Tag Archives: goals

Revisiting Old Novels

Posted in FanFiction by

I have to say that working on a fanfiction I started in high school has been interesting.  It’s been years since I’ve worked on it, having abandoned it after a year in college.  I can’t remember why I abandoned it now, but working on it again has brought back a lot of memories for me. 

It’s been slightly difficult to go back and work on it, in that I’ve had to go back and reread it to remind myself of what’s going on.  My writing has gotten a lot better over the last 8 years.  I still have no idea where it’s going, but I feel good about working on it again.  It’s mostly to prove that I can finish what I start, which I’m confident I can do now.  Plus, it’s kind of like my baby, you know? 

I have no idea if I’ll ever put up the chapters I’ve added, so for now, I’m just waiting to see where it goes before I make any decisions. 

Here’s what I find weird though.  Of all the things I could go back and work on, I decided to go with my 1st ever fanfiction.  It’s an interesting choice, but I’m glad I’ve decided to go back and work on it.  It’s slowly becoming one of my favorites again, although going back and working on something several years later is weird.  Especially since I’ve never done it before.

And for the 1st time since November, I’m accomplishing some of the stuff I set out to do.  That makes me happy, and I’m reminded why I love writing so much.

Small Steps Are The Way To Go

Posted in General by

Setting small specific goals are really working out so far, so I think I’ll stick with that for now. 

I’ve written 692 words this week, and I’m hoping to add on to that today, even if it’s 100 words.  Last week, I ended up doing around 1000 words or so, and while I’m not neccessarily aiming for that, I still have more words than I would have written otherwise.  There’s nothing really new I can odd, other than Harry and Ron somehow ended up in the underworld, and they most definitely were not supposed to be there.   

The character profiles are also coming along okay.  I didn’t answer every question, mostly because I wasn’t sure of how the character would react.  I always want to fill the thing out completely, but at the same time, if I’m not sure of something, it’s easier to leave it blank and come back to it.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever go back and work on it or if I’ll wait until I actually start writing to go back to it.  Sometimes it’s better to wait and see what unfolds as opposed to planning every little detail. 

I also went to the gym, which was great.  My biggest problem is getting myself there, especially since I spend most of my time at home.  This week, setting a goal (going twice) seemed to work out well, so I will go 3 times next week.

The 100 book challenge is going okay.  I’ve been keeping track of the books here at my blog, plus I’ve been using goodreads.  According to them, I’m 6 books behind, but there’s no doubt I’ll be able to read 6 more books this month.  Plus, I checked out some books from the library, so that’ll help out some too.  I don’t know why I stopped checking books out from the library, but I’ll definitely be doing that more often.

So here are my goals for next week: I will write 150 words for the giant prehistoric chicken, turning point, and a 3rd novel of my choosing.  I will work on the last page of my character profiles that I’ve been working on the last couple weeks.  I already mentioned my gym goal for the week.  And I’ll have 1-2 books read in the next week.

Get Ready For The Pictures!

Posted in General by

Yesterday, I participated in the Automattic Worldwide WordPress 5k, and I have a bunch of pictures from it!

It took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes- mostly because I’m not in shape at all, so I walked really slow, but also because I stopped to talk a few pictures along the way.  I had forgotten to take a look at the time I started, so the only reason I know how long it took me was because I was listening to a podcast that’s about an hour and a half.  I did stop and take a break, because my feet and my lower back were killing me, and I have the feeling my legs will be somewhat sore today.

A 5k is about 3.1 miles, and I did mine around a golf course.  It has a decent trail around it, and there were markers indicating how far you’ve walked.  I’ve walked around it a few times, and I knew it was equivalent to a 5k, so I didn’t really have to  map out a course or anything.

Unfortunately, there really weren’t much I could take pictures of, but here’s what I did take:

The One Mile Mark

This was the 1st thing that was picture worthy.  At this point, I walked just under half a mile from where I had started.

The "Official" Start of the Trail

This is the “alleged” start of the trail around the golf course.  You don’t have to start there, of course, but I thought it was interesting.  Plus, it’s on the other side of the golf course that I started at, and I didn’t want to drive to this end just to start here.  Besides, it’s at a park, and there were quite a few birthday parties, so it was good I didn’t start there.

One of Two Duck Ponds

This is one of two duck ponds I saw.  And there’s nothing better than seeing ducks on a nice day.

The 2 Mile Marker

At this point, I wasn’t even paying any attention to the markers and how far I had walked, but since there wasn’t any nice scenery, I had to take a picture of something.

Even More Ducks!

This was the 2nd of two duck ponds I saw.  The pond was actually right next to these ducks, but I couldn’t get any decent ones of ducks and the pond, so I settled for just ducks.  My grandpa used to take me to feed these ducks when I was little.  Probably not these ducks, but the ducks by this particular pond.

My Finish Line!

And this was what I saw when I finished.  Again, the scenery was terrible, since there were a couple parking lots, so I settled for the sign.  I really had no clue what to take a picture of, since taking a picture of the golf course with golfers in the background was a little weird.  Taking a picture of the parking lot was out of the question, as was a picture of the golf course restaraunt.  So random sign on a fence was my best choice.

It was really good, though, just to walk, and listen to a podcast.  And I promise that I’ll go to the gym a couple times this week!  Just not today though.  Moving’s going to be hard.

Not Quite Finished, But It’s A Start

Posted in General, Other Projects by

So I started the character profiles.  I only did something really basic, limiting it stuff like age, where they live, what they do, and other basic info.  It’s a start, though, and a lot more than I probably would have done otherwise.  I think I definitely need to set smaller goals for myself, since that seems to be working a lot better than really vague goals.  Smaller, specific goals + a deadline = me actually being productive.  It works during NaNo, so I have no idea why the thought to apply the same principles outside of NaNo never occurred to me. 

Here are the characters I worked on:

  • Kaylee Adams: I see her as early to mid-30’s.  She’s from Rhode Island, twirls her hair, is in fairly good health, and has no vision problems.  She’s the middle child, generous, and is (generally) polite, but is sometimes rude. 
  • Penelope Adams: She’s in her 60’s.  I have no idea where she’s from.  She studied psychology, and I’m toying with the idea of her having some kind of medical background.  She’s judgemental of others, but tries not to show it, is sometimes polite, and is the 1st female president.
  • Tucker Robinson: He’s between the ages of 35 and 45, is an only child, and wears glasses.  He is introverted, polite, and not very generous.  He has a PhD in anthropology, and likes conspiracy theories.

My goals for next week are: to continue working on the 3 characters above, taking a look at how they deal with things, and what motivates them, as well as what scares them and makes them happy.  I will also write 150 words each for the Giant Prehistoric Chicken, Turning Point, and Fred and Hermione.

Writing Is Good

Posted in General by

So, I actually wrote this week!  I’m very impressed with myself right now.

Harry Potter and the Giant Prehistoric Chicken: Hermione, Harry and Ron continue their quest to find the giant prehistoric, and are currently wandering the underworld.  Snape is annoyed that he’s surrounded by Gryffindors, and is completely ignoring that Tonks was a Hufflepuff and Luna’s in Ravenclaw.  Harry points out that the sorting hat almost put him in Slytherin, which doesn’t make Snape feel any better.

Fred and Hermione: It’s the 1st time I’ve worked on it in years!  I forgot how much fun I had writing it- I definitely want to keep writing it now, because I have no clue what happens.  And I want to know what happens now.  Hermione and Ginny talk about trying to set Ron up with someone, much to his horror, and Mrs. Weasley likes their plan so much, she may try to get in on the action.

Turning Point: Lot’s of banter about Kiora being accident-prone.  I have the feeling that issues between Owen and Kiora will pop up soon.  He likes her less and less, I think, but I haven’t really shown it. 

I haven’t done any of the character profiles yet, but I will sometime today, I think.  Or maybe tomorrow, but I’d prefer today.  

I think setting a weekly goal is something that is working out better for me, than writing whatever I want, whenever I want.  Even more amazing is that I went beyond the 300 word goal I set for the week, writing a combined 725 words.  I’ll definitely be setting word goals every week now.

Plus, I decided to do the worldwide wordpress 5k!  I have today, tomorrow and sunday to do it, and it shouldn’t be that bad, it’s just an hour of my time, so I’ll definitely be blogging about that when I complete it!

I Am So Proud of Myself

Posted in General, HP & The Giant Prehistoric Chicken, Other Projects by

I actually planned a couple of my plot bunnies.  Not really planning, but more coming up with notes.  And I even worked on Harry Potter and the Giant Prehistoric Chicken!

Not much, mind you, but a little.  Like 20 or 30 words.  But it’s the most I’ve worked on it since November, which is a big improvement over the fact that I’ve done absolutely nothing with it.

I don’t have many many notes on my plot bunnies, but I have a few.  And I have characters!  With names!  That’s all I have, but it’s a start, and I can stop referring to them as those nameless people that I need to name and think about. 

We have Kaylee Jane Daniels, who stumbles across a mysterious group of people.  She 1st heard about this group of people through someone she met, and soon sees them everywhere.  I’m still trying to decide how she meets this person, but I have a couple of ideas.  She definitely doesn’t think anything of it, and even laughs it off, until she starts seeing them herself. 

I have a very vague idea of her job, but she tells her boss, thinking she’s crazy.  Her boss, however, becomes worried that Kaylee’s seeing mysterious people everywhere.  I’m not sure why it’s important, and in the end, it might not be important.  But right now, it is.  It seems very ominous. 

One of my goals is to have a character profile done for Kaylee and her boss done by Saturday.  I’d also like to get one done for the person that tells Kaylee about the mysterious group of people.

I will also write at least 1oo words each for the Giant Prehistoric Chicken, Turning Point and one of my other Harry Potter fanfics. And I’ll post if I actually get any of this done.

What I Want To Know More About

Posted in Writing Prompts by

I honestly have no idea where to begin with this.  There are so many things I want to know, and there’s so much out there, that I’ll never know everything.  I think I’m going to talk about the classes I wish I had time to take.

I wish I had taken a few more history classes- I love history, so I wish I had more time to take a few extra history classes.  And actually, I wish I had taken history classes in place of some of the other classes I had taken. 

I also wish I had taken a few more English classes- I took only the required classes, and none beyond that.  I wish I had though, since English was always one of my favorite classes in high school.

Psychology- I always liked psychology, and wished I took more than Intro to Psych and Abnormal Psychology.  Abnormal Psych was really interesting- and all of the disorders that I never knew existed!  I’ve debated getting a copy of the DSM-IV-TR, which is probably the current edition.  If it’s not, then the newest edition.  Mostly because I’m weird, and because I know there has to be more than what we talked about in class. 

Sociology- I love sociology!  That should be expected though, since that’s what my degree is in.  And like everything else I’ve mentioned, there were a few classes I wish I had taken.  My two favorite classes were sociology classes- Minority Group Relations (best class ever!) and gender roles and the media.  Both were really interesting, and the professors were awesome.

Women’s Studies- I took one class, about women in the media, and I was fascinated.  I didn’t really glance at the other classes offered for Women’s Studies, but I was interested enough want to take another class.]

One day, I’m hoping to go back to school so I can take some of the classes I never got around to taking the 1st time.  Plus, I need to do some more reading, and see if I can learn anything, because I like reading, and learning new things.

How Hard Is It To Come Up With An Idea?

Posted in Other Projects by

I’ve given some thought to one of my other plot bunnies, and I’ve been struggling with it.

The premise is that someone stumbles across a secret government agency- it’s an agency so secret even the president doesn’t know about it.

I’ve been struggling with it because what would be so secretive the president doesn’t know about it?  Right now, one of the ideas that popped into my mind was something similar to The Event, which is a great t.v. show.  Or maybe something based off The Adjustment Bureau.  I haven’t seen it, but the trailers I’ve seen intrigue me. 

I’m hoping to have a more developed idea in the next month or two.  I definitely need to work on my characters too, because there’s only a couple that I’ve come up with. 

The idea needs a lot of work, so hopefully by November I’ll have a lot more to work with.  I like the idea though, so I’m hoping something will come to me. 

I may end up taking it in a different direction, since I’m still not sure what I want to do with it.  Coming up with a vague idea is the easy part- it’s developing the idea and the characters that’s slightly more difficult and somewhat problematic.  I think I may end up coming up with notes for each idea and see what happens.

I Hope I Don’t Get Caught Up In The Research

Posted in Other Projects by

I haven’t gotten much of anywhere with that historical fiction idea I have, but I’ve started to do a little bit of research for it. 

Here are some of the things I’m considering:

  • something from the perspective of Catherine Carey, who was Mary Boleyn’s daughter (Mary was Anne’s sister, making Catherine Anne’s niece).  I don’t know what it is, but there is something about Catherine that strikes me as interesting.  Perhaps what I find so interesting is the fact that she was a witness to Anne’s execution.  That could be an interesting take on it.
  • Amy Robsart- she was Robert Dudley’s 1st wife.  Robert Dudley was Master of Horse for Elizabeth I.  I find her story to be mildly interesting, and the circumstances around her death even more interesting than her life.  It might be interesting to write something about that. 
  • Something written from the perspective of a lady-in-waiting to the queen.  Or anyone who’s staff for the monarchy.  I read The Queen’s Fool several years ago, about a girl who was the Holy Fool for Edward VI and then Mary I.  It would be interesting to write.
  • I’m not sure if I still want to focus on Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard or Jane Seymour.  I might but it also depends on what I find out about the time period.

I’m definitely going to have to do some research on this- I want to have a general idea of clothing, food, language, and the household, among other things.  Plus, names are going to be important, especially if I go with the idea of someone’s lady-in-waiting, as I’ll be making someone up, instead of going with an actual person.  I want to have the right name, and use something common to the time period.  Something I learned was that middle names were commonly used in Europe, especially Spain and Germany, and the English generally didn’t have a middle name. 

I don’t really have a clear idea for a plot, although I have a couple vague ideas- and the ideas I do have are so vague I doubt they could be considered plots.  I’m hoping that as I research more, I’ll eventually come across something interesting.  Otherwise, I may have to put this idea on hold.  I don’t know whether that’s good or bad; however, if I don’t come up with something by November, it should make going with 2 ideas somewhat easier since I’ll have one less idea to choose from.

Bread and Other Scary Things

Posted in Food, General by

Baking bread scares me.  It always seemed so hard and time-consuming.  However, I’ve decided that I need to overcome this fear, and try baking bread. 

I’ve already started looking at some recipes, and some look a lot easier than others, so I think I’ll start off with the easy-looking ones first, and work my way up.  By easy-looking recipes, I mean the ones where’s there no kneading required (or in some cases, minimal kneading).  Or the ones with minimal rising.  The two actually seem to go hand-in-hand.  Even the ones with a lot of rising and kneading don’t seem to bad, but I think it’ll be easier for me to work my way up.  I’ll be sure to post pictures of all my successes and failures.

Running.  It scares me and I definitely don’t want to look stupid while doing it.  Granted, it’ll be quite some time before I’m even ready to run, because I’m way out of shape.  And I really shouldn’t worry about looking stupid, but the other people at the gym!  They don’t look like they worry about looking stupid, even though I’m sure the thought is going through their minds.  Some of them anyway. 

I suppose I should pick a writing-related goal that scares me.  There isn’t anything in particular that scares me, although actually continuing to work on something is a little weird.  Okay, maybe actually finishing something is a little scary.  But I suppose actually finishing something is somewhat dependant on how much I like what I’m working on.  Of course, this is the 1st time I’ve wanted to finish anything.  It was going to happen eventually.  But whether I can actually get my butt in the chair (in my case, on my bed) and write is a completely different story.    

Besides, now is as good a time as any to do things that scare me.  How else are I going to get over my fears if I don’t face them?