Last week was all about getting some reps in. As much as writing is a big component of my psyche, I’m not willing to commit to publishing near enough of what I produce. And that’s because it’s a hobby. I’m a hobbyist. Which has made this Kevin Kelly quote haunting to me.
“If your goal does not have a schedule, it is a dream.”
That sentence leaves a horrible aftertaste of bitter ash and loathsome regret. I dream about writing. And I do a bunch of it, but it is unscheduled, undisciplined and un-completed.
So last week was about starting to grind on some reps. This week the reps will continue. And next week too. But now I need a goal and a schedule and that’s what today’s rep is about.
I’ve had a working title for a short book rattling around for about a month now: Technology for Thoughtful Parents. I’ve been thinking about and compiling ideas about how technology is changing how humans grow up and what parents can do about it. This feels worth publishing. There’s a huge audience and a lot of questions swinging around about how to adopt technology in a valuable way that doesn’t just create attention and anxiety driven patsies. There’s plenty of opinions out there, but this topic needs a Dave Ramsey with a simple list of attainable goals that create leverage to make lives better.
Starting today I’m giving this dream a schedule. The new goal is to have a first draft complete by June 20th. That’s only 3 weeks but I don’t imagine a long book. The initial vision is between 20,000-30,000 words, or about 60-90 pages. That’s about 1200 words a day except that I have a decent amount of content I can repurpose already.
June 22 we’re leaving for a 3 week long RV trip across the country. Our whole family will be focused on enjoying that trip and you should be sure that we’ll be writing and recording it too. That will give the first draft some time to marinate before starting the editing process. Final draft and sale? Let’s say August 15th, before the next school year starts.
So that’s a schedule. It’s out there. This is now a goal and I’m a professional expecting to put out a product. Daily work. Inspiration will need to happen every day. This will need to be routine. Kevin Kelly also wrote this:
“Art before laundry.”
s/art/craft/ It still works.