TODAY’S GOAL WAS:  print new copy of 50 pages and do final review; draft a cover letter to Agent A; send them

RESULTS:  I sent "Agent A" 50 pages and a cover letter…......Aaaaack!

HICCUPS:  Dentist appointment.  I worked all morning to get my letter and pages ready to send before New York closed for the day.  A few minutes before I had to leave for my dentist appointment, the formatting got dorked up on my document, and I didn’t have time to fix it.  I was devastated that I’d worked so hard only to miss that New York window, but I figured I’d send it after the dentist.  I sighed, brushed my teeth and grabbed my car keys, figuring at least I’d still make my goal.  But then in a flash of brilliance, one of my sons suggested I take my laptop to the dentist.  I ended up sending my submission from the dental chair, wearing a bib, safety glasses, and all.  True story.  (No, there is NOT a photo of this momentous occasion.)

DEMONS:  Perfectionism, Fear, Distraction (in this case, the Rabbit Hole of research)

LESSONS: 
1.  Sometimes you’ve just got to leap, i.e. send the manuscript
2.  Eventually I will run out of clean laundry, but I haven’t quite yet (please don’t judge me by what I’m wearing if you bump into me at the grocery store)

GOING FORWARD:  Next stop is the submission for "Agent B" -- she requested the full manuscript.  I’ve got revisions to do on the final chapters to punch up the tension and make sure the character’s arc is complete. 
(That’s okay—you may recall that I love revision!)

TOMORROW’S GOAL:  Take weekend off to spend time with family, catch up on life, and read a little fiction for inspiration

EXTRAS:  My personal writing demons have been named!
Perfectionism = Harpy
Distraction = Google
Facebook = Davy Jones
Email = eMal
Telephone Landline demons = Mabel & Ethel
Fear = Kakorrhaphiophobia

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:  I want to know what YOU are doing.  Have you been writing?  Making goals?  Naming demons?  Succumbing to demons?  Shirking laundry or other responsibilities?  Sending in submissions?  Leave a comment!

I did it.  I reached my goal.  But there are fewer exclamation points here, and a lot less strutting going on.

On the plus side, today I didn’t need Deb’s triage system to wrangle my email.  Also on the plus side, the ringer on my phone is not broken.  Or perhaps that’s not such a plus…

TODAY’S GOAL WAS:  finish entering edits into computer; review all 50 pages for formatting, typos and final tweaks

RESULTS:  I started at 930 this morning (a victory in itself) and I eventually reached my goal, but it took the first 3 hours just to get through 5 pages of minor edits (which wasn’t the edits’ fault at all).  I still wasn’t done by 5pm, and I’m sure I would have hung up my writing boots right then, but I’d made such a big deal yesterday, practically guaranteeing I’d reach my goal today, I couldn’t stomach having to come on here and eat my words.  So I finished.  After 10pm.

HICCUPS:  the washing machine repair man, the Fedex delivery guy, the mail carrier, end-of-season rugby banquet,  intermural volleyball finals

DEMONS:  the telephone.  I really don’t blame the 42 people who called.  Clearly the bored landline demons got word that the email and Facebook demons had been highlighted here yesterday.  They just wanted their moment of fame.  The poor things get so little attention in this digital age.

LESSONS:  it’s difficult to keep your goals when your family, friends and phone demons aren’t aware of them and they interrupt your writing time

GOING FORWARD: 
•make family and friends aware of my scheduled writing time, and get them to buy in on my goals so I don’t get interrupted as often
•share blog addy with Fedex guy and mail carrier so they can follow my progress and avoid my house if I’m behind schedule
•don’t do any more laundry—that in itself will save time, as well as alleviate the need for repairs

TOMORROW’S GOAL:  print new copy of 50 pages and do final review; draft a cover letter to Agent A; send them

EXTRAS:  No, too tired

DISCLAIMERS:  No, to tired

SPEECH BUBBLES:  No, too tired

SLEEP:  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Yeah, I’m strutting: 
I met my goal for today!  It didn’t come about exactly the way I’d planned, but I’m still feeling good about it.

Here’s an update – let me know what you think of this as a template:

TODAY’S GOAL:  make progress on revising the 50 pages I’m submitting to Agent A

RESULTS:  revised all 50 pages!  I marked up my changes on paper, and put about half of them into the computer.  I’ve been making additional adjustments as I type in the edits, and I’m liking the results.

HICCUPS:  my stated writing time was “morning,” but I didn’t begin until after noon

DEMONS:  the evil twins - email and Facebook

LESSONS:  it’s easy to get caught up in my “to do” list and let time get away from me

GOING FORWARD:  try Deb Courtney’s “triage” strategy of sorting email (along with other “to do” items) into categories:
    • urgent:  must be handled NOW
    • pressing:  handle by “close of business” today
    • timely:  deal with in the next couple days
    Everything else goes in the trash or a “tickle” file for later.

TOMORROW’S GOAL:  finish entering edits into computer; review all 50 pages for formatting, typos and final tweaks

EXTRAS:  name my writing demons and blog about it (with an update, of course)

What do you think?  Do you like these categories?  Am I missing any? 
What about you—are you setting goals?  Naming demons?  Strutting?

DISCLAIMER:  I reserve the right at all times to revise the above categories.  Because I love revisions.  And categories.  And naming categories.  And revising the names of categories.  Since I’m doing so well on my goals, I may have some extra time for playing with names.

WARNING:  If this were fiction I’d have some serious concerns that the above strutting and self-assured comments are foreshadowing a fall.  But since this isn’t fiction, I shall strut off-screen, completely unworried about it.

READER THOUGHT BUBBLE:  She really shouldn’t do that.  It’s tempting fate.  She’s definitely headed for a fall.  It’s inevitable.  I wonder if she’s doing this to illustrate what NOT to do.  Maybe this is staged….

MY REPLY:  No, this is not staged, and I’m not intending to fail tomorrow as a demo.  Au contraire, my reader.  I will hit my goal again tomorrow.  Mark my words.  (What, you didn’t think I could read your thought bubble?)

I attended my very first “check-in” session with Delve Writing, and I already have revisions to do.  Revisions to my thinking and expectations, as well as to the language in my earlier blog post.  But for the sake of illustrating what I’ve learned, I’ll include the new info here rather than actually editing the previous post. 

I participated in this morning’s check-in meeting as an attendee, not as president of DW.  That meant I didn’t know in advance what Aaron (my instructor) was going to present.  If only I had, my first blog post wouldn’t need revising at all.  I could have gotten it right the first time, no need for corrections.  Oh, if only.

But perhaps this is best—having to face right-off-the-bat my impossible-to-achieve perfectionistic expectations of myself.

I hate wrestling the perfectionist demon.  He's time consuming, and never satisfied.

Back to the check-in, and back to the beginning of my original blog post.  Right up front I state that my goal is to be published.  Even my title reflects this:  “I am Writer, see me Goal.”  But it turns out that “to be published” is not my goal after all.  This, Aaron explains, is because a goal should be a PLAN.  

“To be published” isn’t a plan.  After all, it’s largely out of my control.  It’s more accurately a hope.  A dream.  A vision of what I want to happen in the future.  It so happens, this is the definition of “Intention,” and identifying my Intention is step one on Aaron's Goal-setting Worksheet.

STEP ONE:  identify Intention:  to be published

As an aside, I just have to say that “I am Writer, see me Intend” doesn't have quite the ring of my initial title.  But let’s face it:  I’m no Stephen King (yet).  And if there’s one thing I’ve gleaned about the publishing industry, it’s that few of us mere mortals get to keep our titles.  (Upon reflection this seems a bit frivolous to tout as the “one thing” I’ve gleaned, but titles and character names are important to me.)

Back on task, the next step on the worksheet is for me to decide —keeping my Intention in mind— which one of the following categories to focus my energy on:  Productivity, Submission, Marketing, or Other (which includes craft). 

This step is easy.  Since I have a completed novel, and since I plan to pursue publishing in the “traditional” model, my next step on the road to publication is to submit my work to agents.

STEP TWO:  identify Focus:  submission

Okay, now the worksheet is calling for goals.  Specifically I’m to identify goals in my area of Focus that will take me in the direction of realizing my Intention.  That’s a mouthful.  In plain English:  what do I plan to do in the area of submissions that will take me closer to getting published?

How about this:  I'll write a good book and show it to good agents.

Those are perfect goals.  They will get me well on my way to publication because if it’s a good book, a good agent will certainly offer me representation, then get me a contract to publish my book.  Intention realized.  Check, check, check.

Wrong.  Apparently all goals aren’t created equal.  The statements “write a good book” and “show it to good agents” are too vague.  Too subjective.  It would be almost impossible to know if I’ve achieved them or not.

Aaron suggests using a method you might already be familiar with:  “S.M.A.R.T.” goals.  This stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.  (More info:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria). 

Dang.  Step Three is complicated.  I need to break it down.  I’ll go backward since Aaron's worksheet provides the answer for “T” so I don't have to think about it.

Time-bound:  my goal needs to be attainable within one week
Relevant:  it has to relate to my Focus and Intention
Attainable:  it must be reasonable for me to accomplish in the time allowed
Measurable:  there should be a gauge by which to assess failure or success
Specific:  the goal should be explicit, clear-cut, and well defined

Yes, I used a thesaurus and I’m not ashamed.

Alright, thanks to Aaron’s worksheet and the use of said thesaurus, I’ve got a handle on this now:  I need to articulate a goal related to submitting my novel; one that’s well defined and measurable, and one I’m likely to accomplish in a week. 

I can do that.

STEP THREE:  S.M.A.R.T. goal for this week – revise the first 50 pages of my novel, write a cover letter, and submit these to Agent A.

(I mentioned last post that three agents requested submissions from me.  We’ll call them Agents A, B, and C.  I don’t really have a reason for this.  Just go with it.)

The last step on Aaron’s Goal-setting Worksheet is to commit to working toward my goal at specific times this week.

Okay, I did that.  But forgive me if I decline to tell you when.  I don’t want a scolding if you happen to see me on Facebook or at a coffee shop during those times.

Then again, maybe that’s exactly that kind of public shame (Aaron prefers to call it “accountability”) that will keep me on track….

Fine.

STEP FOUR:  commit to schedule – Tuesday through Friday mornings

You may notice I left out today - Monday.  That’s because the time I would have spent on my goal today was instead spent processing the goal-setting information and writing this blog post.  Plus my non-writing life blew up a little, as it is wont to do on occasion.  Which reminds me of a tip that Aaron shared:  have a back-up plan for times such as these. 

So permit me another revision.

STEP FIVE:  commit to schedule – Tuesday through Friday mornings, plus Sunday if needed

There.  Not only do I have a “big picture” vision of what I want, I know the area I’m going to focus on to get closer to making that vision a reality.  PLUS I have a plan for what specifically I’m going to do this week, and how it will fit into my schedule, with a contingency plan for catching up if I stumble along the way.

I feel pretty good about this.  With a clear plan, the daunting task of sending a 50 page submission to Agent A seems a lot less daunting.

Of course as soon as I start on those 50 pages, my perfectionist demon may try to destroy my worksheet with his spiky brown teeth and foul-smelling slobber.  Maybe I should give him a name….

You’ll have to check back to find out if I get distracted by creating a shiny new name, allow my demon (Bob?  Joe?) to derail me, or if I actually make progress on revisions of my 50 pages.

I love revision.  Almost as much as I love naming.  And contingency plans.

I am a writer, which is to say, I write.  I am not an author, which is to say, I’m not published.  Yet.   But I want to be.  That’s my goal.

This blog is a chronicle of what I’m doing to achieve that goal.  More importantly for you, this is a demonstration of how being a member of Delve Writing helps me take steps to achieve my goal.

It’s a little scary to do this so publicly.  What if I fail?  Wouldn’t that be like the “Hair Club for Men” president doing his commercial bald?

That’s what I thought at first.  But I reminded myself that writing is a bit different than growing hair.  No, really.  I wish it were as simple as rubbing some smelly liquid on a bald piece of paper and watching the wordcount grow. 

There’s a whole lot more to growing a saleable manuscript and getting it published.  A whole lot of forks in the road, roadblocks, and rickety bridges to cross.  A lot of doubt about being on the right road.  Not to mention running out of gas, and apparently a lot of mixed metaphors.  In this, I'm no different than you (except maybe for the mixed metaphors).  I'm not here as the president of Delve Writing. I am here as a writer heading down the road to publication.  I want to share my journey so you can see what the road looks like with Delve Writing by my side.

Here are some of the milestones I’ve already passed on my journey to publication:

The “great idea” for a novel
The decision to write it
Writing
Reading books about the craft of writing
Reading fiction
Writing some more
Joining a critique group
Submitting my writing to the critique group
Listening to feedback, processing it, questioning it
Writing, revising
Attending writing workshops
Completing a rough draft
Learning about the business of writing, while continuing to learn the craft
Revising
Revising again
Querying an agent
Getting a form letter rejection
Writing, revising, reading, learning more
Researching agents, networking, honing my query
Querying again
Getting a more personal rejection
Writing, revising, reading, learning more
Querying again in the form of an in-person “pitch” and getting a “send it”
Submitting the requested materials
Getting another rejection, albeit a complimentary one
Learning from the agent’s comments
Writing, revising, learning, submitting
Lather, rinse, repeat

Sure, I get discouraged.  But I keep on truckin.’  (That phrase alone should give you some indication of how long I’ve been at it.)  I keep heading down the road, sometimes like the tortoise, sometimes like the hare.  In all honesty sometimes I'm more like a rock on the side of the road.  But I can’t NOT write.  And I want to be published.  So eventually I lather up and start moving again.

Here’s the truck stop where I'm idling right now:
I have two completed novels that I believe may one day be good enough to be published.  One science fiction, one fantasy.  The fantasy is in the proverbial bottom drawer waiting patiently to be resurrected, revised and resubmitted.  The SF is on the verge of going out into the world.  I have three agent requests for it, and three interested editors waiting in the wings.

I can hear you all shouting, “Send it!  Send it now!”

But I want to get it right.  I don’t want to blow this chance by being too hasty.  The final scenes need some tweaking, and then I should go over the whole manuscript one more time.  I need to make sure I have a good story that's well-executed, and that I send it in a reasonable period of time.  And I need do this despite the obligations and distractions of my non-writing life, and in spite of my inclination to revise until it’s “perfect.”

How do I do this???

I’m attending a “check in” this morning to find out how Delve Writing can help me.  I’ll report back here on a semi-daily basis to let you know how it’s going.  Hopefully reading about my journey won’t be as boring as watching hair grow.