The Weekly R.A.P #5
Writing Goals Check-In for June 25, 2023
Welcome to the 5th Weekly RAP of the HIBOU’s 100 Days of Summer! We’re a little more than 25 percent through our hundred days of summer—29 percent to be precise—so take a look at the goals you set for the summer and see if there’s some tweaking that needs doing. Like—and this is just a for instance, say—if a puppy has blundered into your life knocking your writing goals to second priority behind the important work of housebreaking and guiding her to grow into the world’s sweetest doggo? Your mileage may vary, or at the very least be less furry.
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 #5 — June 25, 2023
RECKONING—If you set a writing goal in the comment section of HIBOU’s June 11th post for The Weekly RAP #4,2 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 almost JULY so I better get started may express your frustration clearly, but a smart goal makes the action more concrete. : By July 2, 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, my weekly RAP response is posted in the comments. And I need to reiterate last week’s promise that I won’t use this post as an excuse to post Shiloh pictures every week. I blame puppy fever for this week’s lapse. I’d say it won’t happen again, but who are we kidding? It’s probably definitely will.
CATHY’S WEEKLY RAP FOR JUNE 25, 2023
RECKONING: I managed 12 hours instead of the ten I had planned (yay!) but didn't quite get through the revision of chapter 26 (not so yay!)
ANALYSIS: This is a win. Dawn writing for a couple of hours worked well and I did twenty percent more than I planned. This morning I felt the urge to rush a pivotal scene to finish the chapter but decided that I needed another session to do it justice, so I'm giving myself that. .
PLAN: Continue morning two-hour sessions. Finish chapter 26. Start chapter 27 rough draft.
RECKONING: I fell off the map the past two weeks. Turns out between prom, graduation, family in, sending my daughter off to be a camp counselor, along with other non-family things, I was completely MIA.
ANALYSIS: Clearly it was a bust on the writing front. However, I got some good reading in, which is always a good thing. I also had two classes accepted to teach in the fall (at The Loft), so that's giving me motivation to get back on track.
PLAN: My biggest writing plan this week is actually not really writing. I'm going to meditate everyday. I've been feeling down about my novel on submission and that no one's biting, so I'm going to start each writing day with a clearing or affirming meditation. Then I will also do five 10-minute micro memoirs this week and reacquaint myself with my novel and start another exercise from 3 A.M. Epiphany. (These are exercises I'm incorporating into my novel, and they came be fairly in-depth, so it's reasonable to spread them over a couple of weeks.)