Current Project: Catching up from 10 days of snow captivity and isolation
Status: Ask me at the end of the day
This time of year signifies a look back for me, when I analyze what I did over the past year, what I didn't do, what I hope to do next year. With my writing, I notice a trend in this analysis. The same reflections carry over from year to year (i.e. I will finish a book next year!)
Well this time I bloody will. Darn it. I just have too many ideas to get through, so I need to get started! I've made a couple of changes to my schedule to accommodate more writing, such as cutting back the number of classes I'm taking.
I took a look back at some goals I made on the blog last April. Let's see how I did...
1. FINISH A BOOK. Siiiiggghhh. I'm actually much closer than I've been before, and I'm pretty sure it will happen this year. (Nope...2009 is the year!)
2. Edit the book. (...)
3. Submit the book to agents. (...again)
4. Write at least a draft of a second book. (...oy)
5. Get a tattoo (hopefully happening tonight!) (yup! hehe)
6. Get a nose piercing (again, hopefully happening tonight!) - priorities, eh? (yup!)
7. Apply to graduate schools. (decided to wait a year or two)
8. Finish my senior thesis. (still working on that)
9. Begin blogging on my personal blog again. (I did once, does that count?)
10. Get fit and healthy. (working on it, lost weight and in better shape)
11. Clean my apartment (I'm really starting to see a pattern here...same goals as every time...) (ummm I'm moving in a few weeks, we'll just count that as apartment cleaning)
12. Redesign my personal Web site. (it's not finished, but I did a bit)
13. Read a crapload of books (both romance and anthropology). (oh yes)
14. Flesh out ideas of a couple more books. (I did that, I just need to finish them first! oy)
15. Pick up my paranormal ideas to see if they cause any sparks. (definitely completed that one!)
16. Study for the GRE. (thank goodness, don't have to yet)
17. Take the GRE (and do well). (see above)
18. Do better at keeping up with current events. (eh, about the same)
19. Learn basic Italian. (yes, a bit, and some Latin!)
20. Learn the human bones. (much better off now than I was)
21. Try to decide on a grad school regional focus. (done!)
22. Write a short story. (nope)
23. Do better at keeping in touch with people. (Facebook definitely helps with that)
24. Get rid of a bunch of crap (ties in with the apartment cleaning thing). (thank goodness for Goodwill)
25. Write at least SOMETHING in my current WIP each day. (nope...)
26. Be happy! (absolutely!!!)
My main goals for 2009 are to finish my WIP. Not just A book, but the one I'm working on now. No more switching around when the ideas get stale. I'm going to see this one through. Then pulling an idea from my treasure chest of ideas will be my reward. Come to think of it, I'm going to make a treasure chest of ideas. Instead of keeping a notebook, I'm going to get a cute box, decorate it, and write ideas on pieces of paper. Then when I finish a project, I'll pull a new idea from a box!
How did you do on your personal goals for 2008? What are your main writing goals for 2009?
11 comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LISA!!!
Wow! You set a lot of goals!
I don't really have a set of goals other than either capturing an agent or capturing a larger publisher this year.
I need to write the next Halsey brother book, then put together synopsis for two more contemporary westerns and two or three synopsis for more books for the western series I hope gets picked up.
And I'm going to try and make more contacts with authors of all genres to try and pull more readers from other genres.
Have four grandkids running around like banshees! LOL But I hide out in the bedroom and work on polishing the finished WIP.
Lisa, looking at your list, I'm not surprised you didn't get absolutely everything done. That was a heavy duty list of challenges, girl!
I feel it my bones, this is your year (ask anyone, I'm never wrong about this stuff). You WILL finish a book this year!!!
Me? I don't often make goals. I just work project to project. I toy around with setting them -- I will write a longer book, I will sell to more than one market, etc..-- but in the end, get caught up with the moment and also with knowing my own personality.
The plus side is if you don't make goals, you don't break them!
As for 2009 -- well, I'd like to sign another contract and write another book. I'd like to recapture the peace within my life situation that would mean I could concentrate on writing like I used to. I would like to have one of those moments when I think of a book idea and KNOW it's a good one and be swept away.
That's all.
Ooops I forgot to cut the bday part off the original post I copied :) I posted those goals on my bday in April. Haha thanks though!!
You are going to have a busy year, Paty!! But something tells me it's going to be a very successful one. :)
Four grandkids running around?!?!? Thank goodness for doors and locks!
Alice, I like your prediction. I hope it comes true! :D
Well whatever you're doing for goals, or not-goals, is definitely working for you. I hope you get that feeling with a book this year. Would it be considered a writer's "love at first sight?" And that's all? Pfft. You and Paty are going to have busy, productive years!
Awesome goals, Lisa, and lots of them. Oy is right. 8^) Just kidding. I'm a bit phobic about goals because I don't want to stress myself out if I fail, like it's not okay to fail, but it IS okay. Sigh. Today must be the day for goals because I see them flying all over the place! I just posted mine to my blog today, and to my GIAM loop (Goals In A Month) and to my crit group. Snort. Probably overkill. It's been said that if you write down your goals, you're more likely to achieve them. Uh huh. We'll see about that.
Here are mine:
* Finish Mystic Taxi by the end of January
* Enter MT in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest before
February 8
* Get a multi-book contract for Knight's Curse (actually, that's
my agent's goal, but it's one we share since we're in this together)
* Attend RMFW conference in Sept.
* Write and submit a novella for Silhouette Nocturne Bites
* Write the second book in my Knight series
* Write 1000 words a day
* Keep up with my blog by posting Monday thru Friday
* Lose 25 pounds
* Teach Kinsey (my puppy) to run and hike with me
I think these are doable. The 1000 words a day is ambitious, but I'll certainly try.
Wow, you had quite a list, Lisa! I had to zip back to your birthday post in April to see what I listed. Here goes:
1. Run my first half marathon in June (13 miles. Eeek!) CHECK - done!
2. Lose a couple more pounds by Aug when we're going to Hawaii. CHECK - done! (Though I've since gained some back so I'm back to having to lose some more now. Grrrr.)
3. Finish the revisions on my para RS and send to my agent (hopefully later this week or early next). CHECK - done! (I think my agent and I went back and forth on that thing like 5 times. But at least it got done. And it sold. Bonus,)
4. Finish revisions on books 1 and 2 in my contract (not really a goal, more like a YOU MUST DO THIS NOW type thing) - CHECK - done!
5. Write book 3 (again, not really a goal but something I HAVE to do). CHECK - done!
6. Put together a proposal for a new RS (possible new 3-book series) Hmmm...still working on this one. My new contract pushed the deadline for my option RS back, but I'm working on it now.
7. Party like a rock star in SF. Would be easier if you were going. ;) But I suppose I'll just have to corrupt Kendra... Teehee...I think I did this. Kendra? Did I corrupt you sufficiently enough????
Fun to look back, Lisa. Thanks for the reminder of how much I really did this year!
Happy Birthday Lisa! You have the same birthday as my friend, Misty. She's a writer too.
I've never been much of one for new year's goals. Guess I just make up goals as I go along. Like now -- keep pumping out stories and taking photos for paying markets -- newspapers and magazines. Get request for full on second book, which will push me to input last of the revisions. Lose some pounds, gain some muscle. Get some home-improvement projects done.
Oh, and just now reading through the comments. Never mind on the happy-birthday-same-day-as-my-friend-Misty thing, Lisa. Ha!
And best of luck with that piercing, tattoo dealie you're doing today.
That's quite the laundry list of goals you had there, Lisa! I searched and found my 2008 writing goals that I wrote down last December in my LiveJournal. I only had four and of those, I only truly completed one.
1. Join the local RWA chapter. Done! In fact this is the only goal I completed this year, but I think it was the most important.
2. Write every day. Not even close for most of the year, but I've started a pretty good habit as of November that I intend to take into the new year.
3. Create an outline for a first draft of a novel. Does completing two thirds of an outline that I later trashed and only used the characters from count?
4. Complete the first draft of a novel. Still working on it. This is my number one goal for 2009.
You've done a lot on your goals and you've been super busy with school and traveling to Italy. You are doing great!
My personal goals have almost all been met this year; just not the weight loss and getting into shape ones. But I'm going to do it this year and it's going to be fabulous dahhhling! I'm sooo ready for more changes, oh, and some new clothes! LOL
My writing goals for 2009 are to finish my YA and finish my beach read romance that I've got sorta outlined; get really into the groove of writing and pumping out the stories so I can get good at writing and be publishable so I can get an agent and a contract. Whew, that was a mouthful.
Good luck to everyone on your goals for 2009! I hope you are all successful and have a great year!
So, back in April (went to the archives to find that post), I said:
"My goals right now:
1) write 3 pages every day.
2) Do two loads of laundry everyday (we do cloth diapers. Laundry's a big priority here).
3) Start doing flylady again (www.flylady.net If you have a better system for keeping your home organized, let me know).
4) Walk everyday
5)Give Tavy music time each day. (I'm not a big music person at all, so this is something I'm struggling with). "
Let's see.
1) Um. No. Moving on.
2) I'm happy to say that the baby's been cloth diapered for a year now, and no one has had to go naked (yet).
3) Um. No. But house is marginally cleaner and more organized.
4) I did good with this for a while, but then monsoon season hit.
5) Yes. I've made a bigger effort to get her music.
I think I could learn a lot from Alice, Paty, and Eli. They approach goals differently--they have work. They do work. They don't TRY to get things done. They just DO. And I know that both Eli and Paty had this mindset before they published. I wrote more about this on my blog: http://www.wavybrains.com/life_is_a_banquet_/2008/12/happy-releaseeve-.html
For years, my goals have been a reflection of the person I want to be (or who I think I *should* be). However, I think I don't really believe in the change. I'm beginning to think that perhaps I choose goals that aren't in line with the person who I AM, not who I wish I was.
That said, here is my professional goals for 2008:
1) Become more reliable.
2) Foster more connections, and maintain those connections
3) Find new resources for teaching
4) Work on ways to incorporate fiction (writing, reading, discussing, teaching) into teaching
5) Tackle the issues holding me back from recommitting to my writing.
I'd like to say, "This year I will finish X MS," but I think the more realistic goal for me is to say, "This year I will figure out why I keep failing to commit to myself." Thank you to Eli, for your faboo blog on the Bradford Bunch--This is the year I tackle my belief problem.
Um. Somehow I posted as my brother. Oh bother. That was ME. Not Matthew.
Kisses!
Hey, Lisa!
I'm working on setting goals and in fact will blog about this on New Year's Day: how goals reflect the themes of our lives.
I also used to beat myself up when the same goals popped up year after year and it didn't seem that I'd made progress on them. From a different perspective, that may mean I'm exactly on track. Those goals are a reflection of where I want to be, I just need to dig deeper into WHY I want to reach those goals. (Like the motivation of characters in our stories.) Then break those goals down into smaller and more manageable pieces if they truly reflect the direction I want my life to go.
Lisa, you have an impressive list of goals! You are making progress in some areas, sticking with other goals, and putting off others. That's great! And your last goal: BE HAPPY is probably the best one! Congratulations!
As I said, I'll blog more about goals on Thursday. I haven't done the look back yet. And right now, I just have broad goals for 2009--more detail later. The broad goals are:
--Feel joyful about all the things I choose to do.
--Get moved onto some property so we can spread out! This will also expand my Reiki practice and move me into working with animals more.
--Finish my February 2010 novella and work with Chris and Chris on promoting the anthology it will be part of.
--Continue to promote my first three connected books. The third one will be released in late February 2009.
--Finish at least the first book in my nine-book series and make major progress on the others. This is going to be an adventure in writing as I think I will be "kind of" working on all of them at once. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds!
--Continue to make notes and work on nonfiction writings about dogs.
There will be more! :)
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