It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time for Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thanks to our host, the Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and his awesome co-hosts for July: Krista McLaughlin, Kim Van Sickler, Heather Gardner, and Hart Johnson for all their hard work!
As we reach the halfway mark of the year, I thought it’d be interesting to talk about goals and check in with everyone on their progress: Are you on track, falling behind, happy with your progress despite everything?
For myself, I hit a setback in June as I didn’t meet any of my writing goals. Life happens, things come up, other things have to be prioritized, and those few pages of edits and research…Do they really count as accomplishing something? I tell myself that yes, they do; that somehow they are all the bits and pieces that have to happen in order for me to achieve my goal. But am I deluding myself? I don’t know. All I know is that goals aren’t achieved overnight. We have to keep on working and moving towards them, even if it’s at a slow pace. As the ever-wise Gandalf said: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
What’s your process in trying to meet your goals? How do you deal with the adversities and missed deadlines?
And to everyone who’s participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this July, good luck!
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Just Get It Written 
July 2, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Unfortunately my goals are pretty poor in the achievement stakes… I need to pull a few all weekend sessions to get to the word count I want
July 2, 2014 at 6:53 pm
It’s still early in the month yet. 80k is a really impressive goal, on top of everything else you’re juggling. Good luck! I’m rooting for you! 🙂
July 2, 2014 at 6:23 pm
I’m sorry to say I’ve fallen way behind schedule, and half the year is already gone! I’m now taking steps to try to catch up. Hopefully life won’t get in the way again.
July 2, 2014 at 6:56 pm
Crazy how time flies, isn’t it? That thing called RL can be quite pesky sometimes when you least expect it LOL. Good luck getting caught up!
July 2, 2014 at 7:19 pm
I forgot about Gandalf’s quote and I love it!! So true and right on.
July 3, 2014 at 4:38 pm
I’m always up for a good quote. 😀 Thanks for visiting!
July 2, 2014 at 8:01 pm
You are absolutely correct. When a goal is not met, you set another one and try harder to reach it. Eventually you’ll reach it.
July 3, 2014 at 4:44 pm
I agree! I think the most important thing to remember is to be fluid and not give up, which is harder to do than it sounds sometimes. Thanks for the encouragement!
July 2, 2014 at 9:03 pm
I’m behind. But this month I’m telling myself that it’s okay, sitting back and brooding (like I normally would) does not help me reach them faster. Love the quote! 😀
July 3, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Way to go with the positive attitude. 🙂 Brooding is definitely unavoidable sometimes but eventually, we’ll have to find a way to get past it. Good luck with getting back on track!
July 2, 2014 at 11:46 pm
Those bits and pieces can suck up a lot of time, but they are necessary. And they count!
I’m on track now, but that was after a major reset of my goals. Sometimes, can’t hit them all.
July 3, 2014 at 4:50 pm
Thanks for that! Good to hear you’re back on track again. Congrats again on being a finalist. Good luck!
July 3, 2014 at 3:36 am
That’s one my favorite quotes. I feel like time is flying by me and I’m not keeping up. I’m in the home stretch of my self-publishing project, but it is taking longer than I’d like because I’m trying to do it right. I just wish I could speed up the process and still do a good job. Oh, well. I’ll get there.
July 3, 2014 at 4:54 pm
I know what you mean! Too many things to do and so little time and you just can’t help being impatient. I think you’ve got the right attitude in getting it right instead of rushing it. Haste makes waste and all that (yes, I’m just on a roll with the quotes, aren’t I? Lol) Good luck! Very excited for you! 😀
July 3, 2014 at 4:20 am
I like your attitude. Things happen, but they don’t mean we’ve failed as writers. Often the things that distract us from writing also inspire us to write more.
July 3, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Ooh love that about distraction! A good thing to keep in mind. Thanks!
July 3, 2014 at 11:20 am
I find July is a good time to sit down and reassess my goals for the year. Things happen in the first six months that need to be adjusted for. I know you haven’t been idle, so give yourself a break. Could you start with a clean sheet of paper and make a new set of goals for the rest of the year?
July 3, 2014 at 5:05 pm
That’s a good idea! Will definitely have to reassess and see about some adjustments. Thanks!
July 3, 2014 at 8:10 pm
I was REALLY dragging since April. That A to Z challenge took so much of my time, it was hard to get re-focused on my writing. I’m happy to say now (like, since July1) I’m chugging along again.
We’ll get there. I’m sure of it.
July 5, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Glad to hear you’re back on track. A-Z was such a big challenge and you are brave and awesome to have tackled it and succeed. Be proud of yourself!
July 4, 2014 at 2:28 am
Sometimes I don’t meet those goals, but it’s never because I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I’m always really busy doing things that need to get done. That knowledge prevents me from beating myself up too badly.
July 5, 2014 at 12:27 pm
It’s really a good perspective to keep and not always easy to remember so thanks for sharing!
July 4, 2014 at 2:46 pm
I’m a huge fan of the quote. It’s in the heading of my blog. So true. It’s all about the choices we make. Good to meet you through IWSG!
July 5, 2014 at 12:30 pm
That’s awesome! I’m a huge LOTR fan and I guess you must be too. I love your site! It’s great to meet so many new and wonderful people through IWSG. Thanks for visiting!
July 4, 2014 at 4:00 pm
I was hit and miss in June. I’m doing Camp NaNo this month, but with a much lower word count. I’m trying not to inundate myself because I have so much going on right now that demands my attention. I’m still happy that I’ve been able to move forward, even if it’s been slowly. I think you have a great attitude and it’s OK to take a moment to sit back and reassess. Great quote!
Happy 4th of July and enjoy! Hugs, Eva
July 5, 2014 at 12:33 pm
It really is a tough act trying to balance everything. Glad to hear you can still squeeze Camp in this time. My experience of it last April was great. Good luck with Camp and you’re right, every little progress we make, no matter how small, is definitely worth something. Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!
July 4, 2014 at 10:34 pm
My goals? What goals? *cackles madly* I had them, I really did … but somehow all my plans went awry and not nearly enough got accomplished. I’m doing just what you are. I keep trudging along, and add to my “done” pile, one bit at a time. Although I may occasionally throw my heads in the air or beat my head on a desk. Well, there’s always July, right? Maybe that’ll be better. 😉
July 5, 2014 at 12:35 pm
LOL. Well I say it’s a great attitude to keep, esp since it’s always not that easy. But you’ve accomplished something and that’s worth something. Don’t give up and just keep moving. You’ll get there. Good luck!
July 6, 2014 at 8:28 pm
Ummm…we’re supposed to actually meet those goals? This year, I’m behind. Majorly. I’m hoping (and pretty sure) that I’ll be able to catch up in a few months though. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself 😉
July 7, 2014 at 3:31 pm
You still have half the year to catch up and you certainly have the right attitude for it. Good luck!
July 6, 2014 at 8:42 pm
I didn’t get much writing done in June either. I think what I lack, other than time, is discipline. I’m going to try harder to be more productive this month. I hope your July will be productive as well!
July 7, 2014 at 3:39 pm
I agree it is hard to maintain discipline and sometimes, things just come up. Good luck meeting your July goals!
July 6, 2014 at 10:25 pm
Goals are now unknown to me. I’m still catching up from last year, when everything in my life was shuffled. I’ll get around to setting some new ones, but for right now, I’m content to have a breather. Glad you’re listening to Gandalf. Good attitude.
July 7, 2014 at 3:45 pm
Sounds like you’ve got a good grip of where you want things to go. I think we forget sometimes that taking a break is not necessarily bad so thanks for sharing that. 🙂
July 9, 2014 at 2:43 pm
Life can sometimes just chuck every available obstacle in your way! 🙂
July 18, 2014 at 2:57 pm
Ain’t that the truth! Life has such a weird sense of humor sometimes.
July 9, 2014 at 5:44 pm
I get frustrated and sometimes pouty, but I move on and keep pushing ahead. What else can I do? I also remind myself that many times, I’ll get an unexpected break and get a whole bunch done in a short time, making up for the delay. *shrugs* Not always, but it happens a fair percent of the time. Making lists also keeps me focused so I can prioritize better and keep from wasting time.
July 18, 2014 at 2:59 pm
That’s a great attitude to have and I agree that lists definitely help, although I may not always be following what’s on the list … *whistles innocently* 😛
July 10, 2014 at 6:36 am
I set goals but I don’t always meet them. Life just happens–but that doesn’t stop me for trying them again. I think persistence is what keeps me going. As for my July goals….they’re going “Okay”. For now. Sorta.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for ‘most inspiring blogger’!
July 18, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Thanks so much for the nomination! It means a lot to me and I feel very honored to get it. Glad to hear that your July goals are going OK. Sorta is still good! 😀
July 19, 2014 at 5:41 am
Thanks for the vote of confidence and you’re welcome. 🙂
July 10, 2014 at 11:57 am
I make lots of lists of things that I want to get done, but I don’t always make it through them because I’m bad at predicting how long things are going to take. If I don’t make something I re-adjust and make a new plan. I don’t like missing my goals, but then I try to tell myself that every little bit helps. Like I’m working on a new simple game at the moment and even if I only write a few lines of code here and there it is still progress. So long as I don’t stop altogether it’ll one day get finished. Sometimes things in life crop up and you miss targets – it can’t be helped and you can’t beat yourself up about it. It’s good to plan for these things though, add a little extra time to get things done. If you’re done ahead of schedule then great but if not you’ve given yourself time to make up for it.
I think everybody is the same here. We all have dreams and ambitions but we all miss things sometimes too. It’s hard to keep the momentum going even if you love what you’re doing. I get tired and need to switch off sometimes. We know there are certain things we should be doing to meet our goals but we don’t always do them. Be happy with any achievement, no matter how small. I’m sure that in the long run you’ll eventually get it all done. Just never fully give up.
July 18, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Thanks for your encouragement! I’m bad with predicting how long things would take too. I end up setting ambitious goals and then getting burnt out. But as you said, steady progress is good progress. Just gotta keep reaching for it.