Getting the Vision

I figured out what is wrong with me the other day... Yes, I eat too many sweets and like to sleep too much and maybe I'm a few nuts short of a fruit cake (or maybe I am a fruitcake. Pft. I'd rather be a piece of chocolate cake. Nom Nom).

 

No, no, those aren't the things I figured out were wrong with me. This is:

 

I haven't had writing vision for some months now (I plea the fifth on just how many months that may be). What I mean to say is I've been lacking purpose and an end goal to my words. This is why I haven't been able to sit down at my laptop and crank out chapters upon chapters as I have been able to do in the past.

 

By golly, I have seen the light and my vision is clear. Hal-le-lu-jah!

 

Suffice it to say I'm really back because I have some goals churning to be completed. I'm working on how to get there, but the most important thing is that I'm writing and plan to be doing that consistantly.

 

Woot!

 

So, my two cents worth of advice to my writing buddies is:

 

You've got to have vision or goals for your writing. This method will undoubtedly get you somewhere if it be checking the boxes of your to-writing-do-list or just whatever it is you want to gain from this journey.

 

Vision rocks and so do you! Hugs.

How's your vision lately?
 

Writing Jewels

Month of November Goals

Happy November, dear friends! I hope your Halloween was spooktacular! Well, I'll just jump right into my goals.

Here is how my month of October goals panned out:

• Recuperate from spraining my ankle Uh... It turns out that I fractured a bone in my foot. I had to wear a hideous boot for a freaking month. Luckily I'm out of the montrousity of ugliness. But I've got to rehabilitate my poor foot now. Silliness, I say
• Read BEYONDERS: SEEDS OF REBELLION by Brandon Mull Check. Great book
• Finish listening to DIE FOR ME by Amy Plum Super Check. I loved this book sooooo much. Read it. Now
• If I have time, I'll edit some or all of one of my writing projects Nope, I did open up one of my projects and read the first chapter to my new roomie. She LOVED it! Just you guys wait...
• Start my new job, love it, and learn it fast Check on all accounts
• Find a new place to live in Salt Lake City before I'm driven mad by the long commute Check and it didn't happen soon enough. I truly was going crazy driving two hours a day.
• Enjoy my half birthday... Check. I loveth growing old. haha

Well, I'm feeling good about my goals and hope to have success in the coming month. Here are my month of November goals:

• Finish listening to the audio book CHIME by Franny Billingsley
• Listen to the audio book SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater (I just got a library card and by golly I'm gonna use it--bring on the audio books. Yes!)
• Read FINALE by Becca Fitzpatrick
• NaNoWriMo--50K and/or finish writing my dystopian book called SPHERICAL
• Do something social at least once a week
• Have a super fantastic Thanksgiving Holiday *gobble gobble*
• Be better at reading and commenting on other blogs. So sorry for being anti-blogospher-social

How did your month of October goals go? What are your month of November goals?

    Writing. Jewels.

 

Month of October Goals

Wow! Has September already come and gone? How is that possible? It just barely started. And that means that October is here and I have to report on my goals from last month. I felt far better last month than I did during the summer. What a relief!

Anyway, here's how my September goals panned out:

• Finish beta'ing my sister-in-laws book CHECK and by golly it's a great book. Be ready to read stuff by Robin LuBean King, kids
• Read Insurgent  by Veronica Roth SUPER CHECK and wow, what a great book! It's official, I'm back into reading.
• Keep pluggin along with my new project, SPHERICAL (a dystopian novel) CHECK. I didn't do much but it's coming along
• Edit one of my own works No check, I am waiting to get my second book BOUND back from a CP
• Be social CHECK. I even went on two dates with the same guy. No interest there, though. And I spent time with friends, so that's great
• Go camping with my sister CHECK Refer to the blog post I wrote about the camping trip

So, here's looking October straight in the eyes. But I have to tell you that I started a new job. Today is my fifth day on the job. I will be learning this job, so I might be overwhelmed with it all. I hope my goals won't stress me out more. Anyway, here are my goals:

• Read BEYONDERS: SEEDS OF REBELION by Brandon Mull
• Finish listening to DIE FOR ME by Amy Plum (audio books are awesome)
• I'm going to save writing more of SPHERICAL for NaNoWriMo, especially with all I'm going to be doing this month
• If I have time, I'll edit some or all of another project
• Start my new job, love it, and learn it fast
• Find a new place to live in Salt Lake City before I'm driven mad by the long commute
• Enjoy my half birthday tomorrow, October 6, 2012. Yes, I celebrate my half birthdays. What can I say? I love birthdays!
• Recuperate from spraining my ankle. Silly me

What are your goals for this month? Have you read any good books lately? And how is life treating you?

*Mwah*

    Writing. Jewels.

Squirrels & Patience

I've already checked off one of my Month of September Goals: going camping with my sister. It was way fun. With my sisters help, we built our own fire (the first one we've ever built on our own). What fun, huh?! Our tin foil dinners chuck full of chicken, onions, peppers, and zucchini turned out excellent and super tasty. We've set up tents a dozen times. That wasn't hard at all. Of course I didn't sleep particularly well, even with the blowup mattress. No problemo. It was all for the fun and to have some bonding time with my sis. I will relate this to writing, so just wait. But for now, here are some pictures:

 

The campsite was infested (in a good way) with squirrels and chipmunks.

I captured this super cute picture. Pretty dang cute, huh?

Look at the squirrel photo... Okay, now that you've enjoyed my amazing photography skills, I will expound upon it. Ok, everyone can capture a picture in some way, shape, or form. It may look different depending on the camera, the skill, the opportunity, etc... But a lot about photography is patience. I waited for about ten minutes to capture that photo. I must have taken eight or nine pictures before I got it just right.

With writing, it's the same. It takes patience. Patience to plot, write, edit, query, go on submissions, and perhaps starting all over again. But the patience pays off, even if it is just the satisfaction of completing a chapter or a first draft, all the way up to getting your story published.

So be patient, my dear followers. Be kind to yourselves. And breathe. :D

So, how do you keep yourself calm while writing in order to be patient? How have your camping trips been? Or are you a Ritz Hotel kind of person?

Writing. Jewels.

Photography Copyright Julia King 2012

Month of September Goals

Hello, followers! How's it going? I hope I find you all well on this Friday (or whenever you read this). I've got to admit I didn't do super hot on my goals this month. However, I was getting over a roller coaster ride of a crazy summer. So, I'd say all is well. Here's how I did with last month's goals:

• Move on August 18 and get settled into my new place Check. I like my new place. It's funny cuz my old commute to work took me 15 minutes. My new commute is 5 minutes total. Somehow I'm late for work even though I'm closer, when I was early before. *shakes head* 
• Read Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull. I bought it. Does that count? haha
• Edit a bit of my own works I started working on a new project. That counts, right?
• Enjoy me some Netflix and time with loved ones Super Check. I socialized a lot more than usual and spent some time with family. As for Netflix--it turned into Hulu. I met an author (Natalie Whipple) at a book bloggers/author get-together a couple weeks ago. She recommended me watch a Korean drama called "Boys Before Flowers". Oh my gosh! I watched all 25 episodes in about 2 weeks. Love it. You definitely should check it out, too. Beware, it'll suck you in. So funny story: my roommate/coworker sat in on watching the first episode with me. She is obsessed with it now, but we are both on different episodes. We'll sit in the same room watching it together but not the same episode. haha
• Beta a tweeps book if she needs my help. She's not ready for it to be read yet.

Well, now for September's goals:

• Finish beta'ing my sister-in-law's book (I'm so proud of her)
• Read Insurgent by Veronica Roth (I decided Beyonders can wait)
• Keep plugging along with my new project, SPHERICAL (a dystopian novel)
• Edit one of my own works (not sure which one)
• Go on a couple dates (I have no idea who'll be the lucky man/men, though... haha)
• Be social (writers tend to be solitary beings sometimes, or is that just me???)
• Go camping with my sister Guess what? I've already accomplished this one. I went Wednesday-Thursday of this week. Nice

So what are your goals for this fabulous autumnal month? Are you excited for fall blowing in? I am!

Writing. Jewels.

Month of August Goals

Ok, folks... The month of July was bar-none the hardest flippin' month of my life. Alright, I've been through worse, of course, but this is so fresh on my mind that it feels all the more difficult. You know how bad/good things happen in threes? Well, that has been the case for me. I won't bore you with the goary details but, for all intents and purposes, let's just say that the things that happened weren't good. Anyway, because of this, my month of July goals didn't pan out very well.
Sigh!

I will review them quickly, though.

• Beta a couple books I beta'd one friend's book. That's good, huh?
• Start reading Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull Uh... I had no desire to read for the life of me. Super sad, huh?
• Continue exercising three days a week I did fulfill this part of my goals. Woot Woot!
• Only have one treat a week on Fridays Did I say that I had a really tough month? Well, that should tell you how I did on this goal. haha
• Start the first draft of BOUND's sequel. I so can't wait No work done here. Shoot. I did have to do another edit on my first book, though. When will the insanity end?

Anyway, my month of August goals are going to be pretty light. I need a break, my friends. If I don't relax a bit, I might end up in a white padded room with a straight jacket on.

So, here are some simple goals:

• Move on August 18 and get settled into my new place
• Read Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull
• Edit a bit of my own works
• Enjoy me some Netflix and time with loved ones
• Beta a tweeps book if she needs my help

Have you ever had a month where you wonder what's the next thing that's going to go wrong? How do you get through tough times? I do a great deal of praying, talking to family and friends, and trying not to eat too many sweets. Two weeks ago, I even got out of dodge to spend some time with a some good friends as well as my mom.

Anyway, dear followers, thanks for stopping by. And what are your month of August goals?

Writing. Jewels.

Month of July Goals

It's reporting times, folks. Yay and a few woots all around! Here's how I did with my Month of June Goals:

• Read The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare ---> Getting there...
• Complete an edit of my wip: BOUND ---> Super Check. Oh, I love this story
• Hand off BOUND to one more round of betas ---> I'm pretty confident with where it's at right now. I'll hand it off to my agent soon
• Beta a friend's book ---> I've started going through it
• Continue forward with my no sweets diet. ---> I went an entire 22 days without sweets as per my detox plan.
• Exercise three times a week ---> Check. I'd like to thank the gym facility where I work and having an hour long lunch break

Here are my Month of July Goals:

• Beta a couple books
• Start reading Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull 
• Continue exercising three days a week
• Only have one treat a week on Fridays
• Start the first draft of BOUND's sequel. I so can't wait

As always, I ask: what are your Month of July goals? You can voice your successes from last month as well.

Writing. Jewels.

Month of June Goals



Well, guys and girls, I'm really glad I'm posting my goals on my blog. It's helping me to accomplish them. I'd suggest you do likewise, for sure.

Well, here's how my month of May goals went:

• Go on a much needed vacation to Washington State Check and Check
• Give myself some R&R for two weeks before I doing anything related to writing Check. I did get sick the week I was supposed to start editing again, so I technically took three weeks off. But then I had a bout with editor's block (writer's block but only when editing). I'm finally back in the game now.
• Read The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter Check and Check. I loved it so much that I've already finished its sequel, Goddess Interrupted. My holy crap, this series is incredible. Read it! Now!
• Catch up on blog commenting Check but this is an ongoing goal.

Well, on and upwards I go. *Drum Roll*

Here are my Month of June goals:

• Read The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
• Complete an edit of my wip: BOUND
• Hand off BOUND to one more round of betas
• Beta a friend's book--Ashley, I'm so proud of you!
• Continue forward with my no sweets diet. I've done 12 days for 21. Woot!
• Exercise three times a week

Well, what are your Month of June goals? Or what's new in your life?

Writing. Jewels.

Month of May Goals

Hello, dear followers. Man-o-Man, it was a crazy April. I'm sort of exhausted with all I've done, especially writing-wise.

I'm going to start off this post with some questions up front:

So what are your Month of May Goals? How does goal setting help you when it comes to writing? What are your methods of setting goals? Do you write them down, have them in your head, or tell someone? Or maybe all of the above?

Having started to blog about my goals has been beneficial. Because I put them out there for the world to see, it gives me that extra push to ACCOMPLISH them.

Well, here's how I did with my Month of April Goals:

• Have a super awesome 30th Birthday! Check Check Check! What a fabulous day!
• Try not to get depressed for not being married by my 30th Birthday. Check. I actually feel supercool being 30! Woot!
• Finish Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Super Check. What a super great book. Can't wait to have the cliffhanger resolved.
• Finish a revision of my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND Check-o-my-Check. Finished it just a couple days ago. I took my time to make this revision COUNT! *BAM*
• Complete an edit of my WIP, BOUND No Check but I don't care. It was more important to work on my first book.
• Will not buy any clothing ---> I'm going to say I half accomplished this. All I bought was a supercool Doctor Who tshirt. And it is beautiful.
• Read Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon Check. An enjoyable book with a great premise. And it takes place in Ireland so it has to be good, right? Bring on the hot Irish accents.

Not half that bad, if I do say so myself.

Now on to my Month of May Goals:

• Go on a much needed vacation to Washington State with my brother's family (Time to have some quality time with my nephews and niece)
• Give myself some R&R (Say 2 weeks) before I dive back into anything related to writing
• Beta a beta's book
• Read The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
• Catch up on checking out blogs in the blogoshere (I've pretty much sucked at this in April because of revisions--Sorry guys) 

Loves to you all!

Writing. Jewels.

Month of April Goals



First of all, I need to give you the update of how my Month of March Goals panned out!

March Goals:

• Finish another round of edits/revisions of my WIP and hand it off to CP's CHECK (Went well. I'm on my way with my WIP--BOUND)
• Participate in the second I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner Challenge CHECK (This turned out to be sooooo fun. The flash fiction I wrote has actually inspired a future writing project--bring on some sci-fi. Check it out here!)
• Finish reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale CHECK (Great book!)
• Read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Still working on it--Pretty far in though)
• Go see The Hunger Games on March 23 at 8:30PM (yes, I've already got tickets) CHECK (Loved it)
• Have a supercool St. Patrick's Day party. It's my favorite holiday. :D I'll call this one a check even though I cancelled the party due to feeling sick. Phooey!
• Not go crazy while waiting to hear back from editors as my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND, is on submission No check... what kind of person wouldn't go crazy waiting for a pub deal? Anyone? haha

Now for my Month of April Goals:

• Have a super awesome 30th Birthday!
• Try not to get depressed for not being married by my 30th Birthday
• Finish Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Finish a revision of my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND
• Complete an edit of my WIP, BOUND
• Will not buy any clothing *crossing fingers*
• Read The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

How are your goals going? What are your Month of April goals?

Writing. Jewels.

Month of March Goals

I usually don't post on Thursdays. But, hey there on this fine day. Anyway, I've seen a few people posting their monthly goals on their blogs. I think sharing them with the blogshere will help me accomplish them. Well, it's my turn to make goals now. And achieve them.

*woot woot*

I will report back at the beginning of April with my success stories and share my April goals.

March Goals:

• Finish another round of edits/revisions of my WIP and hand it off to CP's
• Participate in the second I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner Challenge
• Finish reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale
• Read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Go see The Hunger Games on March 23 at 8:30PM (yes, I've already got tickets)
• Have a supercool St. Patrick's Day party. It's my favorite holiday. :D
• Not go crazy while waiting to hear back from editors as my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND, is on submission

Now, what are your month of March goals? And do you already have you tickets for The Hunger Games movie in hand? Are you counting down the days to see it, too?

Writing. Jewels.

What I've Learned Wednesday: Goals!

Writing is a long process, however, can be further drawn out without having goals. I finished my rough draft in five months. I wish I could say I quickly arrived where I am now, but I would totally be lying. After completeing the rough draft, I dilly-dallied around, perhaps editing a couple times a week, if that. I wasn’t particularly driven to get my manuscript where I wanted it to be. I made it through an edit and started another. Same thing, I didn’t dive head first into the revision. Seven months after finishing my rough draft, I realized it was time to get really serious. I made a goal to get through another revision within three weeks, and I made the goal! *party time*

If there is one thing I regret about the past year’s writing, it would be my lack of goals. I can only imagine how much farther in the writing process I would be if I had been driven by goals. But. I can’t dwell on regrets; I can only press forward with goals to finish my manuscript.

When I start future projects, I will for sure set up a time-line in which I will follow, so I won’t elongate the already lengthy process. These goals will be helpful for the day when deadlines are imposed upon me by editors/publishers.

How I set goals: A visual representation helps me to be goal-driven. I make a calendar that specifies how long I will edit within a given day. I schedule out a certain amount of days and expect myself to be done within the given amount of time. I also write my progress on the calendar, too. The calendar is placed in an area of my house where I’ll see it multiple times during the day as a reminder to make my goal. Also, have someone you report to in the process.

Be careful not to push too hard in your goal setting, you don’t want to get discouraged. Take into consideration your other life responsibilities. IE: work, family, kids, etc.

What are your methods to reach your writing goals? If you are published, what advice would you give to the unpublished writer to gear up for deadlines?

Don't we all have a goal to be a purse when we grow up? I would rather be a published author, though, but that's just me. :)  This pic was way to cute not to put it on the post.