September Goals

[forestofglory]

So my August Goals post worked out well. I completed all the goals. Which surprises me a bit even though I was trying to make the goals very manageable. I still find goal setting a lit fraught. I worry that I'm setting goals that are too big or too little, and when I publicly state my goals I worry that other people are judging me for the amount of work I'm doing. Still I'm going to publicly set myself some more goal for this month, because it did work out well last month.

This month we are settling into the new preschool routine which means I should have bit more time to myself, but right now I'm still getting used to everything. Also R was away for labor day weekend and will also be traveling to visit friends latter this month, so that will effect what I can get done. (Some how this year all my trip where in the beginning of the year and all Rs are in the second half. I wouldn't mind going on another trip but it seems like so much work to plan one.)

On to this months goals:

1) Read five pieces of short SFF online and finish reading Hexarchate Stories. This worked out ok last month. Its a small amount compared to how much short SFF I've read in the past but seems sustainable for now.

2)Research starting a cosy SFF zine. I complained on twitter about how un-fluffy most original short SFF is and that somehow lead to the idea that we should get together and start a cosy SFF zine. My first reactions was that's way too much work -- but its something that I'd love to have exist so I let a friend convince me to at least find out how much work it would be before deciding not to do it. (Another possibility might be to approach and existing zine and ask to do a special issue -- so I need to look into that too.)

3)Brain storm 5 nature/built enviroment topics that I could write about. I love talking and thinking about nature and the build enviroment. Yet some how I'm deeply intimated by writing about these topics. I feel like I'll never know enough. Probably the solution is to make things more personal, but that's hard too. Anyways, I want to set aside some time to brainstorm how approach that type of writing more.

4)Host a Dire Panda themed Guardian event. I've been thinking about this for a while am even have something drafted so I should be launching this soon!

5)Sew a shirt for the kid, and pick a pattern to use for the fabric she wants me to make a dress out of. I don't want it to get to winter and find that I haven't made the kid at least one new thing to wear!

Comments

[lunabee34]

No judgement here. Just enjoying reading about the pursuit.

[forestofglory]

Aw, thanks!

[ratbones]

Your goals all sound very cool. So much creativity! And DIRE PANDAS :D

[forestofglory]

Thanks! You are one of the inspirations for the dire panda event!

[umadoshi]

This is a great array of goals. ^_^

[forestofglory]

Thanks!

[ambyr]

I appreciate the continued inspiration to look at short fiction; I made it through two anthologies last month. We'll see if I can keep up the trend.

[forestofglory]

That's more than I read -- which two anthologies? Did you enjoy them?

[ambyr]

Wayward Girls and Wicked Women, edited by Angela Carter, and Nalo Hopkinson's collection Skin Folk.

Skin Folk took me a while to get into--I don't know if the first half-dozen stories were actually significantly weaker than the rest of the collection, or if I just wasn't in the right move--but I really loved some of the closing pieces, so it's staying on my shelf for now, and I'm definitely hanging onto my copy of Falling in Love with Hominids for later reading. I think "Greedy Choke Puppy" was my favorite entry in the collection.

Wayward Girls and Wicked Women was a revelation: a collection of stories by feminist writers working from about 1875-1975, almost none of whom I'd heard of. Their collected Wikipedia entries make a fascinating side collection in its own right, because many of them lived pretty wild lives. (The only one who doesn't have a Wikipedia article is the queer Latina writer; if I have some time, maybe I will wade into the swamp that is Wikipedia article creation and try to fix that.) It's not overall a happy collection (though some of the individual stories do have happy endings, including the opener), but I recommend it highly.

[calissa]

Its a small amount compared to how much short SFF I've read in the past but seems sustainable for now.

Sustainable is good. I can understand worrying about setting your goals too big or too small because I do this too (just in private). It can be so hard to judge my own future time and energy, and I haven't found it gets easier with practice. The good part is that there's plenty of opportunity to practice and experiment. It's one of the reasons I love the start of a new month so much.

Thank you for sharing your goals. I really enjoy getting a peek into what's going on for you and what you're excited about.

[egret]

Congratulations for August!

[forestofglory]

Thank you!

[trascendenza]

I complained on twitter about how un-fluffy most original short SFF is and that somehow lead to the idea that we should get together and start a cosy SFF zine.
Oooh, that sounds very cool!

[forestofglory]

Thank you!