Setting q3 writing goals and reflecting on q2

Tracking my writing goals quarterly is a new experiment for 2022. Typically, I’ve set writing goals three times a year: Spring semester, summer, fall semester.

I’m finding that the more frequent quarterly check-in is allowing me to keep a better eye on things. Also, precisely because it does not map onto the rhythm of the academic year, it allows me to make needed adjustments before too much time has passed in the term.

Without further ado, here’s what I had planned to accomplish in Q2:

1.     Go on two research trips for the Anita Loos biography

2.     Draft an essay about parenting during fire season

3.     Write regular blog posts for developmental editing and coaching business

How did I do?

1.     I went on one research trip and have booked the second one for this month (July)

2.     I did not write the parenting essay yet. I got busy with other things, so I am moving this goal to August. Mercifully, we aren’t yet in fire season in Nevada, but I have a hunch we will be by August. I’m planning for this to be a perverse form of inspiration and will work on the essay in early August.

3.     I wrote 7 blog posts for my own website (more on that in a moment). That’s more than 2 a month, which I’m declaring a success.

And then there were bonus things that happened in Q2:

1.     Looking back at my calendar, I see that I presented at a conference the very first weekend in April. Counting it!

2.     I had the opportunity to write a blog post for Inside Higher Ed’s University of Venus blog. I wrote about the excellent No Club and enjoyed the experience of writing in my “blog voice” for a wider audience.

3.     A friend reached out to ask if I’d like to join his panel for an upcoming conference. Instead of reading and watching things for the forest fire essay, I’ve been watching films and brainstorming towards a conference abstract to be submitted in July.

4.     This is not strictly a writing item, but it pulled on the scholar/researcher part of my brain: I agreed to judge a book award for a professional organization and have spent the last two months processing scholarly monographs in a way I haven’t since taking my comprehensive exams.

5.     I added a final tweak to an accepted essay in an edited collection.

One of the reasons I’m doing these quarterly check-ins publicly is that I want to both practice and model reflective goal setting.

When I look at the past quarter, a few things strike me:

1.     A good calendar is as helpful for reflection as it is for planning. I had forgotten about the conference paper I presented in early April. It was nice to be reminded that I achieved more than I had remembered during a very difficult spring term.

2.     Sometimes it’s okay to under-quantify things. I’m all for SMART goals, etc., etc., but I’m glad I hadn’t rigidly defined what “regular” blog posting was going to look like. If I had declared it was going to be every week, I’d have been stressed and disappointed. The cadence I developed feels right and manageable, which is exactly what I want from this more casual goal.

3.     Being open to new opportunities and new things that come up, as they inevitably will, means needing to be flexible about rescheduling goals. I’ve discussed the boomerang nature of writing before (edits, copyedits, page proofs—all manner of reasons for a piece of writing to return). While pieces of writing can boomerang back at surprising intervals and with relatively little notice, they often come with rigid timelines attached to the publishing process.

As a result, I’m finding it useful to be loose with writing tasks that are less deadline-driven.  In my case, this means pushing the forest fire essay into August. In addition to giving me time to add a final revision to the essay in the forthcoming edition, being willing to shift goals around has allowed me to pick up new opportunities.

So, what’s up for Q3?

1.     July: go on second research trip for the biography

2.     July: make plan for year’s grant applications

3.     August: draft forest fire essay

4.     September: Begin work on conference paper that I hope to develop into a sample chapter for the Loos bio.

5.     Keep up “regular” blogging.

6.     Write another blog for University of Venus.

I hope you’ll reach out and let me know how your writing goals are going and whether you’re planning by the quarter or semester.