What are your goals?

My goals change daily.

When it comes to my writing goals, I have the goal to get a book out there into stores. To do that I have to get published. To do that I have to get a book deal/publishing contract. To do that I have to get a manuscript accepted. To do that I have to get a manuscript read completely. To do that I have to get an agent to either read it and or pass it on to an editor. To do that I have to send out a partial. To do that I have to send out pages. To do that I have to send out a query. To do that I have to have a completed manuscript. (I have 2 so I'm doing alright there, but I'm needing another to send out soon). To get a completed manuscript, I have to have a completed first draft that I can give to my critique group to read and make suggestions that I accept or reject. To do that I have to write the last chapter. To do that I have to write the chapters that come before the last one. To do that I have to write. To do that I have to stop this blog post.

To do that I will hit publish post and get onto the writing part of my day.

And one last thing before I go.

What are your goals?

Laura

Another month filled with words.

I enjoyed the writing abandon of NaNoWriMo so much that I'm going to do my own month of writing here in March.
I managed to churn out the 50,000 words in November, though some of them were repeats and do overs, and begin agains, I was able to keep at least 30,000 of those after doing an edit to get the story straight in my mind again. So my goal for this month is to write 30,000 new words.

I plan to write them on the same story I did in November, which happens to be a follow up story of my most recent completed novel. I figure doing 30K is a realistic goal and I have a group on FB I'll be reporting to so I'll have incentive to keep going. Plus, getting this story closer to completion is always a reward in itself.

So you fun readers who see my blog. What other kind of reward should I give myself if I accomplish my goal. (Can't cost more than $10, but free or low-low cost would be even better) And what should be my consequence if I don't complete it? I need your suggestions.

Laura

It's been a long time, but it hasn't been wasted.

I haven't posted in almost a month, and I didn't realize it was so long ago. I've been doing some reading, and writing, and parenting, and living, and so on. I probably have had time to do a post, but I haven't done it so now I'm setting a goal to do at least once a week. I did plan to post a couple times a week, and do some book reviews as I've completed books, but it just hasn't happened yet.

So I'm going to do a book review once a month, and do a post about writing once a week. Beyond that, we'll see what happens. Like I mentioned before, I am a mother. I have 5 kids that are more important than the extra things I'd like to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely selfless. I will still do many things that make me happy. Some of that involves my kids and husband. Some of that will be writing related.

Writing does make me happy. The prospect of trying to get an agent, or have a publishing house makes me nervous. Putting my work out there for others to see isn't what gets me. It's the fact that the publishing industry is so subjective. My work might not be what they are looking for at the time, though that doesn't mean my story is bad, it just means it isn't for them.
That's okay. I still like it. And I'll keep writing more and more. Who knows, maybe someday, the whole world can read my thoughts.

Laura

Managing the time I have.

Now that kids are back in school, and the baby is getting on a routine of sorts, I figured I needed to get myself into a routine as well.

Being a stay at home mom, and attempting to write novels makes for an interesting life. I still have to maintain my home, (though some days I do better than others) and I have to take care of my children, providing for their physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare. Yet to be a writer, they tell you to read lots (Something I'm very willing to do) and you need to be consistent in the time you write, (writing every day for some people) But with only so many hours in the day, and many of those occupied by a newborn that doesn't care if I want to spend some time writing since the muse is with me, it gets kind of hard to get much writing done.

I've decided that I need to come up with some realistic goals. As I've thought of them, I've come to some realizations:

#1. Remember that writing is fun and could be something important to me, but my family needs to come first.

#2. Realize that the house needs to be clean enough to live in, but I don't have to pass a white glove exam, and if anyone thinks I need to then shame on them.

#3. Even though writing isn't the MOST important thing, it is still important to have some ME time, and if writing makes me happiest, then the dishes can sit in the sink for a while.

#4. Facebook, and Email are helpful and useful to a writer,(and a mom starved for adult interaction), but they sure are time suckers.

#5. The goal of writing at least 500 words is easily doable even if I only have 30 minutes to spare so shut off FB and Email.

#6. Keep in touch with other writers who are in the same boat, and try to rub shoulders with those who have survived and conquered.

#7. Blogging about the journey is fun and should be done at least weekly.

So after all those realizations, here are my goals:

*spend at least 30 min a day writing, and do lots more if I have the time for it.

*spend at least 30 min a day tidying up, and make the kids do the rest. ;)

*spend at least 30 min a day checking Email and FB, but after that, leave them alone for at least six hours, then you can recheck it. (you know what I'm thinking, you have to go back and see if anyone "liked" your post, or if they've left you a comment)

*read at least 1 book a week to keep up with what is out there, and see how others did it.

So to you out there, how do you organize your time to get it all done?