April flew by, but I’m pretty happy with where I ended up. I ended up deciding to shift my goals mid-month, and I think it’s important to be flexible where possible.

For instance, my now more chaotic work area pictured above. My desk is sitting in the middle of my office as I try to rearrange the furniture and prepare for a much smaller desk in my ever-shrinking office/storage closet.

Last Month’s Goals

1. Finish my discovery draft!
2. Figure out a decent home workout routine.
3. Read more.

Finish my discovery draft?

Sort of… yes.

I actually stopped writing my discovery draft of “The Herb Witch” in mid-April, right about the 22,000-word mark. After some pondering, I had decided to change a couple of key plot points that would completely alter the tone and progression of the last third of the story.

So, rather than keep writing an ending that I knew would be redone, I took the plunge into my second draft. Between the few pages I wrote of my discovery draft and starting my second draft, I wrote 10,006 words in April!

So not only did I “finish” (a.k.a. move on from) my discovery draft, I also wrote 10,000 words, something I haven’t been able to achieve in about a year.

I am well on my way to a rewritten and revised second draft. Finishing that last third will be the most difficult part, since I’ll be writing that from scratch, but I have a firm grasp on where I’m headed with the story.

Figure out a home workout routine?

Not really, and I think my personal fitness has gotten worse in April. I’ve been stretching a lot, more from stiffness than anything else. Last weekend, after being tired of not doing anything physical, I took two 1-gallon jugs of water and did some basic workouts with those.

I think that’s going to have to suffice until I can get back to the gym, and that may be enough for now.

My main issue over the last year or more has been that lifting weights isn’t as exciting to me as it used to be. I enjoy it, and I like the results, but it feels like I’m doing it for its own sake. I think I need to find an activity to get me to exercise. One of my friends has taken up mountain biking, for instance. My wife and I used to rock climb in a local gym, but we don’t live anywhere near that place now, and it had gotten expensive.

So I’m on the lookout for a physical activity to stay healthy. Any suggestions?

Read more?

Yes! I finally finished Winter’s Heart, the ninth (!) book of The Wheel of Time series. I also finally finished the Lovecraft collection I had been listening to on Audible.

Pro tip: listening to audiobooks while doing chores makes the chores much more tolerable.

I’m now between books, in a way. I’ve read a couple chapters in a massive biographical history of Thomas Jefferson that has been collecting dust. It’s the type of book (of a six-volume set) that I can pick up with ease after long hiatuses, because it’s just a straight history book. I’m also listening to a few of Audible’s short Originals to pad my 2020 reading goal a bit.

I just got Crossroads of Twilight (WoT #10) in the mail, so… yeah I’m probably going to start that this weekend.

I should probably post some reviews.

Goals for May

1. Write 12,000 words. I’ve been writing at a pretty good clip the last few weeks, so this one isn’t as far-fetched as recent history would suggest. I would love to finish my second draft, but I know the ending will take longer to get right.
2. Outline part 2. Did I mention that “The Herb Witch” is a two-part story? I probably have. Anyway, I know generally where I want to go with part 2, but I definitely need to outline a bit before I start. I want to be able to dive right into writing it once I’ve finished and set aside the second draft of part 1. I should probably also pick some damn titles. “The Herb Witch” is the series title, but I still need titles for each part.
3. Continue reading. I’m excited to be nearing the back end of The Wheel of Time, so this won’t be hard.
4. Continue lifting random heavy objects? The water jug workouts have been more effective than I expected, so I’m good with that. I should get my wife to do yoga with me again.

What are your goals for the month?

Steve D