What were my goals again? Copied & pasted from my last post:
Goals for Round 2
- Be a sponsor! =*D I mentioned this a couple weeks ago. Very excited.
- Write my chapter of the chain story I mentioned in this post.
- Do three public readings. Two are already scheduled. Third one will probably be an open mic.
- Continue to try to get more involved in the local writing community: attend more readings, go down and check out The Attic Institute, participate in a writing group.
- Continue to write monthly articles for VoiceCatcher.
- Focus on my pseudonym's novel.
- Try to stop trying to do too much. [Emphasis added.]
And at the time I originally posted the above list, I'd forgotten about one more goal: apply for writing fellowships/grants as part of my strategy for making writing pay.
And it's a "secret" goal of mine to get back to those five short stories I was working on last round after I finish up my pseudonym's novel next month. "Secret" meaning I'm pretending it's not a goal, but it really is.
Try to do too much? Who, me? Naaaahhhh... o_O
Update at six minutes to midnight: 11 items on today's to-do list accomplished. Just finished checking in on my assigned ROW80 participants and commenting on their posts. Go, me! *weakly raises fist in air, then collapses into bed*
LOL I regularly try to do too much! A few weeks of not meeting my goals usually smacks some sense into me, so I revise accordingly. It's something I have to re-learn on a regular basis! Good luck with your goals - especially that last one!
ReplyDeleteThen perhaps it's more that you're good at learning from your mistakes. You'd think by now I would've learned to be less ambitious. Alas, this does not seem to be the case.
DeleteThis might be off topic, but can I ask you about your choice to write under a pseudonym? I started much of my social media interaction under a pseudonym to protect my privacy (I'm married and have small kids). Now I'm wondering if that was a mistake. Can you tell me about your decision to use one for a specific project?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Good question! It's something I've been thinking about for almost a year and have a hard time understanding myself.
DeleteInitially I wanted a pseudonym because I worked in academia and didn't want colleagues searching for me to stumble across my romance & erotica. There was also a desire to "protect" my family...by which I guess I mean "allow them to avoid associating me with graphic sex scenes." I no longer work in academia, but I suppose I'm still concerned about what my family members might think/feel about it, especially if they get questions from friends/acquaintances.
One thing I like about having a pseudonym is that I feel a littler freer to experiment and express myself. When I write as her, I don't have to worry about how what she says might affect my relationships with clients or potential clients. And if she tries something and fails, it tends to bruise my ego less.
On a practical level, I know that some authors have a different name for each genre they write. This can be helpful to readers because when they like a book and look up the author's name, they expect to see more books of the same kind. If an author writes many genres under one name, it can be more difficult for readers to find what they're looking for. Of course it also means that readers who might enjoy that author's work in other genres don't know what other names to search for, so the author potentially misses out on people reading more of their stuff.
All that said, I wonder if someday I'll "come out" and be more open about the other name(s) under which I write. Being more open & honest about the other names under which I write would be consistent with my desire to fully live and express my humanity without shame. (Not to get all ideological on you or anything.)