Tag Archives: Progress

The Halfway Post 2023

Posted on by CM Schofield

Here we are already, somehow. Halfway through the year. That crept up on me. Before I do the usual halfway breakdown of how this year’s goals are going, I will say that I’ve done some readjusting, which isn’t something I usually do but due to circumstances it makes the most sense! So, without further delay, the update!

Photo of my grumpy looking white longhaired cat on my computer chair.

1.) The Halfway House first draft completed – So, as hinted at above and despite what I said at the start of the year, this is being deprioritised and replaced with Through the Black! The Halfway House was written as a private passion project and, considering how a certain other goal is going, it makes more sense to bump this up the priority list as to be sensible towards my endgame of actually publishing some books. Work on that Through the Black is… early, but good. Feeling very pleased with the changes I’m making, which is probably for the best.

2.) The Fairy Godfather with betas – This was going very well at the start of the year! As I say, I’ve had a big slump though, so I need to get back on track. I can feel the haze lifting, so hoping to get back on the horse this week.

3.) Self-publishing fund – In a surprising turn of events, this has been going really well! I’ve managed to avoid buying myself random stuff and have been getting a good bit of overtime in at work, which means the fund broke 4 digits this week! So as you may have guessed, this success is the reason I’m re-prioritising Twyned Earth; I might actually be able to get things rolling a fair bit earlier than I had originally anticipated.

4.) Website overhaul – Getting there! I’ve done the slow and boring bit of removing and assessing old posts, and done an overhaul of some of the pages. Still got a decent amount to go but since I’ve already done the worst, I’m confident I can get this all finished. All I need to do is decide if I want to change things up layout and theme wise. It’s been a long time coming but, at the same time, I do hate change. I should probably change it though.

5.) Turn my Twyned Earth encyclopaedia digital – This is another one that’s got good progress! Over halfway transferring everything over. Woo hoo!

General Life Goals:

6.) Consistent Duolingo – This one has gone terribly. I think I did okay the first three months then went kersplat. Will definitely need to pick it up again shortly.

7.) Health targets – Had a couple of setbacks thanks to big work events and a period of sickness, but overall going well! Plus I’m able to do more push ups than I’ve ever been able to do in my life, which is not an impressive number, but is very encouraging.

8.) Talk on Discord again (again) – Okay so, I actually did this! Woo hoo! Granted, it was last night, but still. The little thing is that kinda did it on the hoof because there was a low number of people about. So I still haven’t actually done any voice therapy, which was the whole point of this target. Whoops. I’ll get there, promise.

And that’s that for the big update! I’m annoyed that I didn’t make a reading goal this year because I’ve read more this year already than I have in absolutely ages. Still, good things are happening! And don’t forget, you can check out my Trello for a live snapshot of how progress is going overall! July’s goals are all laid out and ready to be tackled. I just need to avoid burning myself out again.

Halfway There, NaNoWriMo 2022

Posted on by CM Schofield

Wooooaaahhh, we’re half way there!

Uh, I mean, here we are at the halfway mark for NaNoWriMo 2022! How’s it going you ask? Well, on paper, very good so far. It’s exactly halfway through and I am at 38,814 words out of the end goal of 50,000. Nice. I even got around to setting up my project’s page, though it needs some love when the month is done. However, there are two major challenges up ahead.

Challenge number one: I’ve run out of plan. Yup, not a good one for me. I’m not so good without a plan but thanks to how awful my October was I never got further than section two, which means a few days ago I ran out. Now all I’ve got is three sentences describing what happens in the last three sections of the book. It’s going to be rough from here. Oh boy, it is going to be rough.

So what’s the other issue? GameFreak, my old friend, is back at its usual tricks of releasing a new Pokemon game right in the middle of November. They really do make a habit of this though. It seems almost malicious at this point.

Still, I have set myself in good stead for the rest of the month. I’m at the point where I need less than 800 words per day to finish. This is certainly doable, provided I don’t run into too many problems with the story. The problem is that if I can do, it could really stall me out. This is year ten though, I am determined to make it and this head start has just got me even more encouraged.

I hope all my fellow NaNoWriMo-ers out there are having a good month! And the regular reminder that, even though I am determined to hit this goal, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. It’s just about getting yourself kickstarted. 

Got some words done this month? That’s a success right there.

Happy writing, everyone! 

(P.S. I’m going for the fire starter…)

2020 Goals – The Review

Posted on by CM Schofield

Many, many, many people are saying this about 2020 but I have to add my voice asking “what in the everliving fuck was that?!?” Whatever, let’s grab a big glass of vermouth and have a look at how I did on this year’s goals.

1.) Start doing blog posts again – For this one I managed to post 73% of the planned blog posts for the year (one every two weeks) which, in this year of 2020, I’m counting as a win. As Meatloaf would say, 19 outta 26 ain’t bad.

2.) Finish TE1 synopsis (by 28 Feb) and keep on submission – Success! Not only did I finish the full query packet but it’s been on submission ever since and the rejections are piling up! Yaay! I mean, every one of them is a gut punch but I’m treating this like my training montage right before the film KICKS OFF. That’s how you do it, right?

3.) Get Fishperer beta ready – I made a lot of progress on this at the start of the year and then in the second half it kinda went out of the window. Still, it’s a lot closer to being done than it was so that’s something I suppose. 

4.) Complete a Goodreads challenge – Yeah, this one never recovered. It’s not been a good year for reading new books at all. This year was far too much about the comfort zone. Oh well. There’s always next year?

5.) Do enough art to do the end of year meme – I DID IT! I made enough art and made the meme. Despite September to November being very phoned in, I’m still very proud of myself for it. The best thing about this goal is that I can look at my January art and my December art and actually see a difference. I’m hoping to make this one a tradition because I finally feel like I’m making some progress with my drawing skills and I don’t want to lose it again.

6.) Hit weight goal – Zero shits given about this one. It’s 2020. I’m just along for the ride. This one will probably be back next year as I want to achieve it for my dysphoria but if we’re up for 2020 2.0 then I’m not going to stress about it too much.

If we include the very shaky “win” for goal number one, that’s a 50% hit rate. Sod it, it’s 2020. I think I did good. Happy New Year everyone, let’s raise our glasses, cross our fingers, and enter the brace position because like it or not, here comes 2021!

The 2020 Halfway Post

Posted on by CM Schofield

It’s July, which means it is time to review how I’m doing on this year’s goals! As I’m certain most of you are also feeling, this has been a very odd year. This post feel about 9 months overdue and also about 3 months early at the same time. Seriously, 2020 really needs to get its act together. Anyway, on with the post!

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1.) Start doing blog posts again – This has gone well so far! Two posts were one day late but aside from that, we’ve been rocking and rolling. I’ve managed to keep this up through some pretty rough patches so hopefully the momentum sticks and we keep going for the second half of the year.

2.) Finish TE1 synopsis (by 28 Feb) and keep on submission – You may have guessed from my last post that the time lines were derailed on this one but good news prevails in the end. I hit the original deadline of 28th of February but then… Just didn’t send it out. Working with my therapist has been really helpful though, progress has happened and as of June 15th Through the Black has officially been on submission! I also have packets ready for the next couple of agents for when this one comes back. There’s a plan in place to keep up this momentum so there’s no stopping me now! 

3.) Get Fishperer beta ready – This is on track! Been working away at it and all of the comments have now been addressed. It’s scene by scene time now, then it’s onto the big print out and check, then bish bash bosh we’ve got a beta ready MS! Just need to keep at it. Handy that a certain Camp NaNo event just started, amirite? 

4.) Complete a Goodreads challenge – This is one that has started terribly but I’m hoping to pick up a little in the second half of the year. I don’t know with so much time wasted if I’ll hit the endgame goal but I’m determined to make a decent dent in it regardless.

5.) Do enough art to do the end of year meme – Some months have been better than others, and at least two have literally only had ONE piece of art, but that still fits the criteria so I’m counting that as a win. What I do count as a big win is that my folder for 2020 art now has more in it than any other year since… well, since before university. And we’ve still got six months to go! Let me tell you, that’s a great feeling and I can really see some improvements with my stuff. I missed art so much. It feels great to have it back in my life. 

6.) Hit weight goal – Not great progress on this one but with everything else that’s been going on in my life and the world in general, I’m not too surprised or worried about that. 

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Overall and considering the on goings both personally and not, I’m pretty pleased to have gotten to where I am. Some things are going slower than I would like but everything is moving forward. I hope you’re all out there smashing your 2020 goals, but if you aren’t I’m pretty sure there was never a better excuse.

Take care of yourselves and do what you can. Personal progress is nice but in the face of a global pandemic, looking after yourself and those close to you is the number one goal.