Hello!

As you may well know, it’s June now (pride month!). What better time to do a check-in on my writing goals than now?

In my goal post at the end of last year, I made the following goals (broken down into tiny goals/tasks):

• Meet or beat 460 submissions this year (Reward: I get to see another musical!)
  • Write at least one short story a month
  • Keep up my submissions on Submission Grinder
  • Note submission dates as I submit
  • Follow markets I’m interested in
• Get all three of my novels to the next stage (Reward: Maybe a big trip? I’m not sure–this one is still in the works Custom teas for the books I finish!)
  • Mermaid story: Last round of edits and start querying
  • Tree story: Second round of edits and send to beta readers
  • Superhero story: First round of edits and send to alpha readers

In January, I hit the ground running. I submitted 53 stories, wrote two short stories, and started working on book number one (the mermaid book). In February and March, I continued submitting, writing stories, and finished editing the mermaid book. I even went to a conference and started pitching the mermaid book to agents which was terrifying and fun and scary.

And then… I decided to go back to school. Whoops.

So, naturally, everything moved around a bit. Going to school full-time is hard enough while also working full-time. Going to school while working full-time and being a writer part-time is almost impossible. I remember going to therapy a few weeks after starting my classes and telling my therapist that I could do it all. I could be a writer, student, and worker all at once.

Sorry, Jennifer. You were right.

It took a month, but May is when everything hit. I felt horrible, like I was running on steam, and as though everything was pointless. I was burnt out to say the least.

So, I took out my novel editing goal (for now) and cut back my submitting days to only a few times a month instead of every weekend. I will return to you one day, tree story!

It’s hard sometimes. I feel like I only have so much time and I have to get it all done right now or it won’t happen at all (which, given the way my brain works, is actually true sometimes). But, I have to remember that growth is a process not a checkmark. It’s something that happens through time.

I’m so much further than I was at this time last year. When I’m really down and struggling, it’s nice to remember how far I’ve come, and how far I’ll still go just by putting in a little bit every week. I don’t have to race.

Thank you for reading about my corner of the world!

Camden

(Also, here’s my chart so far this year)

(And… an extra graph if you were curious…)