I can't believe 2010 is gone. I can remember going to the movies to see
2010: The Year We Make Contact in the theater. I don't remember anything
about it anymore, but I do remember seeing it with my parents. Dad was a huge sci fi fan.
So, January 1 is a day of resolutions and goal setting. It's like page one of the novel of our lives. There are certainly things I hope to accomplish this year.
I should start with "finish
Shifter 3 edits/copy edits" since that way I know for sure I'll complete
one thing on my list, but that would be cheating. So here are the real goals I've set for myself and how good a chance I think I have of meeting them.
The Writing Goals
1. Write my spy novel and have it ready to go to my agent by August.
Odds of success: 100% for the writing part, maybe 70% by August. You never know how a book will go. But I do want it done before I have to start ramping up for the launch of
Shifter 3 in October.
2. Write a few short e-books on special writing topics.
Odds of success: 100%. I'll be doing these in January while I'm researching world-building stuff for the spy novel. I'd like to do two or three as test books and see how they go. If they're a hit, I'll do more.
3. Do NaNo with an MG fantasy idea I have kicking around.
Odds of success: 50%. The end of the year has always been busy for me, and being able to do 50K in 30 days takes a lot of time. But I'd like to try it this year, and 50K is a good size for an MG novel so I could get a first draft done quickly. Odds can go up here depending on...
4. Do a fun blog/NaNo tie-in idea I had last year.
Odds of success: 50%. I'll go into this more later if it all works out, but I think October is going to be NaNo prep month on the blog (and everything will also tie into regular writing) while I'm doing the blog tour again.I'd also like to tailor a lot of November posts to NaNo (and again, it will all also apply to those not doing NaNo) to tie in with a "do NaNo with me" type thing.
5. Finish a novel called "Creatures" that's almost done and had to be back burnered, and keeps getting back burnered.
Odds of success: 30%. I love this story, but it's one of those where the market is already saturated, so putting effort into finishing it is hard when I know the odds of selling it are low. But I could probably finish it in a month, so it's hard
not to do it. Maybe I'll dedicate a weekend a month to it or something.
6. Blog Tour!
Odds of success: 90%. I enjoyed it last year, so I want to do it again, with some tweaks. But I also want to have all the posts (aside from interviews and special request topics) done in September. I didn't make that work last year, but this year I won't have a book on deadline hanging over my head. (and hence the reason I want to finish the spy novel in August)
The Non-Writing Goals
1. Exercise
Odds of success: 100% to start, 60% to finish the year. My husband isn't going to let me slack off, so maybe I'll be able to sick with it better this year. I've felt like such a slug the last few years because I've been too busy to get on that treadmill in the mornings. That has to change. Feeling better physically with definitely make it easier to accomplish my other goals. I'll need that energy!
2. Balance work, writing, and life better.
Odds of success: 70%. I got into a routine this last year, and while I was working too much, I did prove what I could do if I had to. Hopefully I can keep up the productivity and just cut out the "overworked" parts. Which shouldn't be too bad since I won't be on deadline.
3. Read more.
Odds of success: 80%. I really missed reading in 2010.
I did put a dent in my To-Read pile by the end of the year, but I really didn't have time the rest of it. I love to read and miss it when I can't, so I want to make more of an effort to carve out some free read time for myself.
4. Get organized.
Odds of success: 70%. I have a bunch of these, but they're all like, "organize all the closets
" so I won't bother to list them. Let's just say I want to streamline my life so the rest of it can flow more smoothly.
So that's my list of hopefuls for the year. It'll be fun to look back at this 365 days from now and see what I actually got done.
How about you guys? What are your goals for the year?