Health goals
Weight: 173.8
Exercise: Yes. OMG it's cold outside.
Yesterday's points: 40

Weekly writing goals
Profile 4 Characters: Not yet.
Rewrite one short story: In progress.
Character Inventory: In progress.
Review 1 hour: Done.
Revise one song: scheduled Fri
My schedule is all out of whack today, because I carpooled with Keith and came to work early. As soon as Chris, the office manager, arrived, we started talking business. I've gotten nothing else done except yesterday's music practice time. So I still have 750 Words (profile Wisdom) and edit a short story (The Butterfly Stone) on my agenda. Since Wisdom appears in Poor Witch, I thought she was a good choice for my first character project.

Weekly work goals
Reach 400 students at MTMS   by 12/31/12: 227. Less than I'd like, but - as I have to remind myself - more than I planned when I originally opened my doors. By a lot. *repeats to convince self*
Blog at MT.com  : PENDING.
Year-end closeout: In progress, mostly by delegation.
Sign-in process for students: In progress.
Judge Ohio Idol videos: PENDING

Music Log
Yesterday, I practiced: Sonata in Dm (Scarlatti) for piano and Purcell's "When I am laid in earth" from "Dido and Aeneas" for voice. Talk about a depressing song! Technically this happened this morning, so I need to practice again later today.
Yesterday, I listened to: Purcell's "When I am laid in earth"
This week, I performed at: Pending, but a local nursing home just booked me for every other month through the end of the year.
Songwriting progress: Pending.

 

Health goals
Weight: ?
Exercise: Yes, in 17 degree weather, yikes.
Yesterday's points: 34, still too high but better.

Weekly writing goals
Profile 4 Characters:
I started a background story this morning, but I realized I needed to do a pseudo-"Prep" first. The character was Mystic, the cat from Poor Witch. I couldn't find his voice, because I couldn't remember Mildred's well enough, and I couldn't remember Aunt and Mother's names, and I was weak on the setting... annoying. Bottom line, I needed to research before writing. So I'm revising my 750 Words task on my calendar: Prep first, write second.

Rewrite one short story: scheduled Wed
Review 1 hour: scheduled Thu today, because I moved grocery shopping to Thursdays. But I already got distracted by Facebook, though I've managed to stay away from email this morning. I also overslept. So I'm behind on my writing goals today. I may only get a half hour of reviewing in, and I get less FB time later today.

Revise one song: scheduled Fri


Weekly work goals
Reach 400 students at MTMS   by 12/31/12: 229.5. We're stuck.
Blog at MT.com  :
Year-end closeout: PENDING (tax payments/filings; W2s/1099s; accounting fixes - Dec payroll, bonus, other earnings, inventory; and close books.)
Sign-in process for students: In progress.
Judge Ohio Idol videos: PENDING
Tidy up post-remodel: Done!

Music Log
Yesterday, I practiced: Wade in the Water on guitar  
Yesterday, I listened to: Wade in the Water by Eva Cassidy.   I am taking awesome song suggestions for tomorrow!
This week, I performed at: Pending.
Songwriting progress: Pending.

 

THREE WORDS THAT DEFINE ME IN 2012:

1. Balance:
* Allocate time to work/family/writing/etc and stick to the schedule
* Strengthen relationships
* Music performance once per week
* Be more focused leading worship

2. Body:
* Eat healthier and keep track of points
* Exercise daily
* Reach a body weight of 145 pounds by 12/31/12

3. Growth:
* Practice difficult music every day
* Grow the business to 400 students
* Grow my repertoire of original music
* Grow my portfolio of in-progress and complete written works

For scheduling: Outlooks, Yahoo Calendar or Excel?

Health goals
Weight: 175
Exercise: Yesterday, yes. Today, pending.
Yesterday's points: 39. Way too high, but at least I kept track. Better today.

Writing goals
Profile 4 Characters: Scheduled mornings at 750 Words.
Rewrite one short story: Scheduled Wed.
Review 1 hour: Scheduled Thu.
Revise one song: Scheduled Fri.
Every Monday, I'll establish this list. Throughout the week, I'll report on progress against the list.

Work goals
Reach 400 students at MTMS   by 12/31/12: 230.5
Blog at MT.com  : Pending.
Year-end closeout: PENDING (tax payments/filings; W2s/1099s; accounting fixes - Dec payroll, bonus, other earnings, inventory; and close books.)
Tidy up post-remodel: Scheduled today. It's almost ready.
Sign-in process for students: In progress.
Judge Ohio Idol videos: Pending.
The first two goals are fixed. I'll continue to keep a daily log of our current student load for future statistical purposes, and I'd like to go back to blogging once per week. The rest of the goals will be established on Monday. As you see above, I did schedule this list for the week... but I've already broken my Balance rule, because I logged in and did some work (on "Sign-in process") while creating this list. Then I logged back out! Go me.

Church goals
I almost hate to publish goals here, because it won't change much. It's more critical that I stick to allocated time on my schedule.

Music Log
Yesterday, I practiced: Nothing! And I was at the studio!
Yesterday, I listened to: Saturday, I listened George Thoroughgood "One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer." To clarify this goal, it doesn't count if I listen to a song while writing or doing something distracting. I'm supposed to listen to the song. I noticed the guitar strum pattern in Bourbon.
This week, I performed at: None yet, scheduled Friday at Senor Patron.
Songwriting progress: None yet.
Here I'll keep track of my daily and weekly music-related goals. Each day, I'd like to practice a difficult piece - on voice or any instrument - and listen to one new song for inspiration and ideas. I'm always taking suggestions! Drop your links in the comment box.

Ad hoc goals
I allocated time for non-MTMS email (mostly church and personal); Yahoo articles; Facebook; Pinterest, etc. The goal is to stick to the schedule!


 

Welcome to 2012. Make yourself comfortable, because you're going to be here awhile.

2012 Resolutions:
1. Eat healthier
2. Exercise daily
3. Strengthen relationships with family and friends
4. Allocate time for work / family / writing / leisure and stick to it
5. Practice difficult music every day
6. Grow my business from 230 students to 400 students by year-end
7. Perform at least once a week
8. Write and perform new original music
9. Be more focused while leading worship

This list isn't my style. I normally quantify my goals - after all, without numbers or frequencies, how do I know if I've achieved the goals? At the end of 2012, how will I know I ate healthier or strengthened my relationships?

But it's a start, and it's centered around my desire for better balance. The next iteration of the list will be coming in the form of tomorrow's blog template. In the meantime, nurse your hangovers, make your own resolutions, and go to church if you're the church-going sort, since it's Sunday and all.

Peace. ...on earth, or just in your own life.
 

My extended family arrived late last night from Maryland to visit and help us with our remodel. We have big plans for today, and they don't involve writing goals. I'm so excited! Can't wait to upload pictures.

Peace.
 

I'm only in Chapter 2. The book is called "A Voice in the Wind" by Francine Rivers, and a friend "loaned" it to me via Kindle (you can do that now.) She insisted I would love this author, and that this is the first of many books she intends to loan me.

The book has potential, but it feels like the rough draft. What author and editor would allow a published work to announce that "the men were furious and they shouted in fury"? I almost didn't find the potential, because Chapter 1 was so cumbersome. It starts with (one of) the (many) fall(s) of Jerusalem, in which Roman legions take the city from... um... various competing factions including Jews, Christians, zealots, and... uh... some other groups. In the first few pages, we met all these groups and their leaders, and for the life of me, I couldn't keep them straight. When they Jews set fire to their own temple to burn the Romans they'd just lured inside, I couldn't figure out who was inside, who was out, who set it on fire or whose temple it was. It was only later, when we finally met one protagonist, that I understood what had happened. I figured it out right after the part where the protagonist was taken captive by a Roman, into whose head we jumped just as he raised his sword to kill the protagonist, which is lucky - otherwise, I would have never known why he chose to take her captive instead of killing her.

Of course, our protagonist didn't know why he chose to do this. But we knew. Because we jumped into his head.

I intend to keep plugging away; now that I've met both protagonists, one a Christian from Jerusalem, and one a Germanic chieftain leading a rebellion against the Romans, I suspect they are destined to meet, and I'm intrigued. I just think this book needed a once-over by a good editor.
 

I remember when I made this blog public. I was keeping it as a private journal to track my goals, thinking nobody would be interested in reading such a thing. Well, they were - I had a lot of readers when I first went public. Now, I have much fewer. In my observation, that changed right around the time I stopped scrolling.

Moral of story: The more visible your online presence, the more people want to read you.

So visibility is key. But at the same time, I'm afraid to inundate Facebook and Twitter with junk. I want a witty, entertaining public presence, and I'm just not always in a witty mood. To build a celebrity brand online these days takes a lot of work and planning. Or maybe natural talent, of which I have a little, but not enough to crank out daily witticisms that keep readers coming back. This is why I teach and sing.

Renovation
Work scheduled next week. By "scheduled" I mean that me and a group of helpers are finishing the room and making it look nice. That's all the farther I've planned.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
A few walk-ins this week. But 275 is pretty much not gonna happen.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes.
One character profile per day: No.
One fiction contest entry per day: No.
One original song per week: No.

Count points:
No, are you kidding? How many points are in Christmas cookies and candy and no-bake bars?


 

I'm getting worried. This is a replacement laptop (black and bulky), sent because my first laptop (hot pink and tiny!) had a bad video card that kept eating motherboards and hard drives. The warranty on my original (pink) laptop, which transferred to the replacement (black) laptop, expired August of 2011. So it figures that my (black) replacement, which was a refurbished computer when they shipped it, would die right now. And in the last couple weeks, it has several times randomly rebooted itself and announced that no operating system was found. *starts thinking about backing up hard drive contents*

My next laptop will be tiny again. And not from Dell.

Renovation
We renovate the back next week. Currently an unpainted, concrete-floored storage area, the room will be converted to half computer lab and half office. We aren't erecting any walls - we haven't submitted drawings or pulled permits. We're just finishing the walls that are there, painting, laying a floor, and arranging the furniture for now. It's a trial run for the computer lab.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
Recitals were a blast. The University stage was perfect, and we still managed to maintain a light-hearted, fun atmosphere. And I'm sooooo glad it's over. On the enrollment front, we're still hovering around 230.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes.
One character profile per day: No.
One fiction contest entry per day: No.
One original song per week: No.

SCOPE CREEP HERE. I've been trying to transfer all my WDC data to Kindle, just to get it all in once place. I'm starting to think it's a bad idea, because Kindle is not that easy to navigate. It's great for its intended purpose - reading books. But snippets and things? It just takes too many clicks. Which puts me back at Square 1 in organizing my in-progress writing. And I have a laptop that may day any moment.

Count points:
No.

Today, I have a worship planning meeting at church, work, and possibly to sub for two acting classes. Besides that, I may play video games or fart around on Facebook and Pinterest all day. Even at work.
 

I knew this would be a long weekend because of recitals and proximity to Christmas. Yesterday, I had to bounce from praise band practice to work to recitals to Walmart as it was. But then I forgot that my praise band drummer is out, and I have a tween sub who doesn't know the songs well. Also, since the regular drummer is out, we couldn't go over songs for Christmas Eve, which is *next Saturday* (!!!) So I didn't get done what I needed to get done at yesterday's practice, and it stressed me out. Then I got to work, and Karen, the receptionist, had to leave in a hurry because her father was in the hospital for a possible stroke (!!!), and I was counting on her for a number of reasons. And it stressed me out more. And because I had a fever for three straight days earlier this week (!!!), I failed to properly communicate my desire to take the recital programs and get them printed somewhere instead of printing in-house, which takes forever. So Karen printed all day Friday and Saturday, but there still weren't enough. We were fine for yesterday, but there are more recitals today. So late last night after Walmart, I ended up making an emergency trip to get more printed at a print store.

So.... after all that... I forgot to write at 750Words.com.

Not only did I blow a three-month streak, but I'll also be on the "Wall of Shame" because I committed to writing every day during the month of December. I'm numb. I think I'll sit on it before I do something rash. I've cycled through every response from delete my account to just start over with the writing streaks. Now, I'm sitting somewhere in between, because lately, many of my entries have sounded like, "I can't believe I'm wasting my time with this, but here we go..." because I have too many other things going on. It would be better to just write when I have the time and clarity to do it properly instead of forcing myself when I'm not in the zone. But I've never been one of those people who does things in moderation. If I start over with the streaks, I'll do it every damn day regardless of the crap I'm cranking out. I'm afraid I'll end up in the same place again - bitching about it instead of using the tool wisely.

Yes, it's just a tool. If I were smart, I would use it to write fiction, or to develop characters, or even to write publishable nonfiction like blog posts or performance evaluations. In fact, I've used it for all these things, just not consistently. Because all these things take some amount of forethought and organization, which means work outside of the twenty or so minutes it takes to crank out 750 words. I have to plan what I'm going to write if I intend to use the tool that way.

So I don't know if I'll use it again, but I'm too busy to be pissed about missing yesterday. I have my first of two worship services to lead in about two hours. The first service will have a tween guest drummer, and the second service will have a skit that I barely skimmed over once and have to personally lead. Then I'll go straight to recitals again. By tonight, when I'm home and relaxed and thankful that it's all over, I'll probably be pissed about missing yesterday's entry.

PS: I did at least add some cool "Buy Now" options to the MTMS   website this week, if I didn't get much else done other than stare at the Christmas tree in a feverish stupor.
 

OMG. The 10-year-old is having whiny weekend. I was just saying how pleasant she's been since we invested in gymnastics, and how it was so worth the money. Now we're in the middle of a random meltdown over the fact that we wouldn't go to McDonald's after practice, and that her dad and I got Starbucks drinks without her (while she was at gymnastics), and how her dad didn't buy her fruit gushers and similar junk at the grocery store today. It started yesterday when I wasn't home after school, which meant she couldn't go outside and play (I was at work.)

I'm looking forward to working at church and getting out of the house tonight.

Moving and Renovation
We're moving a bunch of heavy items - the stage, mostly - to storage tomorrow. The rest is scheduled over Winter Break (last week of December.)

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
I don't feel like looking, but it's 230-ish.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes.
One character profile per day: No.
One fiction contest entry per day: No.
One original song per week: No.

I did start working on a novel review for "Critique Circle"  [18+].

Count points:
No.

 

I had a nightmare last night. I waited until the last minute to buy Christmas gifts, thinking I would go out on Christmas day and do it then. It never occurred to me that all the stores would be closed. So my only option was to give everybody Chinese food for Christmas. *runs to Amazon.com*

Moving and Renovation
I got quotes on computers for all the rooms, which I plan to implement as part of the renovation. However, to justify the purchase, I need to create the electronic systems that we plan to use in the rooms: lobby sign-in, lab sign-in, teacher sign-in, and maybe schedule. Hurry up, Google Docs. I'm waiting for your database app.

OMG! Just after I wrote that, I opened Google Docs to get the data for the goal below (229 students) and saw "Google Fusion Tables (beta)" in the "Create" list - I am spending my whole day playing with that today. Sorry, writing goals. You lose.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
Current student load is 229. *kicks* Bump back over 230! We were in the 230 clear! Bleh.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes.

One character profile per day: No.

One fiction contest entry per day: No.

One original song per week:
Mon: Compose lyrics.
Tue: Polish lyrics.
Wed: Set to music. NOPE.
Thu: Polish and record. NOPE.
Fri: Launch. No activity. I didn't even start a song this week.
Sat: Snippets/brainstorm.
Sun: Snippets/brainstorm.

...but I did write the first of sixteen performance evaluations. Go me! It didn't even take that long. I cranked one out in my 750 words entry. So theoretically, I can write one per day and be done before we close for the last week of the year, starting 12/24.

Count points:
So far today:
(2) Coffee
(4) Bfast Lean Pocket

Dinner last night consisted of one Raising Cane's chicken finger and about a half dozen strawberry oreos (OMG... they taste like Neopolitan ice cream, when you run the scooper through the strawberry and chocolate together...) I imagine that wasn't the healthiest of dinners. But on the plus side, Keith and I walked again this morning, after a two-day hiatus.

 

Sad. I haven't managed lyrics or contest entries so far this week. I've barely cranked out 750 words almost to the word every night right before falling asleep. I haven't published a blog post in three days. My dog is having a hell of a housebreaking setback, and I don't have the time or the inclination to go out in the cold weather with him and retrain him on the word "potty" and the requirement that it be done "outside." I haven't even started the performance evaluations I've had on my to-do list for three months.

But the closet is in, the back room in the studio is clean and the upcoming winter break renovation is scheduled and organized, so that's good. And just as I was feeling like a total slacker who can't accomplish the most reasonable of goals, I ran into a calendar from a few years ago that listed in the future planning section: "Retire" (from Abbott) by the end of 2011 and "Open a studio" in 2012. And then I felt better.

Quick weirdness: My ex contacted me today about guitar lessons for his daughter. That would be awkward. Besides, I think it was an excuse to hold a conversation (albeit via text.)

I would talk more about that, but right now, I'm tired and have 750 words to write before bed. If I'm smart, I'll write them about my employees and get these evaluations started. Or I'll write lyrics or a contest entry. But I won't be smart. I'll probably just spend 752 words bitching about how I'm too tired to do this, and how it feels like homework.

Peace. (Listen to what I say, not what I do.)
 

I published this link in my previous post:

ARTICLE: When eBooks attack, mass paperbacks die  

But then I continued to research the publishing market. {e:bugeyes}

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000664761
Did you know that Amazon is now a "traditional" publisher? Not only that, Amazon apparently has the big six (and other smaller publishers) worried.

Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article...

CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/27/technology/amazon_publishing/index.htm

NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/technology/amazon-rewrites-the-rules-of-book-p...

They're like the WalMart of the publishing industry. Russell Grandinetti, one of Amazon’s top executives, said in the NY Times article above, “The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and reader. Everyone who stands between those two has both risk and opportunity.”

And more about the future of print versus eBooks:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/891561-264/new_statistics_model_for_book.h...
Growth of Trade eBook sales.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/doc/can-print-on-demand-save-the-book-industry/2087
An article about a print-on-demand machine in bookstores for titles not in inventory (DPR: Digital-to-Print at Retail)

http://www.economist.com/node/21528628
Commentary about what publishers need to do to survive in the eBook era.

And just for fun:

http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm
Fascinating general statistics about publishing.



 

ARTICLE: When eBooks attack, mass paperbacks die  

Moving and Renovation
No activity.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
No activity. Well, a withdrawal yesterday.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes.

One character profile per day: No.

One fiction contest entry per day: Yes.

One original song per week:
Mon: Compose lyrics.
Tue: Polish lyrics.
Wed: Set to music.
Thu: Polish and record.
Fri: Launch. No activity.
Sat: Snippets/brainstorm. I brainstormed snippet ideas.
Sun: Snippets/brainstorm.

Count points:
So far today:
(1) Coffee
(4) Turkey sausage

I swear I'm going to do better. Weight gain is making me ill and grumpy.

 

Moving and Renovation
Got the back more organized, and now you can walk through. It's a weight off my shoulders. Soon I'll be able to sit at the desk and work back there again. Processing payroll on Wednesday took ALL DAY because I had to do it out in the open where people could see me and talk to me.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
236.5

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes.

One character profile and background story per day: Yesterday, but not yet today.

One fiction contest entry per day: Yes, I entered "The Writer's Cramp"  [13+] with a story about the character I created yesterday. It worked really well, so that's my new daily goal:
1. Use a contest prompt to write a background story about yesterday's character and enter the contest with the story.
2. Create a new character for tomorrow's contest entry.

Meanwhile, I got this nerdy idea to create a characters database, so I could later query the database when I need a stock character who fits a certain profile. Like, I could sort or filter on age, gender, etc. I prolly won't do it, though, because that sort of technical organization shit is the kind of stuff I do to procrastinate instead of actually writing.

One original song per week:
Mon: Compose lyrics.
Tue: Polish lyrics.
Wed: Set to music.
Thu: Polish and record.
Fri: Launch. No activity.
Sat: Snippets/brainstorm. Today, I plan to organize more snippets and pick a topic for Monday's lyrics.
Sun: Snippets/brainstorm.

Count points:
No.
 

My mother: "Congratulations on being homeless."

Moving and Renovation
Move crap out of the studio: No progress. Payroll was due yesterday, and the mess drove me crazy. No place to sit and work.
Renovation: Gah. To be fair, I erected some shelves and organized the closet. But that's just where customers can see. The back is a wreck.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
Good day! We enrolled like five new students yesterday. We lost a couple, too, so we're still in the 230's.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Yes. I keep trying to link it at Facebook, but I forgot to set the meta data when I first hit "Publish," and now Facebook won't pull up the new data (specifically, the photo and description.)

I revised the rest of my writing goals:

One character profile and background story per day: Not yet.

One fiction contest entry per day: No, but entered a poetry contest. ?

One original song per week:
Mon: Compose lyrics.
Tue: Polish lyrics.
Wed: Set to music.
Thu: Polish and record. Well, no, since I started in the middle of a cycle. I started re-reading and organizing works I've previously begun.
Fri: Launch.
Sat: Snippets/brainstorm.
Sun: Snippets/brainstorm.

Count points:
No.
 

I closed on my house yesterday. Bittersweet: I no longer have a mortgage, but I also no longer have a house. On the other other hand, a ton of stuff just fell off my to-do list, so I can focus on new goals.

Moving and Renovation
Move crap out of the garage: Obviously this goal can go, since I gave the garage door opener to the new owner.
Move crap out of the studio: Just need an orange tote for the Halloween gear. Also need Keith and the trailer to move out the stage and other large items.
Renovation: The back office / future computer lab is a MESS. But I finished organizing the closet in the classroom, which is an area exposed to customers. The back can wait until Keith can bring the trailer over.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
It's withdrawal week (a.k.a, my tuition is due, and I decided I'm not going to continue and therefore not going to pay for December even though we require two weeks' notice to withdraw), and we're at 232.5. Not shabby. I'm vying for 250, which is my next pay raise, and then 275, when the receptionist goes to full time hours. 275 by the end of this month might be unreasonable. The most we've ever climbed in a single month was 47 students, and that wasn't in a holiday month (we're closed the entire last week of December.)

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month: Pending.
30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: I hereby eliminate this goal in favor of the following.

New writing goals:
30 minutes of songwriting per day: Pending.
One fiction contest entry per day: Pending, and possibly the most ridiculous goal I've ever set for myself.

Count points:
No, and I'm starting to feel ill from overeating and fast weight gain. I've got a group talking about a competition in January, with an entry fee, where the winner takes the pot (or the top three winners split the pot.) Details pending.

 

{e:whisper}I'm closing on my house this afternoon...{/e:whisper} (Shh... I don't want to jinx it.)

I just don't have any news that trumps that today.

Peace,
Michelle
 

Leading worship Sunday was a breeze. I find myself teaching with a conversational style, asking lots of questions. I guess I could do that again.

Moving and Renovation
Move crap out of the garage: YES! READY FOR CLOSING TOMORROW.
Move crap out of the studio: We hung Christmas decorations and took the totes and empty boxes to storage.
Renovation: Closet and sink are done, so we (1) were ready to open for business, and (2) have another room nearly ready to be converted to a lesson room. It's currently a teacher lounge, and we'll have to move all the stuff out first, which requires us to clean up the office area in the back first, but it could be converted without shutting down for construction, which is key.

Reach 275 students at MTMS   by 12/31/11.
We're in catch-up mode with the paperwork, so I'm not sure where we are.

Writing:
Blog at MT.com   by the end of the month:
30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: N/A in November. I did write my 750 words.
2,000 NaNoWriMo   words per day: DONE.

I. Want. More. Hours. In. My. Days. Why can't I work on a song, a fiction piece, a WDC blog post, a music blog post, perform AND run a business all in the same day every day? We have our natural talents, but we excel at those things we practice on a regular basis, and although you don't forget how to write or play an instrument, you do lose that edge of excellence. I want more practice at everything.

Count points:
No, but on a related note, I made a turkey pot pie and turkey noodle soup yesterday with all kinds of leftovers.

 

I finished NaNo, so I was going to establish songwriting goals for December. Then I considered running a songwriting challenge in either December or January. Did a bunch of research on possible exercises to help develop the art of songwriting and result in an arsenal of actual songs, and had a lot of fun plotting and planning. Then I did research at WDC for my target market.

There are 209 items designated as "lyrics" in all of Writing.com.
There are 13 items with the word "songwriting" in them.

Not much of a target market. It makes me wonder if I could run a 750Words - style website related to songwriting. But 750 is so easy - you just write. I managed like 4,500 words yesterday alone, just because I was brainstorming about the financial state of my business (read: avoid discussing the financial state of my business with me unless you want an earful.) How would you establish reasonable goals around songwriting that are easy enough to actually accomplish, and what kind of rewards would there be? I was thinking some sort of mandatory reviews would be helpful. Or coaching? Maybe MTMS can run an online course with feedback from coaches.

I dunno. *shrug* A one-month challenge at WDC seemed like the way to go, because it works so well for Prep. It's the perfect time and frequency - everyone gets psyched for it, because it's only once a year, and it's a month-long intense activity. More often would be too much. Songwriting seems like the same situation. It takes a lot of effort to journal / brainstorm / compose / edit / set to music / record songs, so you would need intermediate goals.

Maybe I should just stop with the scope creep and write my own songs.