January is a great month for goals, and this one was a doozy. I’m going to share what I set out to do, what I got done, and the lessons learned.

Quick summary: I primarily set out to rocket-launch my fiction writing efforts and my Steemit presence. If you just want to know how it all turned out, just go to "The results" and "Insights."

Image credit: Pixabay

The goals

My goals were a teensy bit insane, but I set out to do the following:

1. Daily blogging: Write a Steemit post every single day on a chosen topic for the #challenge30days, a 30-day daily blogging challenge.
2. Weight loss: Follow the Whole30 diet, a 30-day highly restricted diet (no grains, beans, dairy, sugar or alcohol).
3. Write Club stories: Write two full-length stories for sessions 1 and 2 of Write Club, an intensive 16-week (8 session) writing boot camp.

Actually, what happened is that I launched the first two challenges, and then I got conscripted into Write Club. It seemed like perhaps a little too much. But I thought just maybe I could do it. I really wanted to push myself to write more fiction, post more regularly on Steemit, and lose a few pounds. So I prepared myself mentally and decided to do it all.

By the way, I should mention that I have a full-time job and a household to run (husband, two teenagers, and approximately a million pets).

The results

First, here are the results for the three main goals:

• Daily blogging: I wrote and published a post every day, without fail. All posts were either short stories or posts on the topic of fiction, with the exception of two, which were loosely geared toward gaining visibility for my fiction. (I’ve put the whole list of 30 posts below.) Some nights I literally fell asleep on my computer while I was writing my post, but I would not allow myself to go to bed until I hit the Post button. Very typically I had to make some edits the next morning!
• Weight loss: I maintained the strict grain-free, bean-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free diet for 30 days, with only a few teensy misdemeanors, and I lost 8 pounds. (What is left to eat when you remove all that stuff from your diet, you ask? Basically vegetables and protein. I did this month-long adventure with my sister, @ducksaplenty, who blogged about it. Her posts are funny and insightful. Check out her post about primate bonding over food.)
• Write Club stories: In addition to daily blog posts, I completed two full-length stories (5,000+ words) on deadline for Write Club, along with other write club requirements. (Note that I submitted some of my items due one minute before the deadline, much to the nail-biting of the other members, since you get kicked out if you don't do all the things and do them on time!) The commitments included reading the other 6 writers’ stories, and critiquing several in depth. (Will I be posting those stories on Steemit? Nope. They will be submitted to regular publishing channels when the whole set is done.)

Image credit: Pixabay

A few numbers

I am a firm believer that you can't just post stuff on Steemit and expect results. Every day I curated, upvoted, commented, and engaged with other Steemians as well.

Over the course of the month:

• I left around 500 comments.
• I received around 400 replies.
• I went from about 250 followers to over 400.
• I went from following a couple hundred to following over 380.
• But... I started at level 56 rep and stayed at level 56 rep. (Would have been nice to bump up. But you get up in the 55+ zone, and it really takes time!)
• Both my Steem power and my Steemit account value increased. (Would have been nice if I recording starting values, but I didn't think to do that! And the volatility was such that I'm not sure this makes a great metric anyway.)

Recognition, curation support, contest wins

Several of my posts achieved recognition, which was wonderful and helped me to stay the course:

• You wish you could stop the future (short story): @Curie and @ocd curation
• Writing workshop volume 12: How to write your character’s background: Steemitboard badge for number of votes received
• Nine Eleven: Contest winner, @jasonbu’s historic fiction short story contest, and @muxxybot curation
• Conspirators and lies (50-word historic fiction short story): @miniature-tiger top pick - 50-word short story
• Writing workshop volume 16: How to accept criticism on your fiction writing: @ocd curation
• Write Club report: 7 writers, 16 weeks--you do the math: Steemitboard badge for number of votes received
• Getting to know you (50-word short story): Of all my posts, ever, this one got the most “ha ha’s” and “LOL’s” :-)
• Beach weekend: A short story for BeachWednesday: @ocd curation
• Blue Moon: Collaborative story and artwork in honor of the Super Blue Blood Moon: nominated for @muxxybot curation

Pros and Cons

This was a very positive experience in almost every imaginable way. But as with anything, it had its challenges.

The good stuff:

• I have never been so productive in my life, and I had so much fun!
• My fiction writing skills improved. I also stopped being so critical of my own work. I only posted quality stuff, but at the same time, I didn’t over-think everything.

The not-so-good stuff:

• I had almost no time for exercise and I ended up with a stiff neck from too much computer time. (And yes, if I had actually had time for exercise, my 8 pounds would have been 10 or more.)
• I had to dramatically reduce my time on Discord, which meant very little time spent chatting with my writing communities and providing editorial support at The Writers’ Block. This was by far the biggest downside. See the Insights below.

Other than that, I didn’t give up much. I went to multiple social events and parties, and even hosted my book club. (In my book club, this involves putting out a full smorgasbord and wine for 10-15 people.) I learned how to clean house really efficiently, too.

Insights

First, I'm really glad I did it. I didn't find the pace sustainable, particularly during the weeks when I was working on a full-length short story for Write Club and still made sure I wrote a daily blog post. But I met a lot of new people on Steemit, made friends, had some phenomenal conversations, and found so many wonderful people to follow so I can read and upvote their posts!

Also, I did learn some strategies, which I think can help you if you decide to post daily, either short term or long term:

• Having a focus around a particular topic was awesome. I knew what I had to do each day.
• Variety within that focus was absolutely critical. (See "The breakdown" below the list of 30 posts below.) Writing some longer posts and some shorter posts gave me the flexibility to pick what I had the time and ability to do each day.
• It's important to do some letting go. I turned a blind eye to some of the messes in my house, for example. There's no way I could have kept any sort of high standard in that department. You just can't do it all. But one day, looking back on this time of my life, will I remember that my house wasn't in order or that I pushed my writing forward? No contest.

Thoughts going forward:

• Focusing on goals was absolutely amazing, and I accomplished more than I thought possible, until I tried it.
• I do not plan to write daily posts on a long-term basis, though it was fun for a sprint. (And I absolutely would not attempt daily blogging if I didn't think I had interesting stuff to share.)
• Going forward, I will likely create a schedule. For example, I am considering posting three times a week, and spending the rest of my energy on curating and engaging with other people. Which brings me to the next item.
• The biggest missing piece, for me, was the time and ability to engage in community to the full extent I would like. If I was a full-time Steemian, I could have done that really well too. But with my full-time job and other commitments, that was the thing that got bumped off my plate. The membership at The Writers Block, for example, exploded. They formed alliances with Scribes and Scribblers, and there are so many new folks! Amazing! But I only managed to pop in a few times a week. I'm so thrilled to be done with the 30-day sprint so I can re-engage.

Tools and apps to track stuff

There are many great tools and apps out there, now, that can really give you some great insight. Here are some I adopted this month:

• www.steemnow.com: Check voting power throughout the day. Only upvote when VP is 90+.
• Steemify app: Install on your smart phone. Add people whose posts you want to see. It also notifies you of all follows/unfollows, upvotes and comments.

The next order of business is the one I couldn't get to, but is super popular as it will tell you who resteemed you:

• Gina bot

The 30 posts

And here they are, all 30 posts from my romp through #challenge30days:

• Day 1: Writing workshop volume 11: Second person point of view in fiction
• Day 2: You wish you could stop the future: a story in second person
• Day 3: Writing workshop volume 12: How to write your character’s background
• Day 4: Writing workshop volume 13: What to do with all these voices in my head?
• Day 5: Writing workshop volume 14: Write your story from a logline
• Day 6: Writing workshop volume 15: Three tips for improving your fiction
• Day 7: You too can participate in Write Club
• Day 8: Starting Write Club and thinking out loud
• Day 9: Write Club report: Dramatic irony
• Day 10: Write Club report: The giddy phase
• Day 11: Write Club report; Half-way to the finish line
• Day 12: Re-introducing myself (and my fiction work on Steemit
• Day 13: Write Club report: First story drafted!
• Day 14: Time to say goodbye (50-word short story)
• Day 15: A role model Steemian - Learning, shareing, blogging, curating, connecting, commenting and having fun!
• Day 16: Words to learn: Inexorably
• Day 17: Mermaid dreams (50-word short story)
• Day 18: Words to learn: Ambivalent
• Day 19: Writing workshop volume 16: How to accept criticism on your fiction writing
• Day 20: The man in hiding (50-word short story)
• Day 21: Nine eleven (historic fiction)
• Day 22: Write Club report: 7 writers, 16 weeks--you do the math
• Day 23: Getting to know you (50-word short story)
• Day 24: Beach weekend: A short story for BeachWednesday
• Day 25: Words to learn: Recalcitrant
• Day 26: Conspirators and lies (50-word short story)
• Day 27: Bad days: A poem about fiction writing in the absence of inspiration
• Day 28: Words to learn: Defenestrate
• Day 29: Departure from Castle Island (50-word short story)
• Day 30: Blue Moon: Collaborative story and artwork in honor of the Super Blue Blood Moon

The breakdown:

• 7 Write Club posts
• 6 writing workshop posts
• 6 50-word short stories
• 4 Steemit-length short stories
• 4 “Words to learn” vocabulary posts
• 1 poem about fiction writing
• 1 introduceyourself post
• 1 Role model Steemian contest entry post

In conclusion: some recommendations

My three recommendations from everything I learned are the following:

• Set goals and follow them. Short term goals that support long-term goals are the best, in my humble opinion.
• Find a way to balance your writing and posting activity with community and engagement. They go hand-in-hand.
• Track your progress. Knowing that you are getting somewhere makes it all worthwhile. And it requires metrics, and some looking back. Write down all your numbers now, and then see where you are a month from now and six months from now.

If you have insights from your own journey with writing or making progress on Steemit, please share them in the comments. Also, I'm always interested in learning about additional tools and apps!

To your success!

Are you a writer seeking community or help with your writing? If so, please check out The Writers' Block on Discord. Or check out @thewritersblock.