Writer's Resolutions 2009

Hope 2009 is treating you all well. And if it started out rough, like it did for me, I hope you are in a better place mentally now. I began my new year by angrily questioning the Universe, "Why THIS lesson again? WHY??????? I thought I learned it already!"

Once I calmed down, I was able to see that it is not the lesson that shows us what we've learned, but how we deal with the trials and tribulations of life that REALLY illustrate what we've mastered. And so, now that I am in a proper frame of mind once again, I want to talk about resolutions.

But I am not speaking about resolutions to lose weight or exercise more… Those are important goals too. After all, your health IS important. I am speaking about my favorite kind of resolutions - Writer's Resolutions of course!

Whether it be to sell a magazine article, finish three dummies in the year, or polish your manuscript, setting goals is the first step to obtaining them. Without setting a goal in writing, it is too easy to forget or forgo. Something magical happens when you put something in writing. We all know this - after all, we're all writers! But when you put something in writing, you automatically become accountable. Don't know where to start? Start small and obtainable.

Feel free to borrow any of these goals if you can't come up with your own…

1. Make a space that is just for you and your writing. A place where you and only you go to write.
2. Decide on an amount of time you will try to write each day or each week. For example…. I will write two hours five days a week, rain or shine. Or… I will write ten hours a week.
3. Some novelists like to work with word count instead of time. So maybe your goal could be… This year I will strive to write 5,000 a week. (Believe me, that goes fast! Take it from a past NaNoWriMo contestant!)
4. Maybe you've had a novel (harrumph!) you've been working on for quite sometime so your goal is to (once and for all, for crying out loud, G-d willing) finish the (darn!) thing.
5. Maybe it's to read more books in your sub-genre… This year I will read 20 books in my field.
6. Maybe it's to test your book to a live audience… This year I will reach out to schools or libraries to see if I can read my books to a classroom and test it out on a live audience.
7. Or here's my favorite… I will treat my writing like a business and be present each day, ready to work as if my livelihood depends on it.

Whatever your dreams are, turn them into goals. And then watch your goals become reality!

Happy Writing!

New Year's Resolution

OK so every year, millions of us make New Year's Resolutions that most likely are abandoned by spring time. This year I am going to make a Writer’s Resolution - One I can stick with because it will not be centered around food! As soon as I am on a diet, I become rebellious and suddenly have an insatiable appetite.

So here it goes... My Writer's Resolutions for 2008...

Writer's Resolution #1

MAKE REVISIONS - One of my picture books is just about ready for submission. I am going to work on it for a day or two and then mail it out!


Writer's Resolution #2

POLISH PAGES 1 - 30 - I have promised an editor my next 30 pages (31 - 60) since last April. (Oh the shame...) It's not that I have been ignoring her. No. I have been busily taking her suggestions and writing and re-writing. I thought all I had to do was write forward. But because I knew what problems needed to be fixed, I just couldn't move forward. So instead I took these 8-9 months to rewrite. Now that I feel I am on the right path with this 6th draft, I feel I should mail her my new first thirty and I want to do this before Jan 15.

Writer's Resolution #3

FINISH MY BOOK! If I write 10 pages a day, taking into consideration those days when you just can't write... maybe you need to simmer, or you need a break, or you're sick... I think I can be close to done by April 2008. That is three months away. This would include critiques and re-writes. I think this could be plausible.

Writer's Resolution#4

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE - my long term goal is to attend the 2009 Bologna Children's Book Fair. http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/book_index.asp?m=52&l=2&ma=3 This is supposed to be THE children's book fair for children's writers. I hope to shop this particular novel there. My goal is for the first book to be completed and polished and that I am somewhere in the second book in the series.

Well, I think that just about sums it up; four goals spread out over the next year. I have heard writing your dream down into a goal is the first step into turning it into a reality.

I have also been told recently that 2007 was a year of endings and 2008 will be a year of beginnings. I don't know about you, but I am ready for a beginning. Heck, and who knows, maybe I will finally loose those 15 - 20 lbs to boot!

So let's hear from you... What are your Writer's Resolutions for the New Year?

Happy New Years!

Sheri ks, ks