ROW80: Going South

'Tis time. The Canada geese are heading south this morning, lifting up from the nearby wetlands; their cries begin my morning. That bite in the air says snow will fall before the end of the year.

October 1st begins the next Round of Words (ROW80), my second. Participants set measurable goals for the next 80 days and then report to the group via blog twice weekly -- Mondays and Weds. We'll read each other's progress reports, cheer wildly, and go back to work. I'm still a ROW80 newbie as the last session was my first. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment was finishing the rough draft of Years of Stone AND actually e-pubbing a collecion of short stories (just to learn how).

And so I post my goals for the coming three months. It's all about the writing. It's all good. You can jump in here!

My ROW80 goals for October 1st - December 20: 

WRITING:  Complete edits for Years of Stone (pov shifts, authorial intrusion, repeated words) and revision (character depth, conflict, more sensory detail). Work on back story to develop more fully realized characters throughout. Write a poem a day for OctPoWriMo. Read Standing Stones and make notes for revision. By January, I’d like to begin researching Rivers of Stone. My goal is to write the best story I can. The result may not be literary fiction, but it will be my best. Keep one writing session each week for WRITING IT DIFFERENT.

READING/OUTREACH: Each month The Writer and Writer’s Digest arrive. Each month the magazines wind up in a safe “to read” stack (now a backlog of 40 magazines). I’m challenging myself to read 15 of these magazines a month. Blog weekly on some inspiring writing skill (WEDS WRITING WORKOUT). Commit to Sunday and Weds updates for ROW80 – and read and comment on 10 other ROW80 bloggers weekly. Participate weekly on FB (Writer Unboxed, Fellow Writers, Reviewers) and Twitter. Other reading: 3 novels a month (and post reviews on GoodReads).

AGENT SEARCH/MARKETING:  Revise query, synopsis, and send Years of Stone out to 3 potential agents a month. Identify key elements of a marketing plan and draft mine. Develop book group questions.