I glanced at my Writing Goals for 2015 post to check where I am compared to where I thought I would be. I was struck by something. I am not where I thought I would be. And I’m happy about that.
I scheduled this year with some definite goals about things I want to have done. In my original plan for writing, I was going to have Chaos Wolf ready to start submitting by the time I leave for Worldcon. I was going to have a fanfic that I never put online fully rewritten into an original piece and submitted. Neither of those are anywhere near close to be completed.
I’m not being hard hard on myself for that. While I haven’t gotten those done, I have accomplished a few other things. I have three short stories in various stages of completion. I am back to my 500-words-a-day average. It’s just not quite what I originally planned.
It reminds me of when I go to cons. The schedule of panels are posted roughly a week or two before. I’ll read through them and figure out what ones I want to attend. I will make my list and double check it for conflicts. I am ready to take on the con in a highly organized manner.
When I arrive, that plan is immediately tossed to the four winds. I run into friends who are on their way to different panels than I was planning. Their suggestions sound so much more interesting. Or my meal ran longer than expected and I don’t want to show up for the last fifteen minutes of the panel. Or I talk late into the night talking with people and that first panel is just too early for me to pretend to be human. So I go with the flow and enjoy every moment whether it was on my schedule or not. Opportunities appear that I might not have experienced if I stuck faithfully to my plans.
That describes my philosophy for writing for the moment. I am going to try to stick to my schedule. But I am not going to use it as an excuse to turn down opportunities that may come my way.
I like the way you think! ^_^ I’m a planner, but it’s a good reminder not to hold onto those plans too tightly.
You’re making me think it’s time to do the 6 month review of my writing goals.
Yup. Of course this doesn’t apply to deadlines I would be under contract for. But I like to have plans even if I end up wadding them into a ball and gleefully tossing them over my shoulder.
Not a bad thing to do every so often. Plus I tend to forget parts of what I said I’d do, so it’s a good reminder.