M.J. Fifield

It’s the beginning of the month, which means it’s time for another action-packed installment of….my monthly goals.

First up, however, is a quick look back at February’s goals and any progress I may have made on those…

• Figure out the main villain arc in Full Circle

I think I may have done this. I mean, I think it’s at least okay enough for the first draft. I suspect the second draft will bring with it some changes, but what else would a second draft do, right?

• Figure out and complete my February marketing attempt

Yeah, so…I had thought about putting the Terrible Romance Novel (Fine. Love & Other Lies. Whatever.) on sale during Valentine’s Day weekend because it was pointed out to me that I had, in fact, written a romance novel (a fact that, in fact, had not occurred to me earlier) and that Valentine’s Day may be a good tie-in or whatever, but then I…didn’t. Because of course I didn’t.

I did, technically, do something in the way of marketing, but it was quite sad and pathetic and I don’t want to say anything more about it.

I cannot stress enough how NOT GOOD at this I am.

• Read a damn book

I actually did this. It took me until the end of February, but I finally read a book this year. I am so very sad that this is an achievement.

• Walk at least three miles every day

I fell short a few days, but the overall average was good. As of the writing of this post, I averaged 3.8 miles per day.

MARCH GOALS

• Add words to Part III of Full Circle

Last month, I had to kill some darlings, an act which thrilled me to no end. I mean, fine, whatever, maybe the story is at least slightly better for it, and cutting that dead weight allowed me to finish Parts I and II of the story, but whatever. I’m totally not bitter about it or anything.

Anyway, the goal this month is to make some headway on Part III. There’s really nothing standing in my way of real progress here except for, you know, me, so…yeah. We’ll see how it goes.

• Figure out March’s monthly marketing attempt and then, you know, do it

I was thinking about dropping this goal entirely because it’s making me feel…things. None of them particularly good. But I’m going to try to stick with it a little longer. We’ll see how it goes.

• Read a damn book

Let’s see if I can keep the streak alive.

• Walk at least three miles a day

Or, you know, at least on average. The dogs like to walk, so this really shouldn’t be a problem.

And on that note…I’m outta here. What are your goals for the month?

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well, all.

It’s the beginning of the month, which means it’s time for another action-packed installment of MY MONTHLY GOALS!

But before we get to the main event, here’s a brief recap of what I accomplished last month. (And it’s definitely brief for the sake of post length. Definitely not because I didn’t accomplish very much. Definitely.)

JANUARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

—I added 5,700 words to Full Circle.

I started out the year having some third act issues, so I concentrated on finishing some of the incomplete scenes in the first two acts while my brain worked on the third act problems in the background. This was marginally successful. I wrote words, I deleted words, I ended up with a problem that I shall discuss more in February’s goals. So, progress is being made. Albeit very slow progress.

—I attempted some marketing.

My January Marketing Attempt (that’s a generous use of the words ‘marketing’ and ‘attempt’, by the way…) was to offer to mail bookmarks/postcards for my books to any interested readers. It’s the kind of thing that would be handed out at book events, had I any book events on my schedule. One person took me up on the offer, and judging by the email I received in response, it may even lead to a sale. So…successful-ish? (Yes, you’re probably (rightfully) laughing at me for thinking this could count as some sort of success, but please keep in mind that I am in a serious ‘remedial marketing for anxiety-ridden dummies’ place)

(Also, if you’re in the US & would like some bookmarks of your very own, I’ll be happy to send some your way. Just email or DM me or something.)

—As of the moment I wrote this post, I walked a total of 98 miles in January.

I aim for three miles every day and was, admittedly, lazier in January than normal, but the daily average was almost 3.2 miles. That is what the kids call…

FEBRUARY GOALS

—Figure out the main villain arc in Full Circle

As is often the case in everything I write, the story shape-shifts in unexpected ways, forcing me to rethinking/redraw certain character arcs and storylines and the like. Full Circle has proven to be no different. Yay.

I started reconstructing this arc toward the end of last month and had a brief moment of thinking it might all work out with little reconstruction on every other damn part of the WIP.

Yeah. That’s over now. I wrote out everything I know and don’t know about this arc and from that developed a list of eight items that still need to be addressed in order for this arc to be complete and maybe even (that’s a big MAYBE, by the way…) make some semblance of sense. (Apparently, that’s important to a story? I dunno. That’s just what I hear.)

As much as I may like to, I don’t think I can’t put it off any longer because this arc naturally has a hand in the main plot as well as the subplot. So I think if I want to make any further progress on this WIP, I will have to suck it up and do some deep thinking.

—Figure out & complete my February Marketing Attempt

Can I just say again how much I hate this? I just feel so very clearly NOT cut out for this line of work.

—Read a damn book

Though there are, like, five new releases sitting on the side table in the living room—books I was soooooo excited to pre-order and read—I have yet to even open any of them.

Seriously. What the hell is WRONG with me?

—Walk at least three miles every day

Just looking to stay somewhat active.

And on that note…I’m outta here.

What are your goals for February?

Be safe and well, all.