• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Jared Dees

Author. Speaker. Teacher.

  • About
    • Now
    • Projects
    • Speaking
    • Contact
  • Books
    • Beatitales
    • Tales of the Ten Commandments
    • Take and Eat
    • Do Not Be Afraid
    • Pray without Ceasing
    • Prepare the Way
    • Advent with the Angels
    • Take Up Your Cross
    • 15-Minute Stations of the Cross for Kids
  • Articles
  • Worksheets
  • Children’s Stories
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

December 2018 Project Report

By Jared Dees

Welcome to my December 2018 Project Report. My goal with these monthly reports is to help other authors, entrepreneurs, leaders, or anyone else who wants to make an impact through their work. Each month It share how I spent my time as an author and creative entrepreneur and the successes, failures, and lessons I learned along the way.

How I spent My Time in November 2018

I track every minute of time I spend working on projects using an app called Toggl (here is why). Here is a list of the projects I spent the most time on last month:

  1. 10:00 – The Religion Teacher Email & Customer Service
  2. 7:40 – Ornament Enlightenment: A Story about the Meaning of Christmas
  3. 6:34 – The Magic Moneybag Book
  4. 4:40 – Morning Preview
  5. 4:00 – Weekly Review
  6. 3:58 – The Religion Teacher’s Saints Worksheets
  7. 2:47 – The Religion Teacher Newsletter
  8. 2:35 – Daily Review
  9. 2:30 – #1millionwordsforkids Posts
  10. 1:57 – The Religion Teacher Blog

Total Time Spent: 61:35

Here is what I produced last month:

  • Worksheets: 5
  • Articles/Blog Posts: 1
  • Newsletter Emails: 12
  • Videos: 1
  • Books: 18,482 words (1,152 words of nonfiction / 17,330 words of fiction)
  • Workshops & Webinars: 0

2018 GOAL UPDATE

In the past I tried to focus only on mission and vision and not specific performance goals. I’m trying something different this year and setting some big goals for myself as a entrepreneurial author. You can find my goals here. This is the progress I have made so far:

72% / double the number of members TRTm members (audacious goal)

3,162/5,000 copies sold of Christ in the Classroom (good/great)

1/1 published work of fiction (good)

6/7 paid speaking gigs (expected)

62/50 Read 50 books (good goal)

56% Paid Off / Pay off mortgage in 2020 (good goal)

24:39 PR / Run a 5K under 23:00 (good goal)

Incomplete / Start a support ministry for startup founders. (expected goal)

You can read about the process I used to set these goals along a scale of success here: A Simple Process for Setting Bigger Goals.

November 2018 Highlights and Lessons Learned

A Christmas Story

It was kind of spur of the moment, but I decided to publish a serialized story about the meaning of Christmas to my Formative Fiction email list. It was received very well. My alpha readers (my daughters) liked it and I received many emails from teachers and parents asking for the final part before Christmas break.

To receive emails from people saying A) they read a piece of fiction that I wrote and B) they were excited to read more really blows my mind. One year ago I had not written one word of fiction. By the end of the year I had written nearly 80,000 words.

Which brings me to . . .

Announcing the 1 Million Words for Kids Journey

I still have a lot to learn as a writer of fiction and the only way to learn is through practice.

The most prolific artists I know use a little trick to publish so much work. They set a big goal (a milestone) to motivate themselves to write fast and frequently.

So, I decided to set a moonshot goal of writing one million words for kids by the time I turn forty years old (2021). I thought it would be fun to give myself some public accountability so I’m documenting the journey on Instagram.

Here are a few of the early updates:

View this post on Instagram

Write 1,000,000 words for kids before I turn 40. That's my writing goal for the next 2 1/2 years. I have four nonfiction books for adults in print right now. I've written hundreds of articles for adults in my career as an author, but it wasn't until 2018 that I wrote a single word of fiction. In every sense of the word, I am a beginner. So, why 1 million words? Do you know what separates a professional from everyone else? They don't give up. As I started writing fiction this year, I felt more embarrassed about it than anything I have ever created. I can already feel myself wanting to quit right now as I finish my first novel for #NaNoWriMo2018. I would rather stick to things I'm comfortable doing: nonfiction books, workshops, webinars, and tools for teachers like worksheets, videos, activities, lesson plans, etc. The point is to put in my 10,000 hours towards mastery. If I want to write and publish fiction at a professional level, then I have a lot of catching up to do. Some attribute the 1,000,0000 Word Rule for beginning fiction writers to Ray Bradbury or Jerry Pournelle. Others say it was David Eddings who first came up with this advice. I'm not sure where the challenge originated, but I do know one thing: One million words is a lot! It is going to be a lot of writing–way more than I've written before. To put this in perspective, 1 million words is about: 13 Harry Potters 100 Magic Tree House books 3,000 fables Nevertheless, I'm excited to get started. I'm declaring this challenge today and I will be tracking my progress here along the way before my deadline of the summer of 2021. Progress: 53,644/1,000,000 #1millionwordsforkids #1millionwordschallenge #1millionwords #documentdontcreate #amwriting #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #nanowrimo

A post shared by Jared Dees (@jareddees) on Nov 19, 2018 at 12:00pm PST

View this post on Instagram

My wife, Jen, and I watched this Mr. Rogers documentary on flights to and from the west coast this weekend. We were both in tears and got more than a few strange looks from people sitting around us. I used to watch a lot of Mr. Rogers as a kid. I didn't know how much Fred Rogers's faith influenced the work that he did. He loved children. He cared for children. He wanted them to know they were loved. This mission inspired him to work tirelessly for years producing, performing, and writing the songs and scripts for his show. I hope I can make just a sliver of the impact that Fred Rogers had on the world. He created a unique TV show for kids at a time when television programming for young people focused on violence and crass humor. Kids weren't learning how to cope with their feelings from TV. They weren't gaining any tools to navigate the challenges of life. Fred Rogers changed that. There are a lot of entertaining books out there for kids. I think educational fiction and what I call Formative Fiction still has a place in the lives of young people. Fantasy fiction was epitomized by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. These were two men who were grounded in a deep Christian faith that influenced their writing. Today, though, the leading title in the fantasy genre is characterized by violence and moral ambiguity. George R. R. Martin intentionally wrote The Game of Thrones books as a departure from the good vs. evil in Tolkien. Don't get me wrong, I understand the books are well-written and the stories are hard to escape. I'm sad, though, that this is what teens will discover as they experience fantasy fiction for the first time. I hope I can improve as a writer to create entertaining and educational fiction that will help kids grow. I hope families will discover authors who write in the line of Lewis and Tolkien who we all learned to love as kids and then again as adults. If you haven't watched "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" It is a must see. Progress: 54,241 / 1,000,000 #1millionwordsforkids #fredrogers #mrrogers #mrrogersdocumentary #wontyoubemyneighbor #jrrtolkein #cslewis

A post shared by Jared Dees (@jareddees) on Nov 20, 2018 at 3:51am PST

View this post on Instagram

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you! I remember reading that @stephenking writes 2,000 words a day even on holidays. I got a little writing in here and there, but I definitely fell short of my 1,000 words/day and fell behind on my pace to 1,000,000 words for kids. Here's the thing: #FamilyFirst. I didn't get much writing time in, but you know what? My #1 vocation is husband and father. "Author" is an occupation. It's a calling to be sure, but it's still just a job. There is nothing more important than the relationships in my life and my responsibility to my wife and kids. That being said . . . time to get caught up on some writing! Happy Thanksgiving! #1millionwordsforkids #1millionwordchallenge #nanowrimo #nanowrimo2018 #happythanksgiving #amwriting #amwritingmiddlegrade #sahd #authorsofinstagram #authorlife #writersofinstagram #writerslife

A post shared by Jared Dees (@jareddees) on Nov 26, 2018 at 11:17am PST

View this post on Instagram

I just typed “THE END” in my #nanowrimo2018 book. ???????????? It is the first novel I’ve ever written. It’s a kids book. It’s short with short chapters and not the full 50,000 words that #nanowrimo is supposed to be, but still I got to the end. Now I realize this Winston Churchill quote is taken out of context, but it fits really well for how I’m feeling right now. This is not the end (and not only because I have A LOT of rewriting to do on this thing). This book is just the beginning. I still have 999,940,873 words to go until I reach #1millionwordsforkids! The journey continues! #writerslife #amwriting #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #documentdontcreate #nanowrimochallenge #kidsbooks #faithandfiction #loveyourneighbor ????

A post shared by Jared Dees (@jareddees) on Nov 29, 2018 at 11:50am PST

View this post on Instagram

Perfection can be paralyzing. In order to reach my goal of #1millionwordsforkids before I turn 40, I have to average 1,000 words/day. I only wrote 1,000 words the entire week after finishing my Christmas story. Why? Perfection. I was afraid of starting something new that wasn’t as good. I was afraid of what people would think of the new ideas I was thinking of next. Seriously, a dozen emails praising my work and I’m already afraid of letting people down. ???? Here’s how I’m getting past the fear. 90% of the 1 million words will be practice. 10% will be published. It’s like a glacier. You only see the top. That is a freeing thought. Who cares if the next project is bad? It’s practice. It’s learning. No one has to see it. #amwriting #amnotwriting #1millionwordchallenge #amwritingchildrensbooks #documentdontcreate #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram

A post shared by Jared Dees (@jareddees) on Dec 17, 2018 at 11:48am PST

Saints Worksheets

I’ve created more than 300 worksheets for members of The Religion Teacher in the last few years focused on various topics. I’ve had requests for more saint resources, so I came up with a simple format to help teach children about the lives of the saints and how it relates to their lives. Each of these worksheets provides a short bio and a few questions to encourage kids to think, meditate, and pray about the lives of the many holy men and women we remember as Catholics throughout the liturgical year.

January 30, 2019 Filed Under: Monthly Reports

About Jared Dees

Jared Dees is passionate about sharing practical resources to teach faith. He is best known for his website The Religion Teacher and is the author of many books including 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach, Praying the Angelus, Christ in the Classroom, and Beatitales: 80 Fables about the Beatitudes for Children.

Previous Post: « My 2018 Annual Project Report
Next Post: January 2019 Project & Goals Report »

Primary Sidebar

Jared Dees

Author, Speaker, Teacher

📬 Tools to Teach Faith 📬

I send many weekly email newsletters every week with tools to pass on faith:

👨‍🏫 The Religion Teacher’s Sunday Planner 👨‍🏫

Lessons, activities, videos, and worksheets for religious educators.

Get teaching resources here >

📖 God’s Word Wednesday 📖

Bible stories for kids.

Get Bible stories for kids here >

🏰 Formative Fiction Friday 🏰

Short stories to help kids find confidence, character, and a relationship with Christ.

Get stories for kids here >

Jared’s Newest Books

  
    
 
 
   
 
 

Jared’s Popular Website for Religious Educators

Search the Site:

Footer

Connect with Jared Dees

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Jared Dees is passionate about sharing practical resources to teach faith. He is best known for his website The Religion Teacher and is the author of many books including 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach, Praying the Angelus, Christ in the Classroom, and Beatitales: 80 Fables about the Beatitudes for Children. See all of Jared's Books →

Stories for Children

Copyright © 2023 · Jared Dees