Introduction to the Accountability Post 2021 Week 47
For the second week in a row I ask: Did I finish the first draft of Evolution’s Hand Book 2: Epsilon Eridani? Have I made any progress on the short story lead magnet, All That Sparkles? Or the e-mail list in general? When I wrote last week’s post, I had high hopes! But let’s look at the week’s stats first. I bet you can guess the answers based on them!
Accountability Post 2021 Week 47 By the Numbers
From the perspective of word count, this was a brutal week.
This week hit me with not one but two Family Real Life Events (FRLE). In a sense, that cost me about 5,000 words of potential writing. In another (more important!) sense, I was there when my family needed me. So, I’m going to put that into the win column.
That said, it’s with a heavy heart that I confess Book 2: Epsilon Eridani is still not done. Over and above the FRLEs, I honestly thought I only had two more chapters to write. Instead, I realized I really needed five. That is, if I wanted to tie up the loose ends that I didn’t intentionally leave open as pointers to Book 3: Sirius.
I asked myself: Did I want to make a decision for the sake of expediency but risk disappointing my readers? Of course, I answered, “Let’s not be expedient.”
Last week, I finished three of the last five chapters. The first involved Melchizedek Conrad en route to South America. The second involved Conrad and Liam Martin. I’m really interested to see how readers react to that! That second chapter is a big one, both in terms of emotional impact (I hope!) and in terms of impact to the world. The third chapter wrapped things up for Jack Booth and his compatriot Lucas Knight.
The last two chapters are half laying down the foundation for Book 3 and half capping off Book 2. Helmine Stein stars in the next to last chapter. In the last, which I’m still thinking through, Conrad and Sachi Matsushita have to resolve the issues that have plagued them for the whole book. Since I think I’m going to elevate her to one of the Point of View characters for Book 3, I want to make sure I cover all the ground I need to.
Goals for the Week in Accountability Post 2021 Week 47
- Finish the denouement for Evolution’s Hand Book 2: Epsilon Eridani (Take 2!)
- Continue working on the short story that’ll act as a lead magnet (an ongoing effort)
- Continue researching e-mail lists (an ongoing effort)
I realize the second two goals are vague. As soon as I finish Book 2, I’ll refine them. I’ll also pull in the next steps for Book 1 so I have a master list.
What Do You Think?
How do you handle the disappointment of not hitting your targets? Or is it no big deal? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!
I write pretty much everyday of the year and I originally used to be focused on keeping a streak going. The problem with that is if you miss one, it hits you psychologically and it’s hard to start up again. Sometimes, it’s better to deliberately break the streak with the goal of starting up the next day. That way when the FRLEs happen, you know that not only can you keep to your schedule but you can restart it whenever you need to.
I also think accountability is one of the most important things. By announcing your goals and plans, it pushes you to achieve them. No one likes to disappoint others, whereas disappointing yourself is far easier, especially if no one else knows about it.
“Sometimes, it’s better to deliberately break the streak with the goal of starting up the next day. ”
That’s a good point. Both in terms of deliberately breaking, and intentionally setting the goal to restart. I’m still amazed at how easy it would be to just stop. I mean, I’d be miserable. But the temptation to stop is still there.
That’s the strangest thing…
“No one likes to disappoint others, whereas disappointing yourself is far easier, especially if no one else knows about it.”
To your point, there were a couple of Sundays where I felt tempted to just crash and watch TV. But then I thought, “Ah, dang it! I have that accountability post tomorrow.”
You’re right — it really does help!