The Summer R.A.P.!

Writing Goals Check-In for September 4, 2023

Reminder: The Weekly RAP has been a gentle tool for staying accountable to your writing goals this summer. If you set a goal with us in the comments of last week’s newsletter, check in about how it went by adding a comment! If you set goals for the summer and care to share how it went, check in about how _that_ went.

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I welcome you to this the 100th day of our 100 Days of Summer experiment with a wee musical number.

Summer writing had me a blast
Summer writing happened so fast
I met my deadline, but just barely
Finished draft at 6:23

Writing time lost to a pup
Typey-type! But the dog must go out!
Grumble grumble grumble pout

Tell me more, tell me more
Is this pup your best friend?
Tell me more, tell me more
Did you write to the end?

I did (it sucks)
I did (hot mess)
I did (now I have to revise)

It was messy tying up threads
I checked out several dead ends
Cut a subplot that just didn’t work
Still wrote way long ‘cuz my muse is a jerk
Finished draft, something is done
But ah! Oh, the work still to come
Type-y, type-y, type-y, type

Tell me more, tell me more
Will you sleep well tonight?
Tell me more, tell me more
Revision starts at first light!

Etc.

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For those of you who don’t want to wade through my Weird-Al-esque verse, I’ll say it plain: Tonight I finished the current draft of my novel.

The fact that I used a period instead of an exclamation point tells you everything you need to know about how this particular milestone is landing—with a thud.

Maybe it’s because this is a false finish—because of the work I did earlier this year to nail down the book’s ending I already have a detailed revision plan that includes a complete rewrite of part one to support the ending I just wrote. While I’ve technically reached the end, I won’t feel like this draft is done until I’ve dealt with part one.

Maybe it’s because I’m trying to write a quietly satisfying ending in a cultural moment where third acts always seem to swell to Godzilla proportions. I feel really strongly about an ending that embraces the idea that there’s nothing so big as a small life lived on your own terms, but I fear in a world that wants bombast my quiet George Bailey ending will get lost.

Or maybe it’s because while I was trying to get the epilogue over the finish line, my six month old puppy kept going berserk—it’s hard to get excited about the quiet heartfelt ending you’re trying to write when your normally sweet angel keeps transforming into cocaine bear. (If you haven’t seen Cocaine Bear, probably don’t, but the trailer below might make you laugh)

Maybe it was something else entirely, but I simply didn’t get that “Walking on Sunshine” feeling I was hoping for.

You know the one.

That manic high where you feel alive you feel the love you feel the love that’s really real?

Don’t fret about me, though.

I definitely still enjoyed some celebratory baked goods—I’m not a monster—but I was definitely happier about those brownies than I was about reaching the end of this draft.

That said, my writing goal for the summer was to finish the draft, and I did just that. I also set a personal goal of “getting a dog” thinking that September was a deadline and instead got a puppy very early in the summer, so I need to remind myself I finished the draft under duress.

Very sweet, very furry, duress.

And even if I’m not feeling triumphant I am intellectually proud of myself.

But…

As I put some thought into my priorities for the 100 days of fall (September 11 to December 19), I do think the lack of triumph is telling me something about balancing my writing and my life. This summer I balanced writing with the puppy vortex at the expense of my wellness goals—I didn’t swim once this summer, and I’ve let my meditation practice go fallow—and that must change.

How about you?

THE WEEKLY (& SUMMER) R.A.P #15 — September 4, 2023

RECKONING—If you set a writing goal in the comment section of HIBOU’s August 27st post for The Weekly RAP #14,¹ did you achieve your goal? Yes? No? Partially? If you set a writing goal for the 100 days of Summer, did you meet that writing goal.

ANALYSIS–What went well this week? What was a challenge? What insights did you learn about your writing this week? Thinking about the summer as a whole, whether you met your goals or not, what did you learn about yourself that you can use as you set goals for the fall? Is there some habit you practiced this summer that you’d like to carry on into the fall? Some habit you neglected this summer you’d like to tend to?

PLAN–What is your top writing priority for the coming fall? The period from 9/11 to 12/19 marks 100 days of fall in a way that gives you a little breathing room to think about what you want to do and gives you the humane gift of taking some time off at the end of the year to catch your breath—your mileage may vary, but for the last two years I’ve marked the end of the year a bit before the end of the calendar year and it relieved the stress of an already busy time by taking away my intense desire to meet goals at the buzzer during the lost week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Copy and paste the template above into the comments, replace the questions with your answers, then hit post and check out what other HIBOU subscribers are up to and cheer them on!

Remember to be kind to yourself if you didn’t make your summer goal!

We turn the page into a new season this week,² so take a deep breath and dive on it. ³

1. Click the link if you need to refresh your memory!

2. Yes, I know it’s not technically fall for a few weeks, but Labor Day will ever and always mark the start of fall in my heart.

3. I have GOT to get myself back to the pool!