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? |