The How

How am I going to make it to my goals? This is the post to discuss some of the things I will do in the near future. Some will be easier than others and some will be in the not so near future,  but these are my plans in order to reach my goals.

Some goals will be easier to achieve than others, and some rely upon gaining certain resources, but it's good to have a plan for achieving them all.

Fiction Writing: the how

This is an easier one in a way. Sure, it takes doing the work but all I have to do is the work in order to reach most of my goals at this point when it comes to the writing. And in order for that to happen, I need to plan time for the tasks it takes to reach those goals.

Editing - I have discovered that I can get editing done pretty well on days I work, which surprised me. I would think I'd be more productive on my days off, but a good part of the editing lately has been the hour or two right before work. So that time will be my editing time each day I work and sometimes I'll find time on my days not working.

Writing - along with editing, the writing will help if I stick to the monthly goals, picking which projects to work on each month and setting deadlines. I get more done if I have a deadline and since the write in December-January-February challenge is almost done, I'll have one less writing obligation and can refocus on the novels. For February my main focus right now is the novella, C9.March I want to work on C9 and maybe finish AF, and work on hmmm LtW.  Since in nanowrimo I was doing 5,000 words a day, I think I should do at least 5,000 words of new writing a week. Sounds reasonable and less crazy. ;-)

Birthday Goal - that one is reliant on accomplishing my editing goals. I'm on chapter 7 of 25 and have until end of August to edit, take a break and maybe fix if I find more. Going to be close on this goal unless I pick up the editing pace.


Fitness: the how

Now for the big one. What will I do to reach my fitness goals. Again, some are easier and will take less time than others. Some require more planning and financial influences as well as determination. But this is my current plan on how to reach them.

1. This just requires I find a location that allows for shooting bows that would have recurve bows and be able to pay whatever fee. However, I also plan to do resistance training to help strengthen my arms, even more than just lifting heavy things at work. I know that after a little while, it can be tiring shooting a bow. Last time me and my sister did it for like an hour and our arms were very sore the next day.

2. Again, requires access to the equipment and not only strength building, but also hand-eye coordination skills practiced a bit more. Mine aren't too bad but it's a far cry from when I was active in sports. Will incorporate some challenges, training for the coordination along with the resistance training.

3. Same issue as 2. Need location, weapon, teacher, and ability to handle it without wanting to drop the sword after three moves. Also need to be able to move quick, be faster on my feet, which should come with cardio and less weight to carry around.

4. Sensing a theme here. Need to do research, find a method and place to learn that form of hand to hand combat. Also need strength and endurance, so cardio and resistance, along with weight loss to reach this goal.

5. Easy enough. I'm sure I can find a place to ride horses again. But want to weigh less before I do that. Hoping to lose around 4 lbs a month with eating and exercise.

6. Cardio.

So the how is pretty generic. Seems the main stream throughout is I need to lose weight, do cardio and resistance training first. What am I going to do for that?  I would love a gym membership. This might surprise some as I actually enjoyed and miss lifting weights, like I had to back in high school and once in a college class. A gym is a great place, however, I can't afford it currently. So, that will have to wait. I have right now, workout dvds, a small "gym" that's smaller than my bedroom here at my apartment complex, and am looking for resistance bands on clearance or at least on sale.  I've been improving my eating habits and am trying to eat like the more fit person I want to become. Sure, I mess up on occasion (Easter candy is in stores now and they have cheesy garlic bread potato chips in small bags now), but I'm doing far better than my one meal, taco bell days.I am mostly eating chicken and veggies, but got some oats to make oatmeal with and have other plans in the future.


Next blog post will be a fiction entry for a romance writing blog hop, but then I will explain the Eating Like the Fit Person I Want to Become concept. Until then,


What are your goals?
Do you make plans in order to reach them?

New Name, Slight Change

As some may have noticed, the title of this blog has changed along with the link. This used to be It's In The Book, located at itsinthbookde.blogspot.com. However, the time came for a change. I'm still writing and hope to be ready to submit in search of an agent this year. I still will blog about my writing here, and general writing topics over at dawnembers.blogspot.com and am trying to get to a regular blogging schedule. This change is for the good, to give me a good place to focus my energy and stay motivated in my goals for the year, along with life.


Some might think it's a strange or bad move to put two different focuses on the same blog, since they say a blog should focus on one topic only. I disagree because the two topics have a connection and in a way this is the closest thing to a diary I will ever have since I don't like writing about myself most of the time. I have to break that here, but it's a challenge, and I'm going to accept that fact. Now instead of rambling, I should actually get to the explanation.

Image links:

fiction image

ampersand image

fitness image

The blog is now: Fiction & Fitness

There are a few reasons behind this change that require me to give some personal information about myself. As I discussed on an April post for the A to Z challenge once, I am short. I don't know the conversion to my height, but for where I live, I'm 4 feet, 11.5 inches. So, almost 5 feet tall but never quite made it. I am female, if my pen name doesn't give that away and like many people I am overweight. (Now it sounds like one of those anonymous support groups...) While writing is great, it's not the most active venture. I can spend hours just sitting on the computer writing or pretending I'm writing. I'm not the most active and certainly not in shape, and despite the years of sports as a kid/pre-teen/teen, have never been in shape or fit. So, I decided time for a change.

I struggled to come up with a title for this blog because I wanted to combine my focus on writing and my focus on getting healthier into the same place. I could have started a blog for just health but I have too many blogs already and think this combination will work out in its own way. When it comes down to it, the real issue is what I am going to make priorities in my life and I want both. I want to both write novels and have a healthy life.

The name came after quite a struggle. I considered things like writing to a healthy life and what not but each one I thought of made it sound like I was writing books about health. To clarify, no I'm not writing a health book. A search through the dictionary showed "fitness" as a synonym to the word "health". I thought about it and liked the idea of Fiction and Fitness. I hope that this doesn't confuse anyone and it showcases that this blog is about my writing fiction and my journey to a fit life. That is my intentions in the end.

That is why this blog has the new name and focus. Next I will post about my goals in a couple of days, some things I want to accomplish, how to accomplish them, and I might even consider posting pictures. Have to wait to find out.