Friday, May 26, 2017

Update Day, May 2017

Hey all! I decided I'm going to try something different today. As you know, I have been vlogging for a while, but I also realized that not everyone can watch the video whenever they visit my blog. 

So today, I decided to put the video up top, and then follow it with the script from which the video is based. Please let me know what you think of this format!


Gosh, I can’t believe how much time has been flying by lately. It seemed like a few days ago that I last posted a vlog update, so I was quite shocked to see that it was three months ago. But there you go. Sometimes life and time get in the way, and the next thing you know, it’s the end of May. Ugh. Untentional rhyme.

But because we’re now on the last Friday of May, it’s time for me to share an update for my GotGoals bloghop. In case you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about…

I’m co-hosting a bloghop with Jen and Brittney, where we set some crazy, big or just really important writerly goals. Then on the last Friday of the month, we post updates on the progress we’ve made.

I also find it useful to set smaller monthly goals, which I then use as stepping stones toward my bigger goals.



So how did I do? 

Well, for the fact that I somehow completely let time get away from me this month, surprisingly well. Okay so I have to say that I didn’t set the bar particularly high, because I was trying to find my feet after quite a lot of crap. But I did say I wanted to write an average of five minutes per day.

And you know what? I hit that average on day two. It’s funny how averages work that way.

That said, the one thing that did take a hit this month was my freelancing. I’ve basically been endlessly working on some job or the other for the past three months, then got a big job at the end of last month and then… crickets. The frustrating thing is that I got that job and it was supposed to take two weeks, but my client hit a snag with the content I’m supposed to format. It’s really not her fault or anything like that, but the net effect is that I’m stuck waiting for her to get back to me. I know eventually that’ll get done, though, so it’s nice to know the money is still hanging around somewhere, waiting for me.

Then I went from nothing to having three jobs to do, but they all only came in over this past weekend, so I will only be able to record the income in June.

So things are really not going badly, but the sudden three week silence really got to me, because I’ve let everything else fall by the way-side over the past few months. It’s really annoying when I wish I could say I spent my empty days writing, but no, they were all spent catching up on a huge admin backlog.

I just realized that if I want to make any progress to the next level, and… you know, actually have more than five minutes a day to write, I need to get some help in. Luckily for me, I have an awesome brother who wants some flexible part time hours while he studies, et voila. I now have an assistant who’s going to help me keep everything rolling on schedule.

Which means that I’ll be able to regularly update as well. Eh…hopefully.

So with that in mind, next month’s goals: 


1) Write an average of 10 minutes every day.
2) Earn $1000 of writing or publishing related income.
3) Weekly updates to my vlog.
4) Sort out the snarling mess that is my social networks as a whole.

That’s it from me for this month. Please do leave me a comment about today's post structure. And how did your month go? Got any crazy writing goals that you’re chasing down? If you'd like to join the bloghop, you can find more information here

30 comments:

  1. I always enjoy your vlog updates :) Good luck with your goals!
    I had a goal to edit 11 chapters on my vacation a couple weeks ago, but only got through 3. Better than nothing, I suppose.

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    1. Thanks so much! Yeah 3 chapters are better than none. :-D

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  2. Time just seems to slip by, doesn't it. Like the format of today's post, as I prefer reading the script to watching a vblog. Why? I do most of my blog- catching-up with hubby either watching TV or asleep beside me, so always with the sound on my iPad turned off. Hope you get more writing done this month.

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    1. That makes sense, and to be honest, it's something I only recently thought of.

      So far, everyone thinks this format is a good idea, so I think I'll be sticking with it.

      And you know, actually writing a script ahead of time makes the editing less painless.

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  3. I like this format. Excellent!
    Best of luck hitting those four goals. You can do it!
    And thanks for this hop. It's really helped me over the years.

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  4. I love that you've started with a smaller writing time goal. I tried to jump back into a "bigger" but unnamed amount this month and I found it tough. So ... maybe I should revise my May goal to have some kind of smaller number to hit.

    Love your update, Misha and I'm glad things are on the up!

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    1. Yeah it's all about psychology for me. If I set a smaller goal, it's not as intimidating to start, so I'm less likely to put it off.

      And once I start, I almost invariably go way over goal. ;-)

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  5. I love the new structure! Hang in there, and keep keeping on, right?

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  6. I like this structure! I don't often watch vlogs (though I don't know why--I always enjoy them, just some weird tick of mine). Anyhow, wishing you loads of success this month!!

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    1. Thanks lots. I'm the same. I enjoy watching vlogs, but find I have to remind myself to actually watch them. :-)

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  7. I think it is good to make a goal reasonable and to build on it... it's like me getting back into my walking... I am just going to start with 10 minutes a day and build up slowly until I feel up to my old self...

    Keep working hard, I know you will reach your goals xox

    Thank you so much for dropping by my blog, I was off from blogging due to massive physical pain but I am getting back to myself slowly xox

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    1. Yeah it's the best thing to start small and then go big, especially when we haven't been doing the thing for some time.

      Thanks for the return visit. ;-)

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  8. So glad to hear things are going better and that you got some writing done. Smaller goals always help me too.

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  9. I liked to read the text. I never seem to have enough time to stick around for Vlogs. :-( Good luck on those small goals!!!!!

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  10. That's the funny thing with freelancing. You can have one project after another and then nothing. Maybe for a couple of months. Then they start coming in again.

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    1. Yeah luckily the work seems to be coming in for now again. :-D

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  11. I like the format of putting the transcript with video for times like this when I have others in the room with me while I'm on my laptop. Good luck meeting your goals this time around!

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    1. Yeah it seems to be a popular choice, so that's what I'll be doing from now on. :-)

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  12. As an artist, I know how frustrating lags between freelance work can be. (Mine often last for months.) Glad a few jobs finally came your way, even though they take time away from writing. And that's awesome how brother will be able to help you balance everything now. That'll make achieving your goals easier, for sure! Best of luck with everything you hope to tackle in June!

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    1. Yeah, although my frustrating thing with the lags is that I'm so behind on my admin that I can't write. It would actually be quite nice to have a few days of marathon writing sessions. XD

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  13. I liked the transcript format - I just like reading better than watching, but apart from that it's just easier to read when there are others nearby.

    Wish you the very best of luck with your goals.

    Nilanjana.

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    1. Thanks so much and thanks for stopping by. :-)

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  14. It's going to be a busy month, but hopefully an awesome one. I'm facing several snags myself, but they're of a very different nature. Here's to persisting and overcoming!

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  15. Your vlog certainly shows your bubbling personality. I like watching you and your energy. I like the text too because I usually can read faster than watch the video. But using a video makes us feel like we know you better. So---I'm not much help, am I? Wishing you great luck on achieving your monthly goals. My writers group TRY to record our goals for a week every Monday. Sadly with spring and summer ahead, we have been very lax on doing it.
    JQ Rose

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    1. You guys are always welcome to sign up to my bloghop. ;-)

      The big thing I've found with recording is the work it takes to edit. I've started refining my recording more, but it's still taking so long that I can't really post a vlog more than once a week.

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