Over committing much?

This month began with a clear head and an abundance of optimism.

It’s a testament to my belief that one day my migraines will disappear and never return, that I completely over committed and penned 7 writing goals on my giant yellow post it.

There’s a fine line between 'motivating goals' and ending up in a 'stressed-out' state with migraines.

Welcome to April.

This kind of delusional goal setting often happens when I have a few good 'clear head' days. I forget how debilitating the migraines are, and the soggy daze they leave me in for days after, making ‘thinking’ and ‘writing’ difficult.

Lessons learned

1. I don’t have to chip away at my annual goals every month (we’re still in the first half of 2026 for goodness sake!). If I do have the time to get to them… bonus!

   
   

2. Just because I dictated 2,000 handwritten words of MS3 into Scrivener quite easily in March, doesn’t mean I need to set a goal of 5,000 for April! (I mean, really?)

   
   

3. If I know (months in advance!) of competitions coming up in April that I really want to enter… why wait? Start working on them earlier!

   
   

4. If I've promised 'an actual person' my manuscript on a given date - THAT IS THE ONLY GOAL - forget everything else!

I'll be rereading this blog post when I set my May goals!

And did I mention that in April, I squeezed in some other writing-related activities that were not on my list of goals?

Author Talks/Writers Networking

Spending time with other writers and attending book events is inspiring, motivating and so much fun. I had the privilege of going to several events this month:

• Better Read Than Dead - Emma Grey discussed her latest book ‘Start at the End’ with fellow author, Sandie Docker. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience by the end!

  
  

• Como Hotel - Camille Booker held her book launch of ‘Code Name Funnel Web’ in Como, Sydney where part of the book is set. She was in conversation with author Anne Freeman

  who flew over from Melbourne for the occasion.

  
  

• Writing NSW - Claudine Tinellis (Talking Aussie Books podcast) and Natasha Rai (The Book Deal podcast) had the fabulous idea of bringing together writers at a Writers Networking Event. Hopefully the first of many to come.

Check out all these talented authors and podcasters! I had such an amazing time at each event!

And now I'm off to 'cautiously' set my goals for next month...