It's Going to be a Busy Year

Based on the Cabinet's 2013 goals. Writing goals, that is. Because frankly, trying to figure out goals for just one aspect of our lives is difficult enough. If we had to come up with an entire life-list of goals for this year we would either burst into flames from our heads exploding or curl up into fetal positions weeping. Neither of which would be productive in the long run.

Here are our goals (aims, aspirations, wishes, hopes, desires, dreams) for our writing lives in 2013:

PAT: 2012 brought one huge goal achieved--find an agent! Now that I've signed with Pooja Menon, 2013 will be a year of revisions and editorial submissions. 

I think my main goal for the year is learning flexibility and to work on several projects at once. The first draft of my current project is the slowest thing on the planet. But I still like it. 

It also looks like learning to run a Mac be part of my goals. I never knew how many of my writing friends had them :)

SUZANNE: Write every day.  If I'm in between books, researching or editing, I still need to spend a little time writing even if it's just jotting ideas, journaling, or working on a short and/or flash piece.  But–write daily.

Complete a publication-oriented task each week.  This can be writing and sending a new agent query letter, entering a contest, submiting a short story, or querying an editor for an article.  But–a concrete task completed weekly.

Read a book outside my usual habits monthly.  This one's pretty self-explanatory. :)

That's it!  Of course I'd also like to get an agent, enjoy certain publication milestones, etc, but I think this year I'll keep my goals focused on those things I can accomplish without relying on outside circumstances aligning themselves as I like.

BECCA: 2013 will be the first year since 2009 that I won't have a book released. So serendipity and the littlest bit of relaxation is in my plans. 

Of course, I must finish BLACK ICE (slated for release in March 2014). And there are always new ideas to explore . . . 

GINGER: Writing goals: I like the writing every day goal, Suzanne!! I was going to write 10 hours a week, and that's kind of my goal, but I don't want to feel guilty about it to the point I give up. So I'm stealing that goal from you. I am going to submit at least one nonfiction book. For some reason nonfiction is FLOWING out of me. Finally, I have a captive audience for all my random Know-it-allness...the computer screen. And I don't have to worry about boring it or telling it things that it looks like it wants to know, but might just be faking a smile about hearing. I am going to rewrite several picture books because I know what's wrong with them. I am going to write The Truth About...something, probably Ghosts. I am going to submit Sophie's Pig because every illustrator who randomly hears about it wants to try and illustrate it. Granted, none of them have actually ever been published, but you know. It's a good book. And if it gets an offer and then I have rewritten those others books then I might get a good agent and there you go. I will write up every one of my 30 PiBoIdMo ideas. (Picture Book Idea Month) (And the rest of us are weeping in exhaustion while simultaneously applauding Ginger. This is your year!) LAURA: I don't have goals so much as I have contractual obligations. Which is good for me--much outward motivation (also known as the threat of public humiliation) to achieve things. Like complete revisions on book two and finish the first draft of book three. Which will then be followed by revisions on book three, plus copy edits and page proofs on both books and, oh yes, The Boleyn King is being released June 4. But beyond contracts, I do have one business goal and one writing goal. Business–get a professional website up and running. Writing (short term)–send my agent two or three chapters of two or three possible books for advice in choosing my next project. Writing (long term)–writing said next project. What about you, gentle readers? For the writers among you, what are your goals for the year? For everyone, what are your book or reading goals?