2022 Goal Check – First Quarter

Well, it’s the end of the first quarter of 2022.  Time to check on how I’m doing on my goals for the year:

2022 Goals – the expurgated version (the one without the gannet).

For the full version see my January 16^th, 2022 blog, https://dennisamadorcherry.com/writing/2022-goals/

1. POLISH OFF MY FIRST STEAMPUNK NOVEL: I plan to have this done by Presidents’ Day.    I’m about 30 pages from finishing.  The reason for this is that I’ve been working on my second steampunk script.  I finished the vomit (first) draft so I could present the ending to one of my critique groups – the one that has been reading it as I have gone along.  Now I’m cleaning up the vomit draft to submit a more polished draft to my other critique group where we often submit entire scripts.
2. MAKE CHANGES TO MY FIRST STEAMPUNK SCRIPT I’m also still trying to shave down the 143 pages. Optimally, a script should be about 120 pages.  I expect to be able to do this by the end of February.  Haven’t finished the above, so this isn’t done either.
3. SAVE UP FOR A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR: If I can do this by the end of the year, I’ll be happy.  Still working on it, that’s all I can say.
4. SUBMIT MY NOVEL TO A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR: Again, if I can do it by the end of the year, I’ll be happy.  If things get better, I can always add new goals.  It all depends on the above.  At least I’m not behind schedule.
5. OUTLINE MY THIRD STEAMPUNK SCRIPT: I’m thinking maybe an outline will help me write the script faster.  That doesn’t mean that I won’t stop and write a scene that really catches me, though.  I’ll set this goal for the end of March.  Nope, still working on script two.
6. WRITE MY THIRD STEAMPUNK SCRIPT: I’ll break this down further once I start doing it.  Something like, if I can write ten pages a week, and I assume my first draft will be 180 pages, then I should be able to write it in eighteen weeks.  Still in the future.  Haven’t gotten there yet.
7. EDIT MY THIRD STEAMPUNK SCRIPT AND SUBMIT IT TO ONE OF MY CRITIQUE GROUPS: Which will lead to more edits.  I’ll break this down as I get closer.  Same as above. 
8. WRITE MY SECOND STEAMPUNK NOVEL: So, let’s break this down into manageable sub-goals:  Still in the future, but getting closer as I finish my second steampunk script.
9. Read twelve books this year.

A:  Read a book in January:  1/28/22 finished. “What Jane Auston Ate and Charles Dickens Knew”.

B:  Read a book in February:  3/3/22, three days late, finished, “Art for God’s Sake”.

C:  Read a book in March:  No book finished, but I am reading Brandy June’s, “Gold Spun”.  As if didn’t already have enough to read this year, I also bought Steve Kaplan’s, “The Comic Hero’s Journey”, serious story structure for fabulously funny films.  Sci-Fi comedies are hard to find.  I want to write one someday.

D:  Read a book in April:

E:  Read a book in May:

F:  Read a book in June:

G:  Read a book in June:

H:  Read a book in August:

I:  Read a book in September:

J:  Read a book in October:

K:  Read a book in November:

L:  Read a book in December:

10. READ MY BIBLE: Every year my church, Calvary Bible Church in Burbank has a plan to read the entire Bible in a year.  This year I’m dedicating myself to keeping up and writing this down as a goal as a part of my accountability.

A:  Keep up with January’s reading:  I’m about a week behind.

B:  Keep up with February’s reading:  I’m about three weeks behind.  Don’t want to make excuses, but having kidney stones, covid and a writer’s conference didn’t help.

C:  Keep up with March’s reading: I’m now four weeks behind.

D:  Keep up with April’s reading:

E:  Keep up with May’s reading:

F:  Keep up with June’s reading:

G:  Keep up with July’s reading:

H:  Keep up with August’s reading:

I:  Keep up with September’s reading:

J:  Keep up with October’s reading:

K:  Keep up with November’s Reading:

L:  Keep up with December’s reading:

11. TRY A NEW RECIPE EACH MONTH: This was a goal of mine last year and it worked out very well.  I ended up trying out fifteen new recipes.  So let’s do it again:

A:  New recipe for January:  On 01/30/22 made:  https://getpocket.com/explore/item/brioche-bread?utm_source=pocket-newtab

B:  New recipe for February:  On  02/26/22 made:  https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/mango-habanero-bbq-chicken/

C:  New recipe for March:  On 3/13/22 made:  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/279239/deep-fried-tilapia/  And on 3/14/22 made:  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16311/simple-beef-stroganoff/  At least here I’m way ahead of my goals.

D:  New recipe for April:

E:  New recipe for May:

F:  New recipe for June:

G:  New recipe for July:

H:  New recipe for August:

I:  New recipe for September:

J:  New recipe for October:

K:  New recipe for November:

L:  New recipe for December:

12. Ever since my company moved its offices, my job has been more sedentary. I know I can lose  two pounds a month if I stick to it, so here’s me making myself accountable:

A:  Down to 208 by end of January:  On 1/31/22 weighed 208.  Right on schedule.

B:  Down to 206 by end of February:  On 2/25/22 weighed 202.  That’s three times as much as I expected to lose in February.  And all it took was a kidney stone and Covid…I’m not sure I can recommend that diet plan.

C:  Down to 204 by end of March.  On 3/31/22 weighed 200.  That’s halfway to my goal for the year!

D:  Down to 202 by end of April.

E:  Down to 200 by end of May.

F:  Down to 198 by end of June.

G: Down to 196 by end of July.

H:  Down to 194 by end of August.

I:  Down to 193 by end of September.

J:  Down to 192 by end of October.

K:  Down to 191 by end of November.

L:  Down to 190 by end of December.

13:  Finally, I want to keep up my blood donations with the American Red Cross.  Either six whole blood donations or three power reds – that’s where they take out twice the red blood cells, but give you back half of your plasma.  Up until now, I have been giving whole blood because I’m CMV negative, which means my blood can be given to infants.  But with my last donation, they found I have rare antigens and asked me to consider power red donations.  On 3/26/22 I gave Power Red.  If my calculations are correct, that should complete my thirteenth gallon.

107th blog completed.

First Steampunk novel:  72,191 words.

First Steampunk screenplay:  Need to update with notes from the novelization.

Second Steampunk screenplay:  174 pages, bing unvomited.

Second Steampunk novel: 0 words.

Third Steampunk screenplay:  38 pages.

And here’s the book I bought – as if I didn’t have enough…I found it at my favorite comic book store, Collector’s Paradice.