A friend and I made an agreement to check in with each other weekly about the progress on our writing progress. We both have long-form books that we struggle to find time for amid jobs and other things tugging us away from writing. Will this keep us going? That remains to be seen. Accountability, even if it’s just a weekly check-in, might help.

This week (and by that, I mean the last seven days) kicked off with a meeting of a writing group. We met in a class on short stories and decided to form a critique group. Every month we send out a piece for review and then we meet up at a coffee shop and discuss. My piece this month was a short story that has gone through four revisions. I think it’s ready to submit somewhere and the group seemed to agree.

Early in the week, I made final tweaks to the story. I asked my cousin, who recently completed an MFA program, for suggestions about literary magazines. She sent me a lot of information, which I have not sifted through yet. That might be a task for next week.

For the rest of the week, I researched the next chunk of the WIP novel. This part will probably span multiple chapters, although in the novel time-frame the action will take place over about eighteen hours. This week’s activities have been making hour-by-hour timelines and maps and character notes.

I’m setting up the game pieces on the board: trying to figure out who goes where and, more importantly, why. About a third of the way through the novel, I know the characters rather well. When I move them around the board, what will they do? Now it’s up to them to tell me.

I’m setting up the game pieces on the board: trying to figure out who goes where and, more importantly, why. About a third of the way through the novel, I know the characters rather well. When I move them around the board, what will they do? Now it’s up to them to tell me.