New Year, new goals: a writing frenzy

We all know the standbys, lose weight, eat healthier, you know, stuff that seems easy but isn’t. My husband and I try very hard to watch what we eat and since he’s a personal trainer we work out all the damn time. So really, I don’t need to make these my resolutions or goals for the year because they’re always in the front of my mind.

And honestly, that’s not what you come to a blog run by Fantasy authors, right? You want to hear about fantastical things and all things wordy, right? Right.

So to focus on that, I have some rather lofty goals but I’ve already started to accomplish some of these and it’s not even February yet!

In the last few weeks those of us here at the Spellbound Scribes’ Blog, have formed a sort of writing alliance, which we have dubbed #teamawesome on Twitter. The point of #teamawesome is to write together, plot together and edit together. We pick increments of time to focus solely on the writing task at hand and get it done! Thanks to #teamawesome since January 1^ST, at the time of this writing, I’ve written 68,384 words. That’s amazing and I know I would probably only have half of that without #teamawesome.

Because of this I was able to finish my NaNo book, which was my first goal of the year. And by the time this is published I’m hoping the novella I started once I finished my NaNo book will be finished as well, my second goal of the year. UPDATE: The novella is finished and with my editor and I’ve started my next novel.

I am hoping to finish two more novels by the end of the year. Specially the sequel to my NaNo book and a Dystopian novel. I’ve never attempted to write a Dystopian, but a couple of weeks ago I had a spark of inspiration and saw this new character in this sad and sordid place and she wanted to tell me her story and I want to tell it to everyone else.

I’m also hoping to finish at least one, if not two, more novellas and one short story for my pen name. These can be a little difficult but I’m hoping that being on the roll of writing 3-5 thousand words a day, I’ll manage the task.

If I can manage all of that, and still have time left over before the end of the year, I’d like to start the spin off series of my Elemental Series. I don’t know if I’m ready to tackle that yet, but maybe a couple hundred thousand words between the two series will give me the time needed to prepare for it.

Seems insane but here’s my list:

Novels planned: 3-4

Completed: 1

Novellas Planned: 3

Completed: 1

Short stories Planned: 1

Completed: 0

I’ve got about 11 months left to get this done. Challenge accepted!

Resolving Like a Boss

I tend to go nuts with resolutions. I make lists and pin them to the wall in my bedroom where they can taunt me each time I walk by. I do fairly well at keeping them, too, though the occasional project keeps getting rolled over from year to year.

Like losing the ten pounds I’ve gained since leaving grad school. I’m starting to fear that one will stick with me till the day I die.

This year’s list was simple:

1. Yoga: I’d like to actually develop a home practice, and stick with it.

2. Schedule: This means I’ll keep my self-imposed work schedule, which includes two hours of reading on weekdays, and (generally) sixish hours of writing or at least starely blanking at Scrivener. In other words, I’m treating my writing like a job.

3. Read more new fiction: This is an important part of the writing job. I need to know the market, and I learn something from every new book I read. The more I can take in, the more I can learn!

Nope. No bacon that way.

There’s actually a theme here. All of these goals are about routine and sticking with it. They’re about taking myself seriously, at work and at play.

So many writers, crafters, photographers, runners, WHATEVERs always excuse themselves from real work and real success by saying, “Oh, I’m an aspiring writer,” or, “Oh, I just run for fun,” or “Oh, I just take pictures of my kids.” And while those things are all great, they’re also a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you treat yourself like an amateur, you’ll continue to work at an amateur level. We get from these things what we put into them. No matter how much the doggie wishes, no bacon will appear in his tummy unless he raids the fridge and steals some dang bacon.

This year is the year of treating myself like a professional, putting in professional levels of work, and getting some professional results.

Like a boss. (NSFW!!)

How can you take yourself more seriously this year? What have you wished you could do or be better at?

 

 

New Year, Same Old Me

From The Graphics Fairy.

Every year, I get into this mad frenzy around the end of December. Feeling rather virtuous, I solemnly vow that the next year I’ll be a body-builder in my spare time/run five miles before breakfast/force my curly hair to go straight using nothing but willpower/[insert other incredibly preposterous goal here]. I have even made these commitments out loud on occasion.

This year, since I’m older and wiser (snicker), I decided to tone it down and make goals that I might actually be capable of keeping. So, without further ado, I do solemnly pledge to:

1. Write and publish four full-size novels.

1. Write and publish three full-size novels and two shorter works.

1. Write the first drafts of three full-size novels, and publish at least two of those novels.

2. Not complain or whine even once about my circumstances, because they are damn good.

2. Complain no more than once a month  week day about my circumstances, because they are damn good.

3. Workout every single day without fail. if I can.  

3. Workout three times a week.

3. Workout at some point.

4. You know what? This is exhausting. I’ll do what I do, dagnabit.

What about you? Any high-flying plans this year? Or are you going to be anti-goal, like me?

It’s a New Year!

It’s only the first month of the year and I’m already behind! That seems to be a theme with me I think, but this year, I really hope to get a handle on scheduling. Oh, and I hope everyone had a super holiday season and are looking forward to this new year!

So, here’s the reason I was a bit slack in posting today:

The hubby and I went to Richmond today to meet up with our friend to pick up four lab puppies! Three are going to friends, while we are keeping one beautiful southern belle (they’re from South Carolina) we named Gertie. 

So first up on the list is to train our new lab puppy! While it may sound easy, especially since I work from home, our new little girl will need constant attention in order to train her right. I just hope she doesn’t mind having Buffy the Vampire Slayer on in the background or napping while I write! 

As for books, I hope to finish at least two books (I’ll probably end up with three, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself). One will be the much anticipated PARAMETER, book for of the Travelers Series, and the other will be a new book I’m working on (25% done!!) that will be what I consider YA Southern Gothic (paranormal). I don’t have a title for it yet, but I’m toying with the idea of calling it DARKLY BEINGS. 

Another goal for this year is to get healthy! Not to lose weight necessarily (although the five pounds I gained this last year working from home really needs to go back to where it came from), but too stay as healthy as I can, especially since I sit at my desk all day and write. I’m a huge fan of the paleo way of eating, and if I don’t eat too much, I might be able to shed those pesky five pounds! This is also were our new pup Gertie will come in… to help me from sitting on my behind all day! 

I try not to saddle myself with too many goals. Just trying to keep up with everything on my plate is enough, so for this new year, my hope is that my readers will be surprised if I end up with more works than I planned on.