The Sunday Circle: What Are You Working On This Week?

The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).

After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.

Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).

MY CHECK-IN

What am I working on this week?

Writing is top of the agenda this week, after the bulk of last week was taken up by grading papers. A good chunk of my between-marking downtime was spent working my way through issues on the Project Stairwell draft, creating a to-do list of things to hit when I started drafting again.

The story is an interesting challenge because it’s really four seperate mini-stories, three of which have their own micro-story nested within them. Getting it right means keeping the reader interested in each part, and seamlessly transitioning from one to the other. I haven’t quite cracked that yet, but I’ll get there. 

With luck and focus, the coming week will also see me finish a chapter in my thesis. 

What’s inspiring me this week?

I read two Mary Robinette Kowal novels this week–her first, Shades of Milk and Honey, and her recent Hugo winner, The Calculating Stars. Both were the kinds of books I stayed up until 2:00 AM to finish, and both me sent me over tot he internet to revisit some of the truly outstanding and mind-blowing advice Kowal has posted over the years (hint: start with the what puppetry taught me about writing episode of writing excuses). 

What action do I need to take?

I need to sit down and do a new Quarterly and Monthly checkpoint this week–they were on the list for last week, but got eclipsed by some of the short-term deadlines. This is a state that could well continue, and I’m hitting the part of the year where lots of different things feel urgent. Outsourcing my thinking to to a more detailed plan that tells me what actually is urgent will help keep me on track.