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Fall leaves background with 2 cups of coffee and coffee pot on moss-covered rock. Text: September goals, JillKemerer.com/blog #writerproductivity

September Goals 2023

September Goals

My writer productivity skyrockets when I set monthly writer goals, and it’s time to share my September goals. At the beginning of each week I break them down into daily tasks that fit my current schedule. Do you know how great it is to finish projects? Of course you do! For me, setting monthly goals makes it all possible.

Every month I share how I did the previous month as well as what my new goals are. Let’s get to it!

How Did I Do? Jill’s August Goals

  • Writing
  • Revise/Polish/Submit proposal for book 4 in my new Love Inspired series. CHECK!
  • Plot new story idea. CHECK!
  • Redline the nonfiction! It’s been on my goal list for months. I need to JUST GET IT DONE. NO CHECK.
  • Health
  • Exercise 4 days/week. CHECK!
  • Continue eating fresh fruits and vegetables each day. CHECK!
  • Other
  • Read 15 minutes of fiction every weekday. NO CHECK
  • Go to the farmer’s market. NO CHECK
  • Enjoy time with family! CHECK!

Whew. August was a month. I met a dear author friend in Lexington, KY, for several days and attended Christian Product Expo. What a delight! We both ended up winning Golden Scrolls awards for our books, too. Guarding His Secret took third place in the 2023 Romance Novel of the Year category. Woohoo!

A few days after I returned home, my family packed up to vacation in Michigan. The weather could have been warmer, but we had a great time. A week later, my husband’s parents stayed with us for a long weekend. I loved that we were able to see so much family in one month.

August’s writing went well. My part-time job was busy, and my nonfiction book suffered (again). I was able to work on it over Labor Day weekend. I might have to revise it one chapter at a time in the evenings. It will get done!

I met my health goals with lighter workouts. This week I’m back to my harder workouts and, boy, can I tell. It’s amazing how much muscle you can lose in a short amount of time.

My personal goals flew out the window. I read a few novels, but I didn’t read daily. And the farmer’s market? Didn’t happen. Maybe this week…

Jill’s September Goals

  • Writing
  • Draft book 4 in my new Love Inspired series, Wyoming Legacies
  • Finish this round of revising my nonfiction book.
  • Copyedits will arrive for book 2 of Wyoming Legacies
  • Promotion prep for my late October release, The Cowboy’s Christmas Compromise
  • Health
  • Exercise 4 days/week with more difficult sessions 3 of the days
  • Continue eating fresh fruits and vegetables each day
  • Other
  • Read 15 minutes of fiction every weekday
  • Go to the farmer’s market
  • Walk at one of the area metroparks

After labor Day, I switch to a tighter, longer schedule for my workdays. With my upcoming projects, I’ll need every minute. Since September always feels like a fresh start, it’s a good time to push myself.

How did you do in August? What are your September goals? Are you excited about them? Nervous? Both?

Have a productive month!

Jill Kemerer is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author of heartwarming, emotional, small-town romance novels often featuring cowboys. She hopes to encourage readers through her books the way so many books have encouraged her. Jill's essentials include coffee, caramels, a stack of books, her mini-doxie, and long walks outdoors. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two almost-grown children. For more information, visit her website, jillkemerer.com.

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. August Goals:
    Outline and draft a story about a novelist, a journalist, and a mountain man. – Half check.
    Read at least 12 books. (Hoping for around 20.) – Check.

    My story ended up switching when the submission requirements came out of the anthology I was going to submit it to. The words have come super slowly lately, another indication I had the wrong project in mind for this season. Yesterday, the words came at a quicker pace, so I’m now hopeful about finishing the first draft of the new story before the end of September. I did get the new story roughly outlined in August, thus the half check. I’m now about halfway through the first draft, though I think most of that work has happened this week, so technically in September rather than August.

    I ended up reading 25 books in August, most on audio. My pace on that increased to help my team in a reading game on Goodreads. Now that that’s over, my reading will likely slip to the background as I ramp up my focus on writing again.

    September Goals:
    Finish the first draft of Melting-Pot Family (working title).
    Read four library books, two NetGalley books, and two owned paperback books (eight total).
    Since I’ve burned myself out on peaches lately, choose a different fruit to add to my weekly meals.

      1. Thanks, Jill! I don’t normally score that many books in a month anymore, now that writing takes precedence, but I didn’t have edit jobs or tutoring in August, so there was more leeway to have fun with the books. Hope September goes amazingly for you as well!

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