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It's that time of year! A few days ago, I reflected on how I did with last year's goals. Here is the list for 2011 that I will review in six months and then another years time. I invite you to add your goals in the comments section and return here next year to see how you went. Let's keep each other accountable!
- Launch my thriller, Pentecost on Feb 7th. Get to #1 on the Amazon fiction charts for the Mystery & Thriller category. Big goals are worth aiming for! More information about the launch and competition coming soon.
- Go to New York in July for ThrillerFest and pitch Pentecost to an agent/publisher. I am a happy indie but some days I think I'd still like a book deal in order to reach a bigger audience. I will be marketing the hell out of the book so I hope to go along with some sales success. It will be worth going regardless so I can network in my genre and also see NYC!
- Finish the sequel, Prophecy by Christmas 2011. It's a series so I want to get one out every year.
- Enjoy 1 unplugged day a month. That means no internet. Aaaarghh! This will allow more time for creative, unstructured thinking. This article sparked the resolution.
- Learn more about language, grammar and the craft of words. The specific goal is to fill a new Moleskine notebook with words, phrases, images and notes from books on craft to refer back to when I write. I need to hone my writing skills so the next novel is not so painful at copy editing stage.
- Continue to expand The Creative Penn, blogging, tweeting, using Facebook, podcasting, speaking every few month and making videos. This will be a constant during the year as well as the day job. This is more a commitment than a resolution but it certainly takes the bulk of my available time.
Yes, I do too much! But contentment is boring and unchallenging. I crave achievement!
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1 2 Next »Great goals, Joanna!
My goals are:
Keep doing the good things,
Make a positive impact on people around me,
Promote with a plan for each book,
And be more balanced, ie have time for work, time for family and time for myself. I've worked hard to get some thing started but I want to enjoy life more this year!
I know what you mean about having an "unplugged" day here and there. I love camping, hunting, fishing and hiking because they take my mind completely away from the cyber world.
Good luck with your goals. May 2011 be a prosperous and joyful year for you!
~Kristen James
I'm definitely going to get some more hiking in as well - although it's turning into a very hot summer here in Oz!
Good luck with your goals!
Mine are:
- Finish my first novel and begin submitting to agents. I'm looking at the American market as I've had trouble finding out much about the status of Young Adult market, particularly fantasy, in Australia.
- Finish the first draft book two in the series.
- Write more short stories, though I'm wary of setting a specific number that I'll either achieve too easily or be too daunted by. (I'm off to a great start! I've already finished one.)
My alternative to having unplugged days is to routinely enter the solitude of my family's music room, trusty Spirax notebook in hand, when I really want to get some writing done.
Here's to 2011 being a productive and prosperous year for us all.
Hi Ann, I agree with you about the US market. Going to NYC to Thrillerfest is my investment in looking at agents/publishers in the US. I haven't tried short story writing so I'm impressed with that - and I love the sound of your family music room!
I have to confess that when I saw the Amazon image I got a little confused. Did I miss something? Was my New Year's hangover that strong that I was blanking out information? It took me a second to process that it was just an image manipulation. But because of this wonderful visual aid, I'll definitely keep my fingers crossed for your book.
And for your other goals. Especially the thriller/mystery blog, because that's the genre I love reading the most (right after urban fantasy)
Thanks Jane - I'm so glad you like thrillers & mysteries - keep an eye out for the launch of the new blog! I'll be needing book recommendations!
Joanna, say a word and I'll give you a list of books and authors that own my soul :)
Jane, seriously, I'd love to hear from you on this topic - I am aiming to launch the new blog after Pentecost has settled down but I am building content now, so please do email me: joanna AT TheCreativePenn.com when you have time, and I'll add the books to the list!
All the best with the book, Joanna.
I particularly like your 'one unplugged day a month' goal - think I'll try that myself.
My goals for 2011 include putting my novel out in ebook format, finishing first draft of second novel, outlining a children's book and to enter a couple of competitions.
All the best,
Anne
Fantastic Anne. I'm also entering Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award on 25 Jan. Competitions are a great idea for giving deadlines. Thanks!
And here I thought I was ambitious! Those are some fantastic goals.
Mine for 2011 are:
1. Finish novel draft by 3/31.
2. Receive MFA in June.
3. Go on the academic job market.
4. Design long overdue author website.
5. Look into converting my out-of-print books into ebooks.
Happy New Year!
Jenn
Hi Jenn, those are great goals too.
Did you do your novel as part of MFA? I have thought about doing one but I'm not writing literary fiction which is what they focus on I think. Maybe if there was one in thrillers!
Definitely put your backlist onto Kindle, it's going to be a huge market in 2011!
Yep, I'm working on my current novel as my thesis manuscript. You're right in that many programs default to literary fiction (which is what I'm writing, more or less), but the low-residency programs (such as the one I'm in) seem much more flexible in terms of genre. There's also a master's specifically for genre fiction in the US (Seton Hill), though there's no distance program as far as I know. Options are out there -- you just have to hunt them down.
Great list of goals. I especially like the "unplugged" day. That would be good for me to do, and not just the internet, but TV and movies, too.
Now I just have to keep to that goal! I am thinking that unplugged means I can write on the computer but no internet connection.
hmmm...
Great goals! I love the one about your novel. Congratulations on finishing it! I can't wait to check it out.
Also, that unplugged day, that sounds like a great idea. I might want to try that myself. Thanks for sharing!
My goal is simple: 2ND DRAFT of my novel done.
Thanks Ollin, and I'm sure you will get 2nd draft of the novel done. I found that the fun draft where you add layers and depth, and find all sorts of new adventures for the characters... oh, and cut a lot out as well! It is shaping the block of stone you have created into a statue (that you can then further shape and polish to perfection!)
Good Luck with your goals. I love reading your posts, so I am looking forward to Pentecost on Feb. 7th. I didn't write the specific goals as resolutions this year, but if you are interested in my thoughts on pondering the 2011 year, you are welcome to take a gander at my blog at
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2010/12/facing-new-year-again.html
but now you have made me start my mind on the specific writing goals, which is why I love the Creative Penn, it inspires my getting focused on writing when my mind wanders, so NaNoWriMo again, and getting the sequel to "Duffy Barkley is Not a Dog" and a novel for middle school about time travel on the Oregon Trail. Plus, for my friends and family, writing Thank-You cards is another goal.
Than you!
Dixie Goode
I love the idea of time travel on the Oregon Trail! all the best with 2011.
Here are some spiritual resolutions I wrote about in my blog.
http://joepalmer.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/resolutions-you-should-make/