Sunday Check-in

So, before I get started with my check-in and stuff, I just wanted to inform people that this is the same person from over at http://mitsuraki.tumblr.com.  I decided to create a new blog so that people could actually comment on my posts since I couldn't get it to happen on Tumblr.  So yes...new blog yay!  My goal and intent posts are also here if you guys want to check it out.  Okay, so that's the news.  Ready for the check-in?  If not, too bad.  Go!

Check in for 10/7/12

So, I'm going to copy over my goals for ROW80 and I'll cross out what I actually accomplished.

RP WRITING

• -1. Tag as many threads as possible at least once a day. If all threads are short responses, try for two responses.
• -2. Make sure to do at least one long tag response a day. These threads are the ones most important to my characters and I know that. Granted, being on the iPad makes that difficult, I know it can be done. The responses don’t have to be as long, but make sure to keep the threads going.
• -3. Make sure to write at least two character journals a week. Don’t repeat if possible.
• —-A. Keep an excel spreadsheet of this if necessary.
• -4. Try to write with more of the players!
• -5. Most important rule of them all: have fun! Take a break if necessary to replenish the fun factor.

DRIVING

• -1. Set up lessons. Discuss what needs to be done and what can be done to expedite this process.
• -2. Take lessons and make the most of them.
• -3. Take the road test and get license!!!

PERSONAL GOALS

• -1. Lose another 15 lbs before my cousin’s wedding. That’s at the end of October sometime. If I lose 5 lbs a week, something I’ve done before with diet and exercise, then I’ll hit my goal before the wedding. This is an easy goal because I’ve been steadily losing weight since I graduated college. This was without exercising much as well, so when I add that in, the weight should melt off!
• -2. Meditate daily. I’ve been stressed because of graduating and being in the real world for the first time in my life, so I just need some down time when I’m doing absolutely nothing. I would say a minimum of 30 minutes of meditation a day should be good. I’ll have to spread those out, though, as I’ll lose interest in doing the meditation. Ten minutes here, five there, and I should be fine 
• -3. Free write a little at least twice a week. It doesn’t have to be much, but it should help the juices flow.
• -4. Read goddammit! I’ve got a bookcase and two boxes of books to read, as well as the numerous books on my Nook. Again, this doesn’t have to be much, but I want to finish at least a book, if not two, before ROW80 is over.
• -5. Get a job!

Week 1:

• 1. Write down possible ideas for the novel.
• 2. Decide which idea is the final idea by fleshing out ideas a little bit then deciding which one is the most interesting and seems to be the one that will keep my attention.
• A. If more ideas than just one seem to be interesting enough and seem plausible enough, try seeing if they can be combined and if they can, make that the main plot.
• -3. Make a very, VERY basic outline of the plot and story.
• -4. Develop characters in mind well enough to have a strong main cast as well as a few important minor characters.
• A. Don’t spend too much time on this. If not doable, focus on the main character and develop others through there and through interaction between other characters while writing.
• -5. Decide on setting (time, place, etc).
• A. Again, don’t spend too much time here. Places will develop as needed outside of the main setting while writing.
• -6. Once done with these steps, make a schedule for writing.
• A. Keep it flexible. Hiccups will happen.
• B. Keep it reasonable. Don’t set goals like writing an entire chapbook every two days. Work with chapters within the chapbook.
• C. Don’t fret if the schedule is broken. Set up caveats in case a goal isn’t reached.
• D. Remember that not all chapters will be the same length and keep an eye out for points that seem to be good ending points for each chapbook.
• -7. Decide how many chapters in a chapbook and plan accordingly!

So that's all that I've done for the first week.  A lot of things came up this week that got in the way of doing what I needed to do.  It's unfortunate that the first 7 days didn't go as I had hoped they would.  However, what I have done, as I said, is crossed out, and at least one of my goals is entirely completed!  That said, here's what I've gotten done for the book I'm trying to write:

• I've got the plot.  I'm pretty stoked about the plot I came up with by myself (this has been something I've always, ALWAYS been weak with and so for the two NaNo's that I've done I've adopted some plots that seemed really, really promising [and they are, I jut need to get the motivation to continue those stories].  Not this time, though!).  It's actually the plot of an old short story I was writing years ago, but it's been tweaked to fit a novel format.  This is probably the most exciting news I've got for this check-in.
• I've also decided on how many chapbooks I'm doing.  My plan was to do one a day, but I realized that that was a bit too much (80 chapbooks?  I think no).  So I'm trying for 2 or 3 a week.  That's about...20 or so?  Which I'll then combine into 10.  As it is, I think my chapbooks will be about...5-7 chapters long, with each chapter being 5-15 pages long.  Each page is going to be 5x7 (I THINK that's the size of average paperbacks?), which will be easier to manage than 5-15 8.5x11 pages.

So that's all I've done, which is sad for me, but this week should be a heck of a lot more productive!  If not, then I guess I'll just have to deal with cutting back on my goals, like a lot.  If that happens, I'll do just that, no big deal.  Alright people, this has gotten WAY too long, so I'm going to say peace!

P.S. Just realized that I forgot to put in my goals for this week.  So, I should do that now.

• -1. Make a very, VERY basic outline of the plot and story.
• -2. Develop characters in mind well enough to have a strong main cast as well as a few important minor characters.
• A. Don’t spend too much time on this. If not doable, focus on the main character and develop others through there and through interaction between other characters while writing.
• -3. Decide on setting (time, place, etc).
• A. Again, don’t spend too much time here. Places will develop as needed outside of the main setting while writing.
• -4. Once done with these steps, make a schedule for writing.
• A. Keep it flexible. Hiccups will happen.
• B. Keep it reasonable. Don’t set goals like writing an entire chapbook every two days. Work with chapters within the chapbook.
• C. Don’t fret if the schedule is broken. Set up caveats in case a goal isn’t reached.
• D. Remember that not all chapters will be the same length and keep an eye out for points that seem to be good ending points for each chapbook.

I know that this is basically the same goals for writing that I had for week one, but I think I'll be able to get this stuff done this week!