365 days of being a writer: day 31

Today, I thought about what kinds of goals I want to set for the next month. I have a few things I need to get done:

• Mail recommendation packets to the folks who have said yes
• Finalize my statement of purpose
• Finish one of the three essays I have been rolling around for the last couple of months

Need is clearly a concept loosely defined 'round here, but I would feel very unproductive if I didn't get this stuff done in the next 30 days. There are also some things I want to do:

• Submit at least three things to three places (at least one new piece)
• Read at least two books, ideally three, from my stack 
• Try to figure out the best time to write (for me)

To the end of the last goal, I will try to spend next week writing in the mornings, and see how that goes. I have a timed writing contest this weekend, and will be devoted to that, but will start with Monday.

Today I found out I may be done writing blog posts for my day job in a couple of weeks. Budgets and etc. Major blow, I am trying not to get too bummed out about it, but I am pretty bummed out.

I also found out that a short story of mine placed 4th in the NYC midnight flash fiction contest (round one of a possible four). This last spring, I entered their short story competition and got "second runner up" of the first round. The story I wrote was sort of silly (it had to be a "horror" story featuring a pawnshop), but a good exercise. I rather like my latest submission (fantasy, in a typing class, featuring an eyedropper) and may try to get it into a flash fiction publication somewhere. If you have any favorites, I'd love to check them out. Round two assignments go out tomorrow at 9 pm, I will most surely post about my process.

Finally, today I sent an email off to a potential source for my next bird essay. I hope he wants to talk hummingbirds with me.