The August Report

As per my developing habit, I set some writing goals at the beginning of August, and will report on them now. Here's how I did.

1. Complete the book proposal, requested by an editor, on the Elijah and Elisha Bible study, and mail it. I failed miserably on this. To turn in a proposal I had to convert my weekly handouts into book sample chapters, at least four. Plus, since I decided to add one chapter that preceded the study as taught, I started on this. But I became bogged down in writing this chapter, and didn't finish it. I made fair progress for a couple of days, then decided to let it sit. Consequently, I didn't work on any of the other sample chapters nor the proposal itself.

2. Complete the planning phase of my next two Bible studies. I don't know if I can claim completing these, but I did work on them. The one on Israel becoming a nation is very close to being fully planned out. The one on Peter's life is less so, but is fairly far along.

3. Complete the research I need before undertaking an on-line poetry workshop in September (may start in late August). It is a workshop I will lead at the Absolute Write poetry forum, with a limited scope. I began the research, but have very little completed. Since this is a volunteer thing, it will probably be low priority for this month. Still, having committed to leading it, I'd like to get it done.

4. Attend one critique group meeting; present the prototype for the Documenting America newspaper column. I did this. The group was very positive about the column, and gave some good suggestions for the query letter and the two sample columns I shared with them.

5. Read in some writing how-to books. I started this--one book, not "books". It is one I picked up at a used book store, and appears to have been a high school text, though I'm not certain of that. I will likely finish this book in September and report on it.

6. Wait for the editor and agent to respond to the two proposals I have out right now. Ah, this was the easiest goal of all, waiting on an editor and an agent to get to my submitted material. As I blogged about this previously, I am waiting patiently, resisting the urge to contact the two, and trying to concentrate on new works-in-progress.

That's it. I had relatively few goals for the month, as I knew I would miss time for our road trip and then helping people move. I accomplished those non-writing things, but still would have wished for a little more productivity in writing.