work will be on that. When I need a break from it, I’ll work on the mystery.
Good luck to everyone doing Camp Nanowrimo. And happy Canada Day!
Good progress. I like the reminder about “doing the grunt work” to make something else easier. Sometimes it’s not all ‘flow state’. Sometimes it’s ‘outlining the next scene’ or ‘writing a character’s backstory’ or ‘figuring out plot holes’.
And I bet you’re glad you’re writing a political thriller and not trying to write a satire or farce. Hard to beat reality these days!!
Hey everyone! So, this past month I completely failed at my writing goals :\ I had a very difficult month, but everything seems to be getting better, and my winter break is only two weeks away, so I’m 100% ready for Camp Nanowrimo. I’m going for a full 50K, to sort of compensate the past two months. I’m so excited.
Good luck everyone! Happy writing!
“Failed” is such a judgmental word… 😉
Did you learn anything that could help you in your CampNano journey? Is there anything you can change about your circumstances that’ll help you have a less difficult month, or work around it if it is challenging?
For example, I’m not a morning person but I know if I can Write First, the rest of my day goes better. And then if I can squeeze in another writing session in the evening, it feels like such a bonus!
Hope your Camp Nano is going well. Let us know…
It’s Camp NaNo time again, and that means finally getting back to writing. I’ve signed up for way too many fanfic challenges over the last months, and most of them are coming up to due dates soon, so now is the big time to get down to business. My goal is (relatively) small, but I’m looking forward to writing all of them, and that’s half the battle there.
Here’s hoping July stays a good month!
Good luck! Sometimes it’s good to take on too much 🙂 Otherwise how would we find out what we’re capable of?
Plan, write, revise and polish one short story
I have to start somewhere, right?
I love small, achievable goals. Except during May, of course 😉
Good luck!