Thursday, January 04, 2007

Back To Reality

The holidays are well and truly over and it's time to get back to the reality of the writing life. For me - and I think many of us - this means setting goals for the year to come. And as the lovely Roxanne St. Claire has pointed out to me many times, my goals are really not true goals (things I can actively affect) but rather dreams. Le sigh. Dreaming is great, but you can't do anything that will directly cause an editor to offer you a three-book deal, you know what I mean?

So, with that in mind, I'm trying to think "goals" and "dreams" and list them separately.

Goals:
1. Finish Date With The Devil.
2. Write two new books.
3. Write two newsletter articles.
4. Pitch another idea for an article to the RWR.
5. Do a great job of being Vice President of the Spacecoast Authors of Romance.
6. Develop a novella idea.
7. Rough that novella out.
8. Improve the quality of my first drafts.
9. Be more mindful of the five senses when I write.
10. Develop an idea for a workshop.
11. Pitch that idea for 2008 Nationals.
12. Continue to improve Romance Divas.

Dreams:
1. Sell a book this year.
2. Sell three books this year.
3. Option one or more for a TV or movie deal.
4. Secure a fabulous advance that makes both me and my agent smile a lot.
5. Hit the New York Times Bestseller list.
6. Hit any bestseller list.

How about you? Any goals or dreams you'd like to share?

10 comments:

  1. I'm with you on those dreams!

    Dream BIG, sweetie!

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  2. Anonymous10:12 AM

    You read my business plan... basically to treat all aspects of my writing career more like a business. Look down the road then make monthly, weekly and daily action lists to keep me focused on the five year plan.

    More work. Less whining;-)
    Teri

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  3. You're home! You're home you're home you're home!!!!

    Missed you, K.

    Love your goals and dreams. And if anyone can turn those dreams into reality, it's you. I promise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:58 AM

    I love Rocki and I miss STAR. Whah!

    Goal: Submit this year.

    Dream: Sell.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:24 PM

    I'm learning the difference between dreams and reality goals too - good luck with yours!
    Cole

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  6. Anonymous5:12 PM

    If you don't dream "big", you'll never accomplish anything "big". So, dream on, sister.
    It's good to have you back in cyberspace.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would like to write something I'm still happy with 12 months later. :-)

    Goals:
    finish re-re-re-edits on "Well Heeled" (and dream- sell it and "Come To Heal" as a two book deal)
    plot (because it's such a complicated suspense that pantsing is getting me in trouble even though I'm 275p in!!!) and finish Mort
    finish "Blessing Glory B" (almost there)
    finish "Amanita" (which is mega fun and my I-don't-feel-like-writing-today but I-could-squeeze-out-a-bit-of-fantasy MS)
    finish M.E. (ditto above only it is spoof)
    finish "Boy Wonder" (ditto above but it is middle school so mostly written in spurts as a direct response to my kids' mad antics)
    and you know, I'm starting to see a pattern here. :-) So maybe, stop being such a flibberty-gibbert and focus

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  8. Anonymous10:21 AM

    We are doing dream casting and goal setting this week. One of my dreams is to spend a week in a very rustic island getaway.

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  9. Your dreams and goals sound pretty good to me. :}

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  10. Anonymous9:20 PM

    Welcome back! I'll bet your holidays were a lot more fun than mine. :D

    Goals:
    Finish two more novels
    Write one novella
    Sell all three

    Dream:
    Sell at least one novel to NY

    Not too complicated, am I?

    ReplyDelete