June was a long month. The weekdays dragged, and the weekends were full of chores, physical pain and that ‘I-should-be-writing’ feeling.
Having said that, our garden looks pretty much stocked (every border has at least a couple of plants), our cats have transitioned well to being let outside, our radishes are edible, and I am very close to beginning a fast-draft run through of my new work-in-progress.
Reflections on the Journey
i. Read 12 books: 8 / 6 – I didn’t complete a book this month, but I did read some more of The Vagrant and read a lot of my own work.
ii. Edit novel draft ready for submission: 1/1 submission – In June, I actually dipped my toes in the water of tweeting during some Twitter pitch events; just to see how it felt. As I put my novel out there for two separate twitter events, I’m counting this as a big Tick on this goal. I send off DS to another beta-reader for a final read-through, and got the all clear. Let’s see where July and August take us.
iii. Track my wordcount and aim for 100,000 words: 15,163/50,000 words – This month I focused on getting my manuscript ready for submission. This meant I barely wrote ANYTHING. I would normally put a half-way through post up for the end of June, but with only 15k written, I don’t have as much as usual to report. However, I will write about my progress when I hit 50k.
It’s looking unlikely that I’ll meet this goal without a solid NaNoWriMo project this year. I’m close to a fleshed out plot for Skeletal, but also have two unfinished WIPs, which both require at least 50,000 more words… It’s not over just yet.
iv. Re-create a wellness routine: I managed to increase my exercise this month, as I stated was my goal last month. It’s well-known that small changes are more likely to stick, and I think I’m still finding the balance of what works for me and my health long-term.
Our mini-adventure this month was a trip to the Zoo. We woke up to the news of “Brexit” and ran away to the local zoo to celebrate the diversity of species in one place. We saw a three-week-old lemur, ate expensive ice cream and I got overly-excited about an ocelot (if such a thing is even possible).
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- Result: The addition of exercise has definitely helped with the added stress of this month. It was fun to chill out at the zoo and I’m enjoying getting outside in the sun more, but equally I’m still not sleeping great. Having said that, this year is shaping up to better than 2015 was.
Experience Collected
- 100/200XP
- 350/350XP
- 150/300XP
- 400/400XP
Total XP for June: 1,000/1,250
Total XP towards Level Up: 5,625/7,500
Jumping the Wall…
- We planted more flowers around our garden.
- I reached the next step in the “thingy-bob at day-job” I mentioned last month. I had a meeting on Tuesday; so fingers crossed. There should be news in July.
- The cats love being outside, but still come inside for sofa cuddles and the catnip rat.
- We saw both sets of parents this month.
- I took part in two Twitter pitch events – one for general manuscripts and one for science fiction and fantasy stories. Therefore I got a great big tick for ‘submitting’ this month.
- We visited Marwell Zoo as our ‘married adventure date day’ (which I need a catchier title for!)
The Path Ahead…
Next month’s mini-adventure is likely to be:
- a cycle ride or picnic.
- I’m hoping to write-up a fast draft of Skeletal.
- I should hear about the day-job related-thing.
