Quarterly Goals - June 2019

Note: Please go to JimmyChattin.com where content on writing will be posted.

I'm cutting down this quarter to a number of goals I've found works great: four. Thank you for your patience with me getting this list out - the last two weeks have required a drastic reevaluation. Let's get started.

My Goals Due June 2019

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  1. JimmyChattin.com
    1. The primary goal was going to be to finish Shallow Seas, but I think a website to show off Shallow Seas is of a lot more interest. By June, I need the domain name "JimmyChattin", an "About" page, contact and hiring information, and a backlog of posts for the site. We're going to keep this simple, maybe adding tags for posts as necessary.
    2. Surprise! WordPress makes setting up a website amazingly easy. With a coupon code, I now have JimmyChattin.com for the next two years! Now let's add some content to it ~
  2. Finish Draft 1 Shallow Seas
    1. My first among equals. The goal last time was to draft Shallow Seas; that didn't happen, but I'm close. This time, we're going to cover the final thirty-to-forty-thousand words.
  3. Lists
    1. "Blessed are the list makers." I hope to systematize my life. First, we're going to need to make and stick with a "No, But" list - whenever something would distract from goals or pure pleasure, pause. Give the list a review. Then either give it a "hell yes" or an unashamed "no". Maybe include writing my own obituary too. There's no time to dally.
  4. Edits
    1. Update the stories They're Aboard and Unblinking Skitarii (working titles), two fan fictions written around 2018 for the Warhammer 40K universe. There are a few edits I've left behind for myself, so finally 'completing' these stories would be grand.

These goals, though fewer, are bigger than previous endeavors. Regardless, I'll push hard. However, all are subject to replacement in the next three months. I'm keeping eyes peeled for Games Workshops' Black Library open submissions for 2019. If / When that hits, a few alternates will have to be taken up instead of the above:

  • Send one fully realized submission to Black Library. That's brainstorm, logline, outline, pick, draft, revise (continuously), and finally submit a Warhammer story.
    • Ideas already:
      • Follow a soldier's horrific journey through a spaceship boarded by aliens he once called home.
      • A simple heist of the jewels in an alien crypt at the heart of a continent goes wrong.
      • The lost crew of a ship crash on an ancient space station hidden in a sun's corona.
  • Play Warhammer games (for research, of course). Total War Warhammer and Vermintide 2 and a boatload of audiobooks should do the trick.

This'll be a tough three months. With GDC happening in March, leading a new fitness group, and training / coaching for Las Vegas's Corporate Challenge competitions, distractions will be rife. Rising in my role at my job is also a concern as I seek both more responsibility and less time in office. Wish me luck and give me understanding as things get shifted around to realize these goals and position myself for a life of leisure in the future.

If you're interested, these were useful links for determining goals for JQ:

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Divine; 2buiArt

Quarterly Goals Recap - March 2019

Read the original goal post here.

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I'm here to write. Write I did. What I've been up to these last three months:

What Were My Goals?

  1. First Draft of Shallow Seas
    1. Failed. This is all on me. I wrote some +100K words. Most of that ended up in outlines that were rewritten and scrapped. One-and-a-half months spent on that. Heck, I have another outline. I learned I need to be faster on outlining and commit earlier. For now, I can get this draft done, my first draft of a novel-length work! (Almost there - another quarter should have it written.)
  2. Time Efficiency
    1. Won. From spending 40-50% of my time on what I categorize as time wasters (commuting, internet browsing) and chores (hygiene, food, cleaning), I'm sitting nicely at 25-26.5%! By any measure, this is a huge improvement. The goal was to get below 33% of time spent on these activities; the goal now is to maintain it.
  3. Be Assertive
    1. Won. I am asking more for what I want. I fear less of saying the word 'no'. There's a lot of improvement to be made here, though I think I'm on my way to... Better decisiveness? Self command? Self respect? Anyway, it's a good place to be.
  4. Voice Acting Credit
    1. Failed. Totally missed this. Time spent on writing Shallow Seas might have been split up to take on voice work. However, to attempt equal time for both would guarantee the mediocrity of each. I've learned a lot having two creative endeavors in one quarter.
  5. Marathon Capacity
    1. Failed. As soon as I posted this goal, I went for another half-marathon practice run in December. Only now, three months later, is the rough scar fading. I certainly need better shoes and socks if a full marathon is to be adequately trained for. The tangential benefit is that I spent more time on the low-impact stationary bike!
  6. Play Games
    1. Failed. I have an entry in my time tracking software for 'Pleasure - Games'. I have only now in the last week spent more time playing video games (six hours) than I have in the entirety of the last three months. This article sums up the paralysis I'm working on overcoming in not just game playing, but in many aspects of what is termed 'self care'.
  7. Read
    1. Won. Maybe. I'm doing this somewhat. Nearly every night before getting ready for bed or in the middle of a weekend's afternoon I'll settle down for an hour of physical browsing. I will do more of this, but that's a general statement of 'protect and value your time to yourself'. So for now, let's chalk this up to a win.

43% success rate. Ouch. And even after (temporarily) ending my time as a Couchsurfing host! Can I recover from that supposed failure? What are the lessons, the return, from all of this?

For one, be a lot faster in the brainstorming and outlining stages of writing - I wrote a full outline of Shallow Seas with everything but world description and dialogue, only to throw that out.

Another thing would be to have only one creative, product-generating goal in a quarter. Getting to voice acting felt as a drag on my psyche after spending two hours every morning writing on Shallow Seas. I must focus and there's only so much focus to go around.

Generally, protect my time. Really think about saying 'yes' to anything. 'No' ought to be the default; "if it's not a HELL YES, it's a no".

What's for next time? Here's a shortlist of some considerations:
  • Finish Shallow Seas's first draft.
  • Make a JimmyChattin.com website.
  • Edit a bunch of written short stories.
  • Spend a little less time on others.
  • Leverage certain financial saving opportunities.

Heck, maybe I'll just hire a life coach March 1st. Do you know one?

Quarterly Goals - March 2019

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My Goals Due March 2019

  1. Draft 1 Shallow Seas
    1. Shallow Seas is a working title for this Hero's Journey that steps off of Campbell's wheel at times because actions have consequences. Severe consequences.
      Have an outline (8500 words), but it needs much more. Finish the outline, finish the first draft. This I'll do by March.
  2. Time Efficiency
    1. I am unhappy wasting time. Right now chores and what I literally categorize as "waste time" take up anywhere from 40% to 50%, mainly resting in food prep, cleaning, and commuting.
      The goal here is to get that time to be less than one-third of my weekly spending. Moving to a new office five minutes away will help a lot, but more work might be needed (or in need of being cut) to achieve this outcome.
  3. Be Assertive
    1. Simply put, I'm too non-confrontational. It's literally my most recognized, positive trait. However, there's a darker side, too.

      A few events have happened in this last quarter where not practicing assertiveness has caused negative outcomes not only for myself, but for others. To reduce how I hurt others, I must serve myself with the favor of expressing directly my wants and needs. Here is where I'll start.
  4. Voice Acting Credit
    1. From last quarter, I have a demo reel. It should be changed, but I have the knowledge to do that, too. It's fun to make voices, to act with play emotion, and I will be unhappy to not have tried being an accredited voice actor, at least once.
  5. Marathon Capacity
    1. I want to be able to run a marathon. Do I actually need to compete in one? No. The goal is to be able to do a practice marathon (this is nearly universally not recommended), if not dip my toe into a competition this Spring.
  6. Play Games
    1. A very important conversation with a very important person helped me realize I need to enjoy life. From that, there are four areas I revel in, those being: Do well, daydream, be present, and serve.

      Games can accomplish two, possibly three, of those for me. Four, if by 'serve' means serving my future self, not burning out on the non-consequential tedium of the day-to-day, but to glory in this thing called life.

      How am I going to measure this? Not sure yet - heck of a SMART goal, right? But I will track time spent enjoying myself, possibly scheduling it in and defending it (#Assertiveness!).
  7. Read
    1. I've stopped reading. Yes, there are audiobooks, and yes, I browse articles and the like. But what of a thing I must take in with my eyes, to focus my hands and gaze and mind on?
      Books are going to start appearing at my bedside and novels will appear on my phone, accessible within two clicks. I will not give up on reading, nor, dare I say, should you.
Let's see about accomplishing more than 50% of these seven plans for myself. What do you want to give your future self?

Listening to Kaszimir's Flag while putting this together. While on YouTube, checkout Jenna Moreci, the inspiration for these quarterly goals.

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P.S. Picked this quarter's image based on having a 'vision' of a new story premise, a combination of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, the theme being that knowledge is a terrible thing. Robots, lots of fire, loss of innocence, sexy firefighters, the pitch may need some work :)