Annual Writing Goal Progress in Q2, 2024 (Plus What’s New on Aliventures)

We’re now halfway through 2024 … how’s the year been going for you so far?

I hope you’ve been able to get plenty of writing done and make the progress you’ve wanted, but even if that’s not been the case, you’ve still got six months left until the end of 2024 – plenty of time to make big strides towards your goals.

The last three months have involved a few ups and downs, but I’ve been broadly happy with my writing progress. 

I’ll run through how I’m getting on with my writing goals … and then I’ll share what’s been happening (and what’s coming up!) here on Aliventures.

Recap: My Writing Goals for 2024

I wrote about my goals for the year back in January, which are:

1. Write 250+ words of fiction every day
2. Finish and publish my novel Reaper
3. Write four short stories
4. Write weekly blog posts and newsletters

I’ve made some good progress this quarter (particularly with the accountability of running the live writing hours in Writers’ Cafe … this definitely helped me with editing Reaper!) and I’ve also created and launched some new things for Aliventures.

Progress on Goal #1: Write 250+ Words/Day of Fiction

This goal has been going well in terms of sticking to it, but I’ve struggled more this quarter to feel really into the project I’m working on.

I hit the goal almost every day … there was one day when I went to the pub with some friends in the evening and forgot to do my writing (oops), but I did two separate 250+ word sessions the next day, and also a blank on 7th June when I can’t figure out if I just didn’t write, or if my record keeping went wonky.

Still, even with a couple of tiny hiccups, I’m still very happy with progress! I wrote a total of 28,780 words during April, May, and June – that’s 61,726 words for the year so far.

What’s Working Well

As I mentioned in my Q1 update, having a small daily goal is working really. Writing first thing in the morning is also still working well, when I actually manage it!

It’s also been great to have the Writers’ Cafe writing hours and weekly check-ins, as those are helping me carve out a bit of time for the writing on busy days.

Recording my daily wordcount straight below my words for the day (a change I made after Q1) has been super easy and helpful. I’ve also started to think more about how best to wrap up each short writing session.

Tweaks I’m Making for Q3

Last quarter I wrote that I wanted “to be more deliberate about carving out time for other stages of the writing process, particularly brainstorming new projects and revising/editing current ones.”

I did manage to make more time to revise and edit Reaper, usually in a couple of writing hours each week with Writers’ Cafe. But I didn’t find time for brainstorming, which my projects-in-progress really needed.

I felt this contributed to me feeling stuck or feeling like I was spinning my wheels a bit on various projects, so in Q3, I’ve added an extra (tiny!) daily goal: to spend 5+ minutes brainstorming about my fiction.

Progress on Goal #2: Finish and Publish Reaper

I made better progress this quarter than in Q1! 🙂 I finished the whole of Draft 5, going through and incorporating new material that I’d been writing, and taking on board lots of suggestions from my lovely editor Lorna Fergusson.

What’s Working Well

At the end of Q1, I wrote that I wanted to find longer writing sessions of an hour or more … and launching Writers’ Cafe was brilliant for that! I run live writing hours three times a week, and most weeks, I used two of those to work on editing Reaper.

Tweaks I’m Making for Q3

There’s not too much I want to change in Q3 … I’ll be moving on to draft 6 during the writing hours. Currently, I’m planning on self-publishing Reaper rather than shopping it around to agents, so I’ll also be looking at things like commissioning a cover design.

Progress on Goal #3: Write Four Short Stories

I took a deliberate break from short stories during this quarter, as I was ahead on this goal (having written two short stories in Q1).

I’m missing that feeling of finishing a piece of fiction, though! So during Q3, I’ll be aiming to write at least one short story and submit it to a competition.

Progress on Goal #4: Write Weekly Posts and Newsletters

As in Q1, I feel I’m in a good rhythm with Aliventures posts and newsletters. I haven’t been quite as ahead as I’d have liked with the actual writing, but I’ve been planning ahead pretty consistently.

If you’ve missed any of the posts, you can find them all in the blog archive.

If you missed some newsletters or only recently joined the newsletter list, those are all in the newsletter archive.

What’s Working Well

I’ve not changed much this quarter, though I have been getting slightly more ahead when updating and republishing older posts.

Tweaks I’m Making for Q3

I always take a few weeks off from the blog and newsletter during my kids’ summer holidays, so I’ll be having a break from blogging in August.

I’m hoping to use that time to get a little more ahead! I’ve also been planning posts during July that draw on topics from the Aliventures survey, so that I can cover specific writing issues that readers are having.

A slightly bigger-picture change I’m making is looking more closely at what posts are bringing a lot of people to Aliventures, and considering how I can create extra resources (free and/or paid) to go with those.

I always want the Aliventures blog and newsletter to be as helpful as possible to readers – so if there’s a topic you’d like me to cover or to write more about, do let me know!

As well as the weekly posts and newsletters, I created some new resources for Aliventures during this quarter.

What’s New on Aliventures

As well as the weekly posts and newsletters, I created some new resources for Aliventures during this quarter, which was lots of fun.

You might have missed some of these, so here’s a quick recap on what I launched.

The Courageous Writer – a short, encouraging ebook (free)

The Courageous Writer, along with my other mini-ebooks, is available totally free when you join the Aliventures newsletter.

It’s designed to be a quick, encouraging and supportive read to help give you a boost of motivation with your writing.

If you’re feeling a bit stuck, if you find it hard to make time for writing without feeling guilty about it, or if you have some worries bubbling up about the writing process or the idea of publishing your work, this is for you.

Tip: Already on the newsletter list? You can find the link and password to download The Courageous Writer (and your other free ebooks) at the bottom of any newsletter. Just search for “Aliventures newsletter” in your email.

How to Write Faster – a quick and practical video course ($15 $7.50 in the summer sale)

How to Write Faster is a video course (with audio downloads, slide packs, and nicely edited transcripts too) that does what you might expect from the name. 😉 Give me 20-30 minutes of your time and you’ll save hours of writing time over the next few weeks.

Use the discount code SUMMERSALE24 to get the full course and bonuses for just $7.50.

Writers’ Cafe – a community/accountability group for writers ($10/month)

I launched Writers’ Cafe in May, welcoming in our initial group of writers.

It’s been brilliant to see so much writing happening through our writing hours, to have members offering feedback on one another’s work, and to celebrate people’s progress each week.

(Writers’ Cafe is officially closed to new members but I’ll be opening the doors publicly in September. I may open to the waiting list before that, so if you might be interested in joining us, make sure you pop your email address in on the Writers’ Cafe page.)

That’s what I’ve been up to over the past three months. How about you? I’d love to hear about your writing goals and how they’re going – just pop a comment below.