everything feeds process

Creative Goals for the Week

• Send chapbook manuscript to writer’s group – Finished 4/5/2010
• Create 1 art journal page – Unfinished
• Write and post 1 poem – Finished 4/5/2010
• Write and post 1 poem – Finished 4/6/2010
• Write and post 1 poem – Finished 4/7/2010
• Write and post 1 poem – Finished 4/8/2010
• Write and post 1 poem – Finished 4/9/2010
• Write and post 1 poem -Finished 4/10/2010
• Write and post 1 poem – Written, not posted 4/11/2010

***

I enjoy seeing all of that green lettering saying “Finished” on my creative goal list.

The nice thing about NaPoWriMo is that it removes excuses.  Just like committing to an exercise plan, when I commit to a writing plan, I prove that I have time to write poems every day. I may not sustain this kind of output past April, but I can remind myself that I am capable of writing daily.  After April, I have no excuse for not meeting my creative goals.

Creative Goals for the Week:

• Write 4 poems (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) – Finished 4/4/2010
• Post 4 poems (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) – Finished 4/4/2010
• Archive 2 months of blog - Unfinished
• Create 1 Art Journal Page – Finished 3/31/2010
• Relax and renew – Finished 4/4/2010

Okay, so I don’t know if I can ever finish relaxing and renewing. But I do feel refreshed after taking the full week off of work.

I’m also pretty inspired right now by the NaPoWriMo writing. I keep telling myself that I’m at the best part of the month, where it’s fun to write every day and I’m feeling inspired by the prompts and the challenge. I know from past experience that there will be cranky times and difficult times and I have to be prepared for those as well. For now, I’ll keep reveling in the fun part of the process.

• Write 2 blog posts – Started
• Finish archiving month of blog – Unfinished
• Write 1 poem – Unfinished

Homework Goals for the Week:

• Finish newsletter (Due Saturday) – Finished 3/24/2010

This week was about what I expected. I did zero creative work, but I finished my final. Since I want to pass my classes, I’m okay with how the week played out.  I feel pretty darn confident that next week will better.  Onward and upward!

Creative Goals for the Week

• Write 1 poem – Unfinished
• Complete 1 art page – Finished 3/17/2010
• Write 2 blog posts – Finished 3/20/2010
• Archive 1 month of blog – In progress

Homework Goals for the Week

• Finish Resonant Leadership – Unfinished
• Respond to forum discussion online – Finished  3/16/2010
• Read final project research – Finished 3/20/2010
• Write articles for final project – In progress
• Begin searching/creating images for final project - Finished 3/17/2010

***

An overall successful week. I wish I had written a poem, but it wasn’t in my cards. Instead, I did 2 art journal pages and a ton of homework. I have one last push on my final and then I can concentrate fully on my writing until September. Just in time for NaPoWriMo!

Creative Goals for the Week:

• Revise poems in writer’s group packet, based on writer’s group suggestions (Due Sunday) - Started 3/8/2010
• Revise/redo “Visiting Crystal” art journal page (Due Wednesday) – Unfinished
• Gather poems for chapbook manuscript into one document & print out (Due Tuesday) – Finished 3/9/2010
• Write 1 blog post (Due Sunday) - Finished 3/10/2010
• Archive 1 month of blog (Due Sunday) – Unfinished

Homework Goals for the Week:

• Finish reading Chapter 6-9 in Resonant Leadership (Due Monday) – Started 3/8/2010
• Draft outline for Leadership Reflection (Due Tuesday) – Finished 3/10/2010
• Write Leadership Reflection (Due Wednesday) – Finished 3/10/2010
• Print out research for final project (Due Tuesday) – Finished 3/9/2010
• Read research for final project (Due Sunday) – Started 3/12/2010

***

Considering my week of travel, work, and homework deadlines, I am proud to see as much green and yellow writing on this list as I have.  I’ve also made progress in areas in which I had no goals. I wrote a poem, I assembled my chapbook MS into a rough shape, and I spent a lot of time taking pictures on Saturday.

Now that I’ve spent two weeks with this process of goal setting and evaluation, I think that it’s working for me. It helps me to see the carry over from week to week. And I feel pretty proud of myself when get “extra credit.” I think I’ll stick with it for now.

Creative Goals for the Week

• Create and submit regular packet of poetry to writer’s group – Finished 3/1/2010
• Create and submit longer manuscript packet to writer’s group – Finished 3/1/2010
• Revise 1 poem – Unfinished
• Create at minimum 2 art journal pages (Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday evening) – Started 3/7/2010
• Re-read “The Little Mermaid” and take notes – Unfinished
• Go to writer’s group – Finished 3/7/2010

Homework Goals for the Week

• Read Resonant Leadership, Chapters 5-9 – Started 3/1/2010
• Watch videos posted on class website (during lunch breaks) – Finished 3/1/2010
• Draft outline for Leadership Reflection – Unfinished
• Write a clear question for final project – Finished – 3/2/2010
• Select newsletter template for final project – Finished 3/2/2010
• Begin looking for sources for final project – Finished 3/6/2010

As you can see from above, I had a marginally successful week.

On the plus side, I watched significantly less television than I normally do and simply because I had other responsibilities.  I prioritized homework over my creative work, which I think is appropriate, considering that I have a paper due on Wednesday and a final project due on Saturday, March 27, 2010.

On the negative side, I didn’t accomplish nearly enough creative work. I went to my writer’s group, which really spurned my motivation. However, I didn’t revise any poems nor did I complete any art journal pages. I started an art journal page on Sunday, which I have to scrap because it does not look good at all.  I think I will paint over it and try again.

For the first week out on this new way of tracking my work, I think that these were good results. I stayed focused on my goals and accomplished a good deal of them within my marginal free time.