2013: Let's Get This Show On The Road

Hope you all have a fabulous 2013! 

2012 is over and 2013 has begun, believe it or not. Oddly enough, I'm having no trouble accepting that I have to end my dates with "13" instead of "12"; I'm looking forward to the new year, if only because it's a good opportunity for a reboot.

Starting with The Eagle's Aerial Perspective. I've been neglecting blogging since November and NaNoWriMo and didn't really make the effort I could have in December, either. Nothing very drastic is going to happen on this blog other than a few more posts per month (including book reviews, which is something I'd said I'd get back into last year yet did not . . . *cough*). Furthermore, I am going to try commenting on your blogs more often and stop calling return visits to your comments as much as I can do in one day.

As for other goals, I'm still formulating my list of things to get done this year (because I procrastinated at the end of December). I'm going to continue writing, certainly, and probably start working on another project like the Eagle Directory within the next few months--and then there's schoolwork and dance, and also my perennial resolution to finish teaching myself how to juggle. I hope I don't end up accomplishing the least important of the life skills the fastest, but I probably will. LOL.

Got any plans/goals/resolutions for the new year? Anything exciting ahead for you in 2013? Are you finding it hard to let go of 2012, or is it easy?


-----The Golden Eagle

Goals For 2012 And Some Changes To The Blog

Happy New Year!

The first blog post of 2012 on The Eagle's Aerial Perspective has arrived. Before we get to the blog changes (don't panic; I'm not leaving . . . *cue chagrin from the blogosphere*), there are a few of my goals for 2012.

Now, I meant to do this back in December, but there were other things I had to catch up on so I never got around to it. I wanted to post them here not only because A.) It's been a while since I did this much of a personal post but B.) It will probably spur me on to meet these goals if I know more people are watching. Ahem.

The List (in no particular order, and some big some small):

Do something nice for someone.

Every day. Whenever possible.

Rewrite/revise and edit my first novel and improve writing skills.

I started rewrites last year and they flopped; the product was worse than the original first draft. This time I'm going to do it--I'm going to read through those 1000+ pages of draft, I'm going to finish rewrites of the first book, and I'm going to revise and edit those rewrites. Whether those 1000+ pages are still going to be a trilogy (I usually refer to it as a single book--I should probably call it The Trilogy, and I will from now on) or a very streamlined one or two books depends on what the new outline looks like. Oh, and I want to finish rewrites/revisions/edits by June. I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I don't complete it then, but I'm not letting it extend to July/August.

And as for the second part: I've never read a book on writing, I haven't tried experimenting with different styles/POV/what have you to a great extent, and I've never really done specific exercises to hone how I write. I guess it's about time I did, right?

Read blogs and comment more often.

I need to get together some kind of time when I can blog without distractions or having to cut it off.

Make more academic progress.

End the year more physically fit/capable than I'm starting it.

I don't care if I'm skinny. It's more important to me that I can run without collapsing or dance without feeling so tired.

Finish [top secret] project and announce it here early this year.

It's top secret. I can't tell you what it's about!

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The blog changes are going to be small, but there will be a few, and this is what I'll be posting about in the coming 2012:

Sundays: Book/movie reviews. I used to write a book review each week and now I don't do it anymore. I want to start again, and maybe throw in a movie review here and there.

Mondays: Blank unless there's something special I want to post about (news, personal announcement, awards, etc.)

Tuesdays: Teaser Tuesday, of course.

Wednesday: Insecure Writer's Support Group first week of each month; otherwise blank

Thursdays: Writing posts

Fridays: Same as Monday

Saturdays: Same as above

So okay, I'm giving myself a lot of space. But I'm not sure I'd be able to keep to a schedule well, and I don't want to say I'll post on certain days and then not do it.

Blogfests and other online events will be posted at varying times as they emerge throughout the year. A few things that I will definitely be participating in are the A-Z April Blogging Challenge (again) and the Rule of Three Blogfest (also again).

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What are some of your goals for 2012?

Do you have a blogging schedule and if so, what is it? Got any thoughts on the plan I laid out for The Eagle's Aerial Perspective?

-----The Golden Eagle

NaNoWriMo Update (And Some Random Stuff)

Exactly one year ago I won NaNoWriMo 2010, with a total of 50183 words.

I had hoped to beat (or at least make) that this year, but I'm currently sitting at 40110 words, despite writing 7,096 words today:

40110 / 50000 words. 80% done!

. . . and there's no way I'm writing 10k before midnight. I'm happy with my current word count, anyway--it might not be 50k, but there are still 13 days to go in November. Plenty of time.

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You know, I never really noticed my character's body language/behavior as being repetitive in first drafts before, but suddenly they seem to be doing a lot of staring and glaring and eyeing things. In addition to the raising of eyebrows and shooting of murderous looks. It has not degraded to the batting of eyelashes yet, but you never know . . .

Ah well. What is editing for?

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As you may have noticed, I haven't been around the blogosphere much lately; I haven't even replied to comments yet from Tuesday. I will be catching up this evening (hopefully), as I have time to blog (hooray!).

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I have to ask: Did anyone else catch My Life As A Turkey on Nature?

Watch My Life as a Turkey - Preview on PBS. See more from NATURE.

And I must link to this program, too, if I'm going to bring up Nature, since it's about eagles. I love eagles. :)

Oh, and I can hardly bring up Nature without mentioning NOVA. I need to get my hands on a copy of The Fabric of the Universe. Because that's one awesome TV series based on it.

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If you're doing NaNoWriMo, how's it going? If not, what are you working on now?


Have you come across anything interesting lately?


-----The Golden Eagle

A Writing Update And Gearing Up For NaNoWriMo

First, the writing update. As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to finish my current project before the end of October, ending around 90,000 words or so. At this point I have:

66892 words

I had hoped to be at 71,000 words, but since I'm closing in on the end of the novel I'm not so bothered by the word count at this point. And hey, there are still three weeks until NaNoWriMo, which is the date I absolutely have to finish. I don't think I really want to be working on two stories during that crazy month.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I still haven't decided which novel I'm going to write. I said back in August/September that I had an idea, but that has kind of fizzled since then. I got another idea yesterday, but I'm not sure my current enthusiasm for it will stick around.

It might just be another one of those infuriating New Shinys which a.) drag me away from my current project and b.) don't actually turn into a full-fledged story.

How's your writing coming? Do you have any deadlines you're trying to meet, either self-imposed or otherwise? Are you trying to finish any projects this month?


And are you doing NaNoWriMo?


(Oh, and you can friend me HERE at the NaNoWriMo site, if you're so inclined. Though I'm not sure what exactly is happening with their site as they're supposedly relaunching it today . . .)

Finally:

Happy Columbus Day!


-----The Golden Eage