Goal Update 5/2

How is it already May?

In unrelated news, I’ve finished one class, and I’ll be taking my last final for the other on Tuesday. Then I will have unlimited time to work on all this until I get called back into work. And when that will be, I don’t know.

GOAL 1) PUBLISH SKOS

  • My Goal: Spend at least 10 mins, 3 days/week minimum
  • Where I planned to be: Spent at least 30 mins
  • Where I am: At home, where else?
  • On Target or Behind: On top, or underneath?

How’s It Going:
You wanna know what the worst part is about Photoshop tutorials on YouTube? I’m using an ancient version of Photoshop, and everyone else is using Creative Cloud. Seriously, I’m probably the only person left on the planet still using CS2. Which means I don’t have a lot of the fancy shit in newer versions.

But I make do. (Because fuck Creative Cloud.)

I’m really taking my time on these covers, tweaking them, leaving them alone for a while, then coming back to tweak some more. Trying to get the feel right. I’m pretty happy with what I’m getting so far.

GOAL 2) REVISE SYCU

  • My Goal: 2 Lessons per month/ 1 Lesson every 2 weeks; 3 chapters/13 scenes per day
  • Where I planned to be: Lesson 8 finished
  • Where I am: Lesson 8 finished, Lesson 9 finished
  • On Target or Behind: On Target (and now way ahead, woo!)

How’s It Going:
The last half of Lesson 8 is always fun. Pretending to be an angry reader and intelligently ripping the book to shreds in a 1-star review? Freeing, I’m telling you. And I forgot how simple Lesson 9 is. Which is good, I like forward movement.

I also think metal music is stimulating to my creative brain or some shit because that’s what I was listening to when I did Lesson 9. I wrote a LOT about what I wanted this book to be, what I learned, and what I want the reader to take away from it. Thank you, Periphery. I love all their stuff, but I was specifically listening to Juggernaut: Alpha, Juggernaut: Omega, and Periphery II. (Links go to YouTube playlists, for anyone interested.)

Fun fact: The lyrics to Periphery’s Scarlet (link to YT, lyrics in the description) weirdly fit this story. I promise it’s not intentional. Ignore the video, though… Actually, you know what. Don’t.

On to Lesson 10… and the dreaded Monastery. Yes, you read that right. And it’s just about as much fun as it sounds. (I still prefer it to Lesson 7, though!) As it is the Monastery, the next post or two will be sparse until I’m done.

GOAL 3) SURVIVAL

  • My Goal: 500 WPD, 1500 WPW
  • Where I planned to be: 7500 words
  • Where I am: 7629 words
  • On Target or Behind: On Target

How’s It Going:
Got a little carried away, but I just can’t stop myself some days. It’s so much fun! And I love these characters already. In fact, I just introduced one during my Friday stint, and she is interesting. I’m excited to see where it all goes.

I think I’ll give y’all a snippet of this new character, whose name right now is Carly.

NOTE: The following material is a copyrighted excerpt from raw, unedited first draft, which may contain typos and spelling or grammar errors. Please do not point out corrections or make suggestions as I will not see them during revision. Please do not quote this material, as it may not survive to final draft.

When the checker had finally scanned and bagged the last can, he tallied up her total. Carly pulled out some cash, quickly counting what she had left. It would be enough for one more store.

Once she was free from the checker, cart now full of double bagged cans, she shoved the cart away and out the door to her car. The trunk and backseat of her Passat were already full, a piece of cardboard shoved behind the seats to prevent the mountain of cans from flying forward over the center console.

She unloaded the cart into the floorboard of the front passenger seat, stacking them until they were level with the seat, then stacking them across.

One more store was probably about all her car would be able to handle too.