I've been running for the last month. Well, metaphorically, that is.
Why? Because 2012 is Finish Year, and the beginning of February marks...[commence fanfare]
the end of Lap 1* of Finish Year!
I'll pause a moment for the warm applause and shouts of "you go girl" you're surely giving me as I cross the checkpoint, smiling and waving to you, still going strong. (Note: if this were an actual race, I would definitely not still be going strong and would surely have collapsed by now. Who said metaphors had to be plausible?)
Anyway, if you're just tuning in, Finish Year is a campaign Jon Acuff has initiated this year as a challenge for his readers to finish a handful of things this year. Not start them; finish them (the hard part).
So at the beginning of the year I posted my Finish List.
Since Lap 1 of 12 has now come and gone, and many of my goals are writing and/or blog-related, I thought I would do a quick progress report for you. But not the kind that's the report card's less-important cousin you received in middle school, which in actuality had no effect on your grade (and therefore you could not in good conscience be punished for.).
*this moniker refers to the first month of Finish Year and is 100% made up by yours truly.
Finish List Progress Report
Finish List Item 1: Finish "The Empress" by the end of February. I'm on my way to completing this. I posted a new installment here a few weeks ago, and plan on wrapping that up this month. My plan is to finish the rest without posting it online, go back and edit the whole thing for continuity's sake (there are already a few things I want to change), then post it in a PDF format after it's finished for anyone who would like to read it.
Finish List Item 2: Write an ebook. This goal is actually going pretty well. I've already got a first draft of something exciting I'm working on in conjunction with my blog, so stay tuned. I don't want to give away what the topic or setup will be just yet, but I'm looking forward to sharing it! Since this ebook is not initially what I had in mind when making it a goal, I'm sure I'll attempt another one after this is complete.
Finish List Item 3: Finish the Harry Potter Series. Since the last time I wrote about this, I've finished the third book, Prisoner of Azkaban, and I am about three-fourths of the way through the fourth book, Goblet of Fire (which is significantly longer, if anyone is doubting my already-pretty-slow-paced reading skills). Yes, I am a grown up and still openly carry this to work every day (so as to minimize shoulder injury from stashing it my purse).
Finish List Item 4: Read two other books besides Harry Potter. I'm trying to finish Harry Potter first before I start on any other books, so this one is in the queue. Though I have an increasingly long list of books calling my name.
New Finish List Item: Write guest posts for other blogs (or online publications). I'm not sure what a reasonable goal for the entire year would be on this one, since I have never written one before, but I'd love to do at least three by the time the year is over. Right now I am researching other blogs and learning about what it takes to write a killer guest post. (If you have a blog you'd like me to do a guest post for, or know someone whose blog you think I could contribute well to, feel free to let me know in the comments!)
Overall I feel like I'm doing pretty well, but I definitely have to start moving on the first one.
How's your finish list (or resolution list, or goals list) going so far?