2019 Goals Final Review

 

Welcome to January 2020! My, my how quickly the last year passed. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season. We loved spending time with our family and friends. Today is back to work for me, so I wanted to write out my final 2019 goals review.

GOAL 1: Submit Clever Tom to an agent

As I mentioned in November, I reconsidered this goal. With my real estate goals and caregiving duties, I simply can’t commit to an agent right now. In mid-December, I submitted this to one of my publishers. Fingers crossed.

GOAL 2: Participate in STORYSTORM

Knocked this out of the park. Ended up with more ideas than required and took less than 30 days to finish.

GOAL 3: Contribute to Guardian Angel Kids 

This goal will be added to my 2020 list.

GOAL 4: Write 10 chapters of Amelia’s Mission

Ended up writing three new chapters due to editing a few manuscripts this year. However, I spent the last two days reading all the chapters I have, editing them, and preparing to get more written in January.

GOAL 5: Maintain my blogs

Never an issue, because I love blogging. I see 2020 as a year to consolidate some of them, so I’ll consider that over the next couple of weeks.

I’m satisfied with my progress in 2019. I’m approaching the new year with high hopes and determination to make even greater strides.

2019 Writing Goals Update

Well, the first quarter of 2019 has come and gone. My, it has been busy. Each quarter I take a look at my writing goals to see where I stand. This gives me a chance to pat myself on the back and also make any necessary adjustments. Here’s where things stand:

GOAL 1: Submit Clever Tom to an agent

I figured the first quarter would be the key to getting this done, but it seems life had other plans–like real estate work and editing a manuscript for a publisher. I’ve been writing down some possible agents to research. I’ve also set myself a deadline of next week to have at least two agents to pitch this project to and also to draft the query letter.

GOAL 2: Participate in STORYSTORM

Done and won! There are now 30 new story ideas to review and consider. Some I am really excited about. Others, not so much. I’m on the fence about participating next year, but that is a decision for the final quarter of 2019.

GOAL 3: Contribute to Guardian Angel Kids 

Sometimes I wonder if I am trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I’m not a short story or article person. That said, I want to see if I can put something together by July to contribute to the December issue.

GOAL 4: Write 10 chapters of Amelia’s Mission

This is going to be a tough goal, but I’ve written one chapter and started another. Maybe vacation in July will bring me closer to this goal.

GOAL 5: Maintain my blogs

I’m not doing too bad here. This blog and Books Can Be Deadly are the two that suffer the most. The Book Connection and An Imperfect Christian Mom get most of my attention.

The first quarter brought some progress. Maybe not as much as I would have liked, but the key remains time blocking. I need to avoid social media too. I’m still working on that one.

How are your goals coming along? Anything you are struggling with? What is one of your accomplishments?

2019 Writing Goals

 

Welcome to 2019! I am so excited. Last year was a bit tough with all that was going on, but I still made some great strides. I don’t usually do this, but in the spirit of making some changes, here are a few 2019 predictions:

• My calendar will be time blocked better this year, making me more effective and efficient
• I will submit at least one finished project to an agent
• I will actually take a vacation this year where I don’t do work–well, real estate work anyway

Now, on to my writing goals for 2019…

 

GOAL 1: Submit Clever Tom to an agent

This will happen. My best shot at it is first quarter 2019, since by spring the real estate market is in full swing. So, by mid-January, I want to have two potential agents to submit to. For that to happen, I am going back to Twitter to see the agents who participated in PBPitch in October and research them a bit more. Then by the end of January, I want my query letter polished and ready to go, so that the beginning of February my submission will be out the door.

GOAL 2: Participate in STORYSTORM

This started today. We come up with 30 book ideas over 30 days in January. I’ve won the last few years. If I really think on ideas that have been brewing in my head, it should happen again. I’ve already got my list on my computer waiting to go. In the past, I’ve blogged about my ideas. Now, they aren’t all centered around children’s literature, so I keep a running list on my computer.

GOAL 3: Contribute to Guardian Angel Kids 

This was a missed goal from 2018. In order to make it happen, I need to review their themes for 2019 (DONE). The holiday issue in December still seems the likely candidate. By the end of February, I want to come up with two possible ideas for short stories (500 words or fewer). First draft needs to be done by May so that I can submit in June or July while we are on vacation.

GOAL 4: Write 10 chapters of Amelia’s Mission

I need to finish this project. I love it so much and feedback has been great. If I can write one chapter a month, taking two months in the calendar off to concentrate on Clever Tom and my Guardian Angel Kids submission, I might be able to do this. Writing group meets once a month (first Monday of the month), so if I work on the chapter the last three weeks of the month, by the next meeting I should have something to submit.

GOAL 5: Maintain my blogs

I made some excellent strides in 2018 where my blogs are concerned. In addition to my four main blogs, I brought a blog out of hiatus and now contribute to 4RV Publishing Reading, Writing, & Art News and Christian Children’s Authors. My hope is that by the end of tonight (or by tomorrow) my calendar is updated with all my regular blogging dates.

Here is the key to it all–my calendar. My husband set up Outlook to automatically populate my phone–which is helpful–but I am still a paper calendar kind of person. If I can get at least the first quarter together this week, I have the chance of creating a good habit to bring me through the rest of the year.

Now, you know my goals, what are some of yours? What are you especially excited to accomplish in 2019?