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Tag: goals

Midyear writing goals rehash

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Way back in January, I set some goals for myself for the year:

  1. Get an agent (which means stop picking at my novel and just send it out already).
  2. Finish my already-started novel, A Handful of Wishes.
  3. Have at least fifteen stories out on submission at any given time.
  4. Get in shape, and then stay in shape.
  5. Learn how to neatly and nicely-looking lattice a pie.
  6. Date a rockstar (doesn’t matter who).

I briefly followed up on them in April.  The year is now roughly half over, so I’m back to take another look.

  1. Get an agent – I’ve sent out a bunch of queries, and I need to send out more.  I’m considering the small press route instead, and I need to look into that more closely and send out queries.
  2. Finish A Handful of Wishes – August is Camp NaNoWriMo, and I’m going to try to make a good-sized dent in this story once and for all, then maybe hammer the rest out for the real NaNoWriMo in November.
  3. Have at least fifteen stories out for submission – currently I’m at two.  But in my defense, I’ve had five stories accepted so far this year, almost one a month (“Bardo Bureaucracy,” “The Futility of Loving a Soldier,” “Hope for Change,” “Riding the Rails,” and “Of Gods and Floods“).  I have quite a few I’m polishing or finishing up, and a couple more sitting around to be sent out.  I should be able to get this number up to at least ten without too much effort.
  4. Get in shape – Towards the end of the school year I was chasing students all over the damn school (my classroom was in the basement and I routinely made 5-8 trips to the top floors, which is .2 miles round trip), so I’m not doing too bad with this.
  5. Pies – I can’t even remember the last time I made a pie.  Oops.
  6. Date a rockstar – I know a guy who plays the guitar.  Does that count as progress?

Overall, I’m not doing too bad, at least for the writing stuff.   I’m making progress and staying mostly focused, which I think is the most important part of having year-long goals.

If you’re a writer, what are your goals for the next few months?  If you set goals for yourself at the beginning of the year, how are you doing with them?

W is for Writing Goals #atozchallenge

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Day 23 of the Blogging from A to Z April challenge. Today’s topic: writing goals (topic kindly stolen from Jessica Loftus).

At the beginning of the year, I set myself some resolutional goals (making up words was not one of them).

One-third of the way through the year, and with summer break fast approaching, it’s time to reevaluate and revise.

  • Get an agent (which means stop picking at my novel and just send it out already).

I’ve sent out queries, and this weekend I’ll send out more.

Ain’t happened.  I’m on chapter 10 and got sidetracked.  But I’m focusing on this novel with a writing group on Scribophile, so hopefully that’ll be the impetus I need to get going.

  • Have at least fifteen stories out on submission at any given time – currently I’m at nine. 

I was lucky enough to have a string of publications recently, so right now I’m at five out.  I have six half-written stories I’d like to finish, as well as several that need some tweaking.  If I can get them out soon, I’ll be able to meet this goal as well.

If you’re a writer, what are your goals for the next few months?

2012 Resolutions

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It’s a new year, and a new chance to pledge to do a lot of stuff, that ain’t gonna happen.

Agent Rachelle Gardner says,

So wherever you come down on this whole “New Year’s Resolutions” thing, I encourage you to embrace your own desire to be the best person you can be, whatever that means for you. Express it however you want, with goals or a single word or a rejection of the New Year’s traditional altogether. Just be you.

In addition to her “best the best person you can be” goal, here are my resolutions:

  1. Get an agent (which means stop picking at my novel and just send it out already).
  2. Finish my already-started novel, A Handful of Wishes.
  3. Have at least fifteen stories out on submission at any given time – currently I’m at nine.
  4. Get in shape, and then stay in shape.
  5. Learn how to neatly and nicely-looking lattice a pie.
  6. Date a rockstar (doesn’t matter who).

What are your New Year’s resolutions?  Do you make them?  Do you follow them?

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