Weekly Writing Check-In: Breaking Down Those Benchmarks

Hey everyone! Busy week here on my blog, eh. Well, busy week with writing in general. First is the little thing of me breaking past 50k last night in Camp Nanowrimo! Yay! I didn't even know it. I was taking words from different projects (more on that later) and apparently calculating wrong until I just sat down and did it last night and...surprise! 51k! (Plus whatever I wrote last night, lulz~) So yay.

What happened is that I was  working on CROSS//Process until I pretty much...didn't want to anymore. It happens. The subject matter is super happy, with lots of violence and abuse and general "ugh" that it was starting to get ot me to constantly think about and consider. Meanwhile, I had this great short story/novella idea set in the same universe and just went with it. I'm over halfway through with it already, and, depending on how things go, I may end up publishing it first before CROSS//Rebirth, mostly because I need to start publishing things and getting this underway! (The story isn't a fantasy, however. Just a queer romance / deconstruction of a 20 year long relationship. You know. Basics~)

Also, as you probably noticed, I wrote that short story on Friday in a record two hours, which I feel pretty accomplished about. I also managed to write an epic length hub these past two days and feel pretty accomplished about that - I'm also to 50 total and trying to think about what to write for the 50th one.

So, overall, I'm feeling pretty good on the writing front this week. Getting stuff done and making some good progress towards my bigger goals. Now, somebody please explain this to my parents? Yay good.

A Life In Which Writing Is ALWAYS A Priority!

On Saturday I wrote a post about what my life would be like if writing wasn't a priority, ie if I knew I would never be published. In that post I talked about how I treat writing as my career and thus depend on it for my future and even financial security. When money and happiness are on the line, you bet writing is a priority!

Thus, it's also important for me to think and consider what my long term goals are on this career-end of the business. What do I want from this writing that I spend over 10 hours a day (yup) doing? Well, obviously, money. I need money to move out of my natal home (pressure's mounting, guys) and to live the lifestyle I want. In order to accomplish that, you're supposed to outline your goals, right? Okay.

What I do want my writing to bring me? What is the end-game, to say, of my writing career?

It's pretty simple, but will be a long road full of long hours (I'm excited!), some shorter term than others. But I'm the type of person who always needs something in my control to look forward to, so these big goals that probably won't happen for another 10 years are good for me.

Let's see what my writing's gonna get me. (Yes, it will, this is non-negotiable. Hear that writing? I own you.)

1. Making enough to cover my monthly loan bills so my savings are not depleting. This will be about $300 a month.
2. Making a living wage. This will vary, of course. It could mean just making more than the 300 so I save up some money, to being able to afford to move out of here to the valley and start a proper ~adult life~, where I can eat what I want, live in a nice apartment (or home?), get around (no dreams for a car, so to afford public transport) and pretty much being able to go out and do what I want while still continuing to save.
3. Making enough to travel at least once a year. Trust me - traveling is expensive. My ultimate dream in this regard is being able to stay for a month in Japan once a year because I can.

WHELP it's 11pm, I have 1000 words to write before midnight, a chapter to completely edit, and another 1k to write before sleep. And I want to get some Sims 3 in there. I GOTTA GO.

What are your long term writing goals? Are they financially related?