The Big Push – M.J. Fifield

This month is going to be the month. The month where I make major strides toward getting the Terrible Romance Sequel out into the world.

This is normally where I would follow such a statement with something like, “I mean, it won’t be, but I’m gonna try to do it anyway!”

And that is all true. Or may still be true. Whatever. The important part is that I am going to do my best to do a lot on this particular project this month, and I just may fall flat on my face (perhaps literally, as I am not what one would call “coordinated” by any stretch of the imagination) while attempting to do it.

But if I fall, I shall do it with style.

All right, well, that’s a big fat lie. I don’t have any style, either, so if I fall (when?) it’ll just be a big fat belly flop or something.

But anyway.

On paper, this is doable. There are a signifiant number of steps between where I currently am on this project and the finish line of publication, so I’m definitely not looking to have it all done by the end of the month. Instead, I looked at the master to-do list and selected a few items.

Obviously, first up, is finishing the revisions. Which means, yes, I failed to finish them last month. (I mean, are you really surprised by that? I’m not.) However, I am down to three. (No-context nicknames for these items are listed above for my amusement and perhaps your intrigue?) One of those items is already in progress. The other two are waiting in the wings. I have some time-sensitive things to do this week, so I don’t imagine I’ll even be looking at these revisions until next week.

The second item on that list is the one which I believe will give me the most trouble. The dreaded blurb. I will be, quite frankly, amazed if I manage to get one written by the end of the month.

I added the front and back matter to the list because most of it isn’t a big deal and can be worked on while trying to puzzle out other things such as a blurb or revision items.

The last item on the list is cover art. Not hiring an artist or anything like that—not yet, anyway—because I can’t do that until (a) I have a blurb to put on the back of the damn thing and (b) I have some idea of what I might like to see on the front of the damn thing. And currently, I don’t have either of those things. Which is why this particular line item involves the word think.

So, those are the expanded writing goals for August. I also do have my usual set of goals that I set each month—writing, reading, and health—and they are as follows:

Will I manage to get everything done? Will I manage to get anything done? Will I immediately get distracted by something shiny and forget what I was doing? Will the heat index in Florida cause me to melt one of these days when I venture outside?

Be sure to tune in next month to find out…

Be safe and well, all. (And cool. It’s been an insanely hot summer.)

9 thoughts on “The Big Push”

*cheerleader cap* You can do it!

It’s nice to see you’re whittling down the to-do list. That’s awesome. And I feel you on the blurbs. I think I worked on them a few years back and haven’t touched them since. *shudder*

Summer is usually when I put my head down and try to get stuff done inside since it’s too hot to do too much outside. Good luck on those goals!

I am definitely amused by that revision list, especially “knife retcon”–my own lists look a lot that sometimes, too. @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act

YOU CAN DO IT!
If you want to bounce blurb ideas off me, I’d be happy to help — and a blurb can help form an image for a cover (or vice versa)

ps – haven’t seen any dolphins or sharks or manatees or sea turtles yet, just a few little critters like sand crabs and beach birds so far. But I saw a big land turtle probably a snapper in the gutter and a possum the other day in the back yards! plus lots of lizards and froggies =)