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!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
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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. )
Hello fellow writers,
For October, I wanted to throw out submissions and as a result, had 3 poems published on three different online literary journals and blogs. Hooray! I also, wrote a few flash fiction pieces and did a rough outline for Nanowrimo.
Goal for November is to complete 3 short stories + 1667 words per day for NaNoWriMo, which should result in at least 50K words of Book 1 of my YA Fantasy Trilogy!
I also want to submit at least 2-3 short stories this month (I’ve only been submitting poetry so far).
Since I am going down to a part-time job, I will have more time to write this month 🙂
OK, here’s my plan for November:
1. Write an average of 1059 words/weekday on the current novel and finish it (this is already off the rails on Day 2, but that’s because I had some planning to do. I’m expecting to fly through the word count tomorrow. That’s why I made it an average.)
2, Catch up with and keep up with the online training I’ve been doing. I have two courses overlapping, which was bad planning, but I didn’t set the schedule and both were great opportunities. Incidentally, if you’re struggling at all with novel writing and want a good guide, check out Jerry B. Jenkins’ Your Novel Blueprint course.
3, Write a 1st draft of a Christmas story (this is a bit of a stretch goal, but I really do want to make it happen).
4, Plan my new big, secret, non-fiction project. (Gulp, but this also ties in with #2, and I want to have this ready to roll out in mid-December.)
OK, well, that focuses the mind. I seem to think I can do an awful lot more with my 7:30-3 workday than I usually achieve. But these goals will force me to at least try to keep those hours for my prioritized work and resist doing family/house support stuff at least during most of those hours. Maybe.
I’m late posting my SWAGR Goals for November, and today promises to be another crazy day, so I hope you’ll pardon my brevity.
I will write 396 words a day toward the completing my novel’s first draft. Met my October goals and have written close to 31,000 words total on my novel.
That’s fantastic, Lisa. Well done!
Consistent progress is really powerful. Keep up the good work!
Well, October went really well for me. I wrote 750+ words every day, wrote two chapters for a short story, and finished 29 fanfics!
This month is NaNo, and since I’ve never been good at doing a single project, this time I’m splitting it up into a few projects. I’ll be doing a lot of fandom exchanges these next few months, so I’ll be working on those with my goal to hit 50,000 words total of everything. That feels much more manageable after last month, so yay!
That’s amazing! Good luck with your November goals (though it doesn’t sound like you’ll need much luck)
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
-Seneca
That’s fabulous! Well done, you.
I love the idea of a thread to connect all your stories. It’s a great way to keep yourself entertained and to intrigue readers. Good luck!
October goals were to write everyday. I did! I wrote 11 stories in a row and feel accomplished.
November is NaNoWriMo! I am working on short stories. A thread will combine them all!
This website is truly a support and well loved!
Hi, all! I hope everyone had a great writing October.
For October, my plans were to:
*work more on my novel. — I did and things are coming along, slower than I would hope, but well nonetheless.
*go to a science fiction convention mid-month and am registered for a couple of writing workshops. — The convention was awesome (Can-Con, for anyone in or near Ottawa, Canada) and the workshops were very useful.
*finish the *#(*# short story I’ve been thinking about for the last couple of months. — I finished (and submitted!) a completely different short story. (This is a *very* mixed accomplishment.)
*debate Nanowrimo with myself. — Yep.
For November:
*Nanowrimo! I’m being a rebel this year and working on four short stories for upcoming submissions. They vary in length (the longest is 10 000 words and the shortest 1000), although they are all speculative or science fiction. I have a plan to write and edit at least three of them to the point of being ready for submission. (If things go well, I should get to the end of the fourth, but my plan ends with it being partially edited.)
*if there is extra time (ha ha ha), I will continue with the current edit of my novel.
It IS hard to resist the lure of NaNoWriMo! Good luck!
Well done on your October achievements.
You have some solid goals!
I love the idea of you doing the short stories too for NaNoWriMo!
Good luck!