Thursday, March 31, 2011

April Goals for 3 in 30



In the month of March, I participated in the 3 in 30 challenge hosted by two amazing blogging mamas. At the end of February, I posted three goals I wanted to accomplish for this month. You probably don’t remember, so here is the short recap.

1. Finish major edit of Dividing Spirits.

2. Drink more water.

3. Start walking.

Well, you’ll be happy to know that I accomplished exactly ONE of those goals. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, then you already know I finished my major edit of Dividing Spirits. Exciting, I know!

Now is the time to let you in on what my goals are for April.

The first two are going to be the same goals I had in March, but was not successful with. So, my first goal is to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Since society has successfully ingrained in my head to be scared of tap water, and bottled water is ridiculously expensive, I invested in a filtered pitcher (the nozzle on our tap isn’t the right kind to hook up a filter). This way there is always cool, healthier water for me in the fridge.

I’m also going to start walking more. The park is about a half mile away, so if I take the kids there three times a week, that’s a mile—which is definitely a start right?

My third goal is probably the one to put the most pressure on me. I want to read and rewrite most of The Impossible Choice. IC (as I fondly refer to it as) was the novel before Dividing Spirits. The story was beloved by many of the people who read it (professional writers and good friends/family). However, I set it out to 3 agents and pitched it at a conference with no bites. At first, I was pretty bummed and put it aside to write Dividing Spirits. Lately, though, I’ve felt the push to go over it again.

Last night it hit me. I knew how to fix IC! Most of it anyway. I started jotting notes down like crazy. My mind just would not be quiet—which is a good thing, I suppose. So, for those of you who thought I gave up on that emotional and suspenseful novel, have no fear. It’s coming back bigger and better!

I hope you were able to accomplish your goals last month! If you would like to share your goals for April here, we can keep each other accountable—a checkup mid-way.

Happy April!

10 comments:

  1. Hi Ralene! You have great goals for this month.

    I am a writer, too (self-help) and if I don't finish my ebook this month, that may become one of next month's goals!

    I need to do more walking and drinking water, too.

    And getting a Brita filter helped as well. Also, leaving water out so I see it as I walk by has helped. Plus, when it's not ice cold, it's much easier to drink it quickly and I drink more of it.

    Good luck with your goals!

    Jeanine
    http://dressmytruth.blogspot.com

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  2. I'm visiting from 3in30 and I'm a first time visitor to your blog!! I like your goals and am eager to look around your blog some!!

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  3. Those are fantastic goals! I love that you are a writer :) My husband published his first book 2 years ago, so I know what you mean when you are scribbling like crazy :) Good luck!!

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  4. I did great with my 30-30-30 plan 'til the middle of the month, when life got crazy. Then I could only do one 30 a day, but at least I did one!
    But, as someone recently reminded me, you don't stop eating just 'cause you miss a meal.
    So, I'm back on the wagon with 30 min of exercise, 30 minutes of reading and 30 minutes of writing for April.
    Good for you for finishing the edit! Maybe one of these days we can swap chapters. You already know some of my other critique partners (wink,wink, nudge,nudge). :)

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  5. Wow! I love waking up to comments (in Hawaii, a bit behind you other folks).

    Jeanine--good advice about the water. I'll have to keep that in mind. Thank you for stopping by!

    Kristi--Always meeting new people! Def take a look around and let me know what you think. :)

    Aurie--Thanks for the encouragement!

    Robynn--I was going to ask you how you did on the 30-30-30. I think its fantastic that you were able to keep it up for half the month! I'm learning to get my schedule under control to accomplish stuff like that. Oh, and I would love to swap chapters some time. :) We def have some great CPs, don't we?

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  6. Congrats to you! I think goal setting is a great idea. i'm going to try and set three easily doable goals right now. Even those are going to be a challenge with how busy I am.

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  7. Wow... How fun to have been given fresh vision for your novel! Good luck as you make your revisions and aim to live healthier this month!

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  8. Tana--you better come back and share so we can be accountable to each other!

    Asley--Thanks for the well wishes. I'm super excited, but letting the ideas simmer for the weekend. Monday starts the real action! Eek!

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  9. Ashley--so sorry for misspelling your name. Kids were playing around my chair and keyboard. Grrr... lol

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  10. well, if I had any goals for April, I don't remember them and thus plead insanity or mind block for my own sanity (what little might be left), but I have kept the Renegade Project alive so I should be grateful there.

    I look forward to seeing what you do with IC - I certainly haven't forgotten it. Good luck with revisions.

    I've been toying with Hall's sequel, more outlining and scheming. Liquid Binder has been helping there. Once I'm feeling better I'm hoping to do a push and unless things change, that book is my target. I know Hall still needs revisions, but I'm anxious to play with something new and Reality Crash is pretty dead for the time being. But such push won't be in April... maybe "Write or Revise at least 3k" if I'm being hopeful, and "Get control of meals again" (for the sanity of my kids and Husband) and maybe "Finally just call up and cancel that Newspaper subscription... heck with the good intentions of couponing...I'm drowning in too much backlog"

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