New Year, New Attitude

Wow. One of my objectives for the new year is to be more timely with my blog posts.

Well . . . I'm not doing very well since I had every intention of writing and posting this blog on MONDAY.

Okay, no time to beat myself up. I have too much too do.

There are numerous goals that I've written down for this year, and I decided to clump them under topic.

Health--is on the top of the list. This one required my recommitment to Weight Watchers. This isn't to say that I haven't belonged to WW, because I have been an active member since 2011. Heck, I've even been attending the meetings while I've been gaining weight. There is one key item that I have in my corner this time around--my family. My hubby joined WW and is doing it online. His newness to the system has helped me be very aware of portions and points during this early phase of weight loss. This has also sparked my enthusiasm for getting healthy.

To this end, I managed to lose one pound this last week. That number doesn't really reflect the work I put in, but I know how ambiguous the weight game can be. For all I know its because I managed to eat something high in sodium the previous day, which caused me to retain water. So take it as a number, and don't freak out over the unexpected number.

I have started walking again, but the frigid cold weather and my gimpy knee have made this a non-regular event. I'll be working it in.

Family--as a member of the 'sandwich' generation, I need to nurture both my mother and my daughter, and making time for both of them...and my hubby. We can't forget the man in my life!

Writing--    For Christmas, I asked for Scrivener software, and hubs installed it on my computer. Now, it’s my job to learn it and use it. I have also started using a calendar on my computer again. This will be used to format my monthly goals, along with posting my daily words, or a note to explain why I didn't accomplish anything. Usually this is due to errands or my daughter being home from school. To that end, I want to:

o   It’s time for a major rewrite of GNOME. I know this seems like I’m going backward, but I think this story needs an overhaul before I publish it in print form—and that is my goal for this year. Sales on MG ebooks—at least mine--are non-existent. Oh, I’ve given away copies, but it is as I feared three years ago---there are so many books out there that it’s difficult for anyone to find you. This is especially true for me since I tend to hang around romance writers, and not children’s writers, therefore no cross-referencing. The frustrating part is that many ‘MG’ stories aren’t really MG, but the author has figured out some way to cross-reference their stuff through numerous genres.

o   I love blogging, and I want to still do that, but it does suck some creative energy from a writer. I took an off-and-on hiatus starting last June, but I do want to return to regularly blogging about stuff.

o   Finish book 4 in the Goblin’s Apprentice series. Yes, I’m still stalled on book 4. I’m about half way through, but still stalled. I’m hoping that revisiting the first book will help get me back into that world.

 

And maybe write a story that I started about seven years ago. All I have is two pages and some notes, but I'm excited about the idea.

 

Social Media--I need to make a point to limit my time on social media, namely Facebook. Television is also one of my problems. A timer will work--since it will work to complete my writing goals.

 

Read--I plan to read ...a lot. Last year, I managed to read over 60 books and this year I'd like to read between 40-50 books.

 

 

Candy--        I have made some pretty damn impressive candy. I’ve made 28 different fillings for my filled chocolates, three new ones this year – lavender honey, Earl Grey, and Creamy stout (yes, from beer). And one new caramel—maple bacon caramel—for a total of nine types of caramel. And all the other stuff (toffee, turtles, fudge, pongos, peanut brittle, reindeer poop, polar bear poop, and now, pecan pralines), but I wish I could figure out a way to make this a money-making proposition. I will be investigating through my local chamber of commerce to see if it is feasible to sell it.---And it isn't feasible since the law says you have to work out of commercial kitchen that isn't in your home. *sad face* Oh, well.

 

I also need to clean up my recipe folders, document all my candy stuff, update my blog and adding links to everything!

 

So this is a rough list of my goals. Let's hope my new attitude washes over everything I attempt this year!

 

Later, Peeps!

 

   

Yearly Wrap-Up (Part 2)

Okey-dokey pokey, onward to the setting of writing goals.

One thing you need to remember is that goals change, goals evolve, so don't feel frustrated or upset if you didn't meet your original goals. Adjust your goals as your writing needs change.

A year ago, I was at a writing retreat with Deb Dixon-yes, THAT Deb Dixon, the Queen of GMC, Goal, Motivation and Conflict-and she pointed out that your character doesn't necessarily have to have the same goal by the end of the story as the character did at the beginning of the story. It's okay for them to change goals. Therefore, I feel the same way about writing goals.

This is your yearly goals list, not anyone else's goals so don't get nit-picky.
For example, I wouldn't do this:

--write every day

I hate it when writers put this down as a yearly goal as it's unrealistic, life tends to get in the way so I use this sort of goal in a week-by-week basis or as a 100-words a day challenge. I can look at my weekly calendar and figure out what a realistic goal is for that week. I can add or delete the amount accordingly. In the summer months my kiddo is out of school, and if I get any writing accomplished then that's just icing. But I do know that I can edit. For me, I need quiet, uninterrupted time to write, but I can take innumerable interruptions while editing. It's what works for me--go figure.

So, here is an example of my writing goals. The dashes (--) are really bullet points since I can't seem to make them work on the blog.

--Send partial of Demon Spawn to DD at BelleBridgeBooks (Jan.)--Done 1/24/09--dumped it and started over--decided to write younger

--Finish @#$%^& manuscript (Yes, I cursed on my yearly goal list), Demon Spawn, including synopsis & query--NOPE

--Broadly plot UF 7-book series idea (Demon Manifesto)--NOPE

--Write a few Peter stories (easy readers) and pimp the ones already written--1 DONE

Farther down the list were new goals that I accomplished:

--Wrote middle grade story--Missing: One Garden Gnome 5/29/09 (date finished) 47000 words--query written 7/15, synopsis written 7/16, submitted to Delacorte Yearling contest 6/30/09

--Wrote chapter book story, The Faerie Who Lost His Wings 5/13/09 --1742 words

--Started writing The Fast and The Faerieous--MG novel

And, of course, there were a few false starts on a couple of paranormal suspense's that I didn't include on this list.

So I didn't end up finishing the goal that I had in January, but that's okay because I revised my list according to where I was with my writing.

I know writers who simply put: Write X number of books. And that's okay as it is a goal that works for them. I like a little more detail in my goals.

I have one more goal oriented post before I start working on my list for 2010. I hope you'll join me, but until then . . .

Write on!

Yearly goals

The year is winding down and, if you are like me, you will be revisiting your yearly goals. Now, I'm not specifying just writing goals, because there is more to yearly goals than just writing down 'finish manuscript'.

My 2008 goals ran the gauntlet of writing manuscripts/synopses/queries, judging contests, reading books (craft books along with fiction novels), critiquing, eating healthy and exercising. I succeeded with some goals and 'failed' in others, namely the eating healthy and exercise goal. My bad. And I can vouch for the extra poundage that I need to lose. Must get serious about exercising since I don't want to expand my 'writer's ass'.

And I took a tangent that wasn't even on my January list--I wrote seven children's stories. Trust me, writing kid's books wasn't even on my radar. And I now have more starts of RS stories than ever, but I've taken another right-hand turn from romance and am concentrating on my urban fantasies.

I've kept my writing goals document on my initial document page so I will see it every time I open my current manuscript. I also kept track of the books I've read, typing in the name and author. This year, I think I'll also put the date that I finished the book. Most fiction novels I finish in a few days, while the writing craft books can take me months to get through.

I also update my calender daily. I started this when I was keeping track of my daily Tarot drawing, but I also put what I accomplished on a particular day. Whether it was a daily word count, or running errand, or how many days it took me to make candy or crochet an afghan, it helped keep me grounded as to why I did or didn't do something.

What have you accomplished this year? Probably more than you thought you did, but you need to find some method to keep track of it. Will I do the same thing next year regarding a list of yearly goals, and keeping a calendar?

You bet! Write on!