A. B. KEUSER

So I wrote an initial version of this post back in December and it was a total mess. There was just way too much going on because I was trying to write it for the whole year, and my goals… they are lofty. That is why, this post is just about the first quarter. Baby steps, yeah?

My goals here are all writing based. I haven’t figured out what I want to do about reading, but when I do, I’ll post that up here somewhere too. Maybe it’ll go in with the end of January post, who knows.

Let’s talk about where I want to be….

January

Finish 2 drafts
I have a short story I’m working on that I want to get the rough draft finished this month. It’s my weekend project and its low word count should help keep me focused.
Along with that, I’ve got to finish up the final redraft of Enemies of a Sort (more on that later in the month.
Bonus: Tackling a draft I was hoping to get done in December that got cut from the priorities.
Finish 2 Edits
Have I mentioned the stack of drafts that’s been piled on my filing…

Words 871,490 in ~250 writing days (Avg 72,624-words/month) 6 drafts finished 3 books published
So, I keep a running total throughout the year and it is a mess of colors because my brain works best in bright and exciting spreadsheets. I’m convinced the numbers could be dismal and if still be enthused about the COLORZZZZZZ.
It was the best year since 2013. And that’s awesome. Any time I pass a 100k mark I’m over the moon. And I really hope I never lose the small wonder that comes with each draft I’ve finished.

I think that’s one of the reasons I keep track of these things. It’s nice to be able to look at concrete proof like this and think… holy crap, I did that.
Because, holy crap, I did this.
I haven’t always been able to do this.
And as much as 2015 sucked, maybe it helped keep me in a place where I can be in awe. I hope that I never have another 2015. I hope I never need another 2015. (I’ll be honest, every instance of deja vu still scares the crap out of me.)
But that’s what the end of the …

Words: 56,523 in 17 days (Avg 3,325-words/day) 6 projects + Admin (14%)

Fun fact: Traveling* almost half of the month definitely put a damper on my word count.
I don’t have a lot to say about this month. The end of the year is usually a bit of pain. That being said, it’s been the best December in my recorded history.

I didn’t get to my goal (again, that pesky traveling) but one of the things that 2017 has helped me embrace is letting go of things that aren’t as important as my type a mind tends to make them.

*To be completely fair, I did do some writing while on the road, but haven’t gotten around to pulling the stuff from those days.