Another Wednesday, another bout of accountability. It’s actually been a bit of an interesting week, so let’s just get right to it, shall we?
Goal #1: Lose at least ten pounds and become healthier overall.
This was always going to be the most difficult goal for me, simply because I love food and hate exercise. But while I can’t report a weight loss (I forgot to weigh myself before I came out West for this shift) I can report a couple of small victories.
One is that in the day and a half I’ve been out here for this shift I’ve already been more active and been eating better than I managed last shift. One big thing is that I’m avoiding the cans of pop like the plague, which is really difficult for me because I love pop and it’s free, dammit. But I digress… I’ve been drinking a lot of water and herbal tea. Also, I forced myself to have breakfast this morning. Also, also, I got up early to exercise. Unfortunately the exercise was cut off early because my trademark evil gut started playing with me, but tomorrow morning is another day.
The other small victory that I thought worth mentioning is that I’ve actually gotten several comments lately asking me if I’m losing weight. I don’t believe that I’ve actually lost any as far as the number on the scale, but it is possible that I’ve replaced some fat with muscle, so it’s nice to get the comments. Hopefully those who have brought it up are actually right and not just delusional.
Goal #2: Be more active on social media and work hard on my “author platform”.
It hasn’t been a particularly good week for this goal, mostly because I’ve been busy with other things and haven’t focused on it. Somedays I find it strangely difficult to think of a single thing to tweet, and I don’t like to overextend myself on Facebook because I already have my blog auto-post to there and I don’t want to annoy people. That said, I have been fairly active amongst the blogger community, and I resolve to do better in other areas this coming week.
Goal #3: COMPLETE my zombie apocalypse novel, Nowhere to Hide.
Honestly, I didn’t expect to have anything to report for this one for quite a while. As I explained last week, I’d finally finished the first round of edits and was ready to ship my manuscript off to my beta reader, so I fully expected to have this goal out of my head for at least a few weeks. Amazingly, however, my beta reader turned out to be a super-woman who ate my manuscript up like a pint of double-fudge ice cream…all in one night! Yesterday morning I recieved the emails with her comments, complaints, and suggestions, and I was absolutely flabbergasted. Not only did she manage to read the entire novel in one night, but she also brought up some very excellent points that I never would have noticed myself. So now, much sooner than anticipated, I find myself preparing for the second round of edits. These ones (I freakin’ hope) will go much faster than the last ones because they’re mostly cosmetic changes and slight revisions. I won’t be able to start this round until I get home again, but in the meantime I’m going to definitely spend some time working out a game plan. Exciting!
Goal #4: Write 500,000 words.
This week wasn’t nearly as good as last week, but it was still excellent as far as how many words I should be getting in a week. I ended up with 9212 words, mostly through the virtue of planning a bunch of blog posts in advance. I’m both pleased and concerned with this result, because I can’t see me getting anywhere near that number again this week. It’s always so difficult to get much writing in while I’m out West…but that’s just my fatigue talking. Maybe this week I’ll finally break into that “642 Things to Write About” book that has been sitting in my luggage. Wish me luck!
No Page Left Blank 
Tracey, here are my thoughts, as promised. I had many thoughts and ideas on these Accountability posts, though I have had a lot going on in my own life and projects, and little time to post a sincere and thought provoling comment.
As for Goal #1, I think that you are fine the way you are. A product of our western society is that everybody should lose weight, and that in order to be considered attractive, we all must be healthy, skinny, and in our prime physical shape. With respect to the fact that we are both in happy long-term relationships, I think that you are okay just the way you are, and as long as your husband agrees with me, this goal should not be somehing you should devote too much time and energy worrying about. I would know because, well, I am a genetic male, and I read your blog almost completely, and you have posted many photos of yourself.
Goal #2 is something that is important. You should be as active as possible on social media. I think that you should add links to your Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc so that people can find you and your stuff where and when they want to. I have done just that at the bottom of all of my blog posts, though a simple list will be more than adequate. I think you are off to a good start with this list, though it needs more channels. And while I am at it, THANK YOU for mentioning me on the Linkables page! I will be linking back to your blog, as promised!
Goal #3 is just plain awesome! Don’t change a single thing here.
Goal #4 will come in time. There is no need to rush things. I’m reminded of the writer Herman Melville who once wrote that he wished he had a paper mill at his house so that he would be able to write endless letters. One of the most important things I learned from famous and successful writers is that quality must always triumph over quanity. At least that was the advice given to me by the late poet Allen Ginsberg, whom my parents and I knew personally. He once told me that only a small fraction of what he wrote was good enough to share, or publish. I have written like a maniac ever since, filling volumes of Moleskine journals in the process; likewise, only a small portion gets published on my blog.
All in all, I think that you are doing a fantastic job with your blog, and keep in mind, that although I don’t always have the time to comment as often as I would like, I do read your posts on a regular basis.
First, Tom, I have to say thank you for a lovely and well thought out set of comments. Reading them genuinely brightened my day. 🙂
And now a few counter-comments:
Goal #1: You are terribly sweet. 🙂 And you’re right…my husband is perfectly happy with me the way I am, so this isn’t something I should be focusing all my time and energy on (and I definitely don’t…lol). For my part, this goal is mostly based on health concerns. I do have several (non-critical) health issues that I attribute, at least in part, to being a bit overweight. I know it doesn’t look like it in the photos that I share, but I do carry a lot of extra weight in my stomach and thighs, and I belie that by reducing that I’ll feel a lo better in several ways. But as you suggested, this is definitely not my top priority. 😛
Goal #2: working hard on this one! I was actually thinking about adding a widget on my main page with all my contacts. I’ve been abut iffy for a while with the idea of sharing my Facebook info though…I know I SHOULD, but I can’t help but attribute FB with close friends only, you know? I was thinking about making an author page and sharing that instead but I don’t know if that would make much sense until I was actually published. What do you think?
(PS. Saw the link on your blog…thanks so much! <3)
Goal #3: I'M GETTING SO CLOSE! lol
Goal #4: Not much to say here, but I can definitely see where you're coming from and I'll keep it in mind. 🙂
Thanks again so much for the great comments! Like you I often spend more time reading blogs than responding to them, but that's something I've been working on and it's great to see that I've been receiving some awesome feedback in return. ❤