The Weekly R.A.P #2
Writing Goals Check-In for June 4, 2023
Welcome to the 2nd Weekly RAP of the HIBOU’s 100 Days of Summer!
Reminder: The Weekly RAP is a gentle tool for staying accountable to your writing goals. 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’re just joining us this week, ignore the first two questions of the RAP sheet and just set a goal for next week.1
So, how did this week go?
THE WEEKLY R.A.P #2 — June 5, 2023
RECKONING—If you set a writing goal in the comment section of HIBOU’s May 29th post for The Weekly RAP #1,2 did you achieve your goal? Yes? No? Partially?
ANALYSIS–What went well this week? What was a challenge? What insights did you learn about your writing this week? Looking ahead to next week, can you repeat what went well? If the coming week has similar challenges to last week, how might you adjust your writing schedule or your goal? Are there any new challenges to take into account this week?
PLAN–What is your writing goal for the coming week (6/5to 6/11)? What is your plan to get it done? How will you reward yourself for the work you complete? A friendly reminder that smart goals are (s)pecific, (m)easurable, (a)chievable, (r)ealistic, and (t)ime-bound.3
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!4
Remember to be kind to yourself if you didn’t make your goal!
Today is the start of a fresh, new week!
You might also want to read “Writing Accountability Experiment,” the first post in the series.
Click the link if you need to refresh your memory!
Holy cow it’s JUNE so I better get started may express your frustration clearly, but a smart goal makes the action more concrete. : By June 11, I will get create a working synopsis for part two by working for a half hour every morning.
Because this is about us not me, I’m going to put my weekly RAP into the comments starting this week.
CATHY’S WEEKLY RAP FOR JUNE 5, 2023
RECKONING: Dive into research—check! Research trip—check! Reread my plan for the first chapter of part three—also check! I did NOT manage to reclaim my early morning practice or reward myself.
ANALYSIS: Morning writing aside, I did what I set out to do—research, research trip, rereading—but if I’m being honest with myself, I set low goals this week because I was drunk on a cocktail of excitement and terror about actually breaking ground on part three. While it’s understandable I’d be afraid of starting to write after the insane amount of work it took to unstick the widgets of parts one and part three—if this doesn’t work, then what??—I won’t make progress if I slow down every time I feel excitified (EXCITED + TERRIFIED = EXCITIFIED). Also I need to return to morning writing urgently and I need a better reward. Given how much fun I had researching this week and how much more of it I want to do because it’s fun, I think I should only let myself do research for a few minutes at the end of my writing time. On my trip I bought a most excellent book I want to sink into. I’ll let myself sip five pages a day.
PLAN: I will write a rough draft of chapter 26 by returning to my early morning schedule. Each day I write, I can read five pages in my new research book, nerd that I am, and when I finish the draft, I will take myself for a swim.
Evelyn's RAP for June 5, 2023
RECKONING: I exceeded my goal of working on my newsletter for 30 minutes each of the 4 non-holiday weekdays last week (45, 45, 43, 34). Wrote 786 new words. Not much, but advanced the draft. More importantly, I wrote each of those days, not allowing myself to get lost in research.
ANALYSIS: I underestimated how long figuring out the newsletter flow and shaping it would take, even with an outline. Which of course means the outline was a good starting point but not a solid road map. But I'm still achieving my write-in-advance goal.
PLAN: Aim to finish my draft by end of day Tuesday, complicated by a client blog post I need to start and complete in the same timeframe. But still want to get things done early. In specifics, an hour on the newsletter Monday and Tuesday, to be realistic with the other piece. Then Wednesday, if the draft isn't done, write to done. Edit and prep for publication Thursday. Friday, start the next newsletter for 30 minutes to keep this going. Reward: shopping for my trip to Europe in 2 weeks, especially new pair of good walking shoes.