Resolutions vs. Goals

I've never been a fan of New Year's Resolutions. They just seem to set me up for failure. And this year, I plan to succeed. Really.

Instead of setting resolutions, I made a list of concrete writing goals and pulled out a calendar to set guidelines for when I could reasonably expect to accomplish them. After being in a writing funk last year, I realized that I have several projects that I've abandoned along the way that I'd like to revisit this year. One book is complete, but needs to be totally rewritten. One is 75 percent complete but requires more research. Another one is fully outlined but only written about a third of the way. I set goals for outlining, research, writing and editing, to give myself time to focus on each story and get them finished.

Maybe it's just semantics, but I'm excited about putting these goals into action. I think writing out specific goals on a timeline will help me focus. And hopefully keep me from becoming another resolution statistic.

What about you – do you make resolutions or set writing goals for yourself?

Great Expectations

I met a friend for lunch the other day. And apologized for the weather.

What is it about living in California that makes us apologize whenever the weather is anything but sunny and warm? I actually love the rain and the fog, but I know it's not what people expect when they come to visit Solvang (the name actually means "sunny fields" in Danish!).

Expectations play a huge role in the world of books. When you attend a conference, you have high expectations for what you hope to achieve there (touch an editor, worship an author, beg an agent). Based on your query, agents and editors have certain expectations for your novel (so hopefully your query builds the right expectation).

Expectations seem to run the highest when we're on the cusp of something new. New job, new friend, new book, new agent. I'm starting a critique group with a friend from writing class and I expect to improve my writing as a result. I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games so I expect to be blown away by Catching Fire. I'm visiting Las Vegas so I expect to have a great time with my family. I expect to find an agent soon and continue on the next step of my writing journey.

What are your Great Expectations for the near future?