Thursday 2 January 2014

Goals

We all need focus in our lives, and I do more than most. It's not good when you start changing a nappy, divert to putting away Christmas decorations, finish up the nappy, phone the garage while emptying the dishwasher and then write a cheque for the council tax while you're cleaning your teeth - so much potential for catastrophe. There's certainly never going to be writing time.

My writing goal last year was my year of stories, which is not quite complete. The closing date for my final story is the 15th January, and so far that story is still in first draft state, and I doubt I'll get to it now until the children are back at school on the 6th (although that's also the day the decorator comes in to tackle my front room which hasn't been decorated yet - and we bought this house eight years ago).

However, I think I'm on track to hit my goal, and I do believe I've learnt a lot. But I'm really looking forward to tackling a novel again, and I have one half planned in my head, and some of the characters sketched out - nearly ready to start fabricating, in fact.

So perhaps I should aim to finish a first draft of that this year. Or perhaps I should give myself a broader scope - to make it to a writing group three or four times this year? Or to attend a festival or two? Or perhaps to write three times a week....which would allow me to explore other writing avenues that emerge during the year...?

I don't feel as if I'm being very ambitious here, but 2013 has taken a lot out of me on a personal level, and I think it has made me wary of planning too much - but nor do I want to lose that focus, in case I fail to achieve anything. So I'm going to cheat, and plan a goal after the 15th, when last year's goal is complete. Who says we can only start things on the 1st of January?

If anyone has any fabulous writing goals I could borrow, please share them!

2 comments:

  1. Hi! I wrote my first novel in December during National Novel Writing Month and my 2014 goal is to edit it and upload it to Wattpad. Have you ever uploaded your stories to Wattpad?

    Laila x

    www.lailamurphy.blogspot.com

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  2. Hi Laila. No, I haven't used Wattpad, though I've heard of it. Remind me of what it's all about - is it for general critiquing by fellow writers? It sounds like a realistic but challenging goal for 2014 - requiring some bravery! Good luck with it! A

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