Journal Entry #2: Reflections and Timeline (and I also changed my goal)

I had a meeting with my supervisor for the project this past September 11. It has been brought to my attention that I did the first journal entry in a different way than it should have been done. Also, I have changed my goal after guidance from my supervisor. I will not try to write a whole novel; instead, I will try to write a short story.

Considering that the project will have to be in its final stage by December, it will be quite hard to write a novel, revise it a million times, and make it good. Plus, my supervisor raised an interesting point and I agree with him: writing the book isn’t going to take much research and it isn’t going to bring much to my life. Since I’m considering a future career in writing, it is better for me to learn how to do something I’ve never considered doing: publishing a story.

So, instead of writing a whole novel and then saying to myself “now what?”, I’m going to be writing a short story and trying to get it published, learning about the publishing industry and what they want in a story that is going to actually be read by people. I’m very excited for this.

I’m also excited by the fact my coordinator/supervisor seems excited about the project too. Many times, the supervisors don’t care or don’t even look at the student’s progress; they just give their students good grades on their projects and that’s it. Thankfully, that’s not the way my supervisor is acting towards this project.

My goal is now a lot more specific, challenging and a bigger learning opportunity. Now over the next one or two weeks, I need to outline my project and start researching about potential publishers. (Also, I need to define the topic/storyline for the story. That’s sort of urgent and I haven’t done it yet.)

This is the timeline I’ve created so far:

Date it’s meant to be done	What needs to be done
Sometime in the next two weeks, before the end of September	Research short story publishing, research short story writing, have a general idea of the topic/storyline
Middle of October	Define storyline, maybe create a first draft & have a list of possible publishing places. Also, maybe interview an actually published author
End of October	Have a first draft. After that, begin editing process
Middle of November	The editing process must be done by the end of the second week, start sending it to publishers
End of November/First two weeks of December	Reflect on process, wait for acceptance or rejection letters, brainstorm/organize the presentation
Third week of December	If the story is accepted by anyone, reflect on feedback received; if it is rejected, also reflect on the feedback received. What could I have done better and what will I do better next time? What did I do right?