2011 Writing Goals

[Robin M]

Time to list our 2011 writing goals for the year. How did you do last year? Did you finish your first drafts. Did you query any of your works or get something published. I've been working on my goals for the new year.

To help me with my goals, I am joining two writing challenges. I've signed up for Kelly Stone's 90 Day Writing Challenge on Facebook. The goal is to set a writing goal you can meet and write every day from January 1st through April 2nd. The other challenge is Kait Nolan's A Round of Words in 80 Days.

The challenge will run in 80 days increments, 4 times a year with a break between. Round one will run through March 24th. Kait says:

Your goal can be anything you like as long as it is MEASURABLE. If you’re already in the middle of a WIP, that’s fine. Tailor your goal to suit that. You may even want to set mini goals (I want to finish the last 40k of this novel. Then I want to spend the last 20 days revising it at x pages a day.). There are a lot of elements to writing a book other than the writing itself. Plotting. Outlining. Character Interviews. Whatever. Set your goal to match wherever you are right now on your WIP. If you want to use your Round for editing a novel, that’s fine too. Just know that this is, at heart, a writing challenge, so all the weekly inspirational posts will be geared in that direction.

 

There’s no mandatory daily word count.

Every writer is different, everyone has different schedules. You set a goal that works for you. Find a way to make writing a priority in your life in a way that FITS. But set SOME kind of schedule and be CONSISTENT.

My goal for the 90 day challenge will be to write every day for one hour and shoot for 500 words (equal to one handwritten page front and page). My goal for the first quarter of A round of Words in 80 Days will be to work on Red Thief and attempt to finish first draft

 

My goals for the year

Finish the first draft of Red Thief

Outline Red Thief, complete character interviews and research plot points.

 

Complete 2nd edit of Winter Illusion and Beta Reading

Take an online writing course.

Enter at least one Writer's Digest writing contest

Join IRL or online critique group.

By the end of the year I would like to have at least one story ready to query. I love all my stories and will have to decide which one I love the most and do my best to finish it.

 

What will you be working on in 2011? I think we may need to fire up the old write like my hair is on fire social group for 2011.

[elegantlion]

I haven't outlined all of my writing goals yet, but I have a few off the top of my head.

 

- develop the setting for a series of short stories

-final draft and pursue publishing options for Hunting Dragons

-create IRL group of writing buddies (we just moved)

[aggieamy]

I've been working on a story for years off and on. Then about a year ago I lost the whole thing. (Yes, I know. Backup backup backup!) I've since started it over and I believe that my writing is much better this time so I think it was a really good thing that I was forced to start from scratch with only my character sketches and a timeline.

 

This year I'm going to continue working on it and would like to get 200 pages written on it. I know that's not a huge goal but I'm not in a hurry to finish it and I enjoy just picking up the story every few nights and doing a few pages.

[dcjlkplus3]

I have an idea in the back of head, it feels like it is just hanging back there waiting for the right moment to come along.:tongue_smilie:

So, my goal is to write every day - notes, outline, lists, scenes, brainstorming, whatever and try to get it to bring its shy self forward so I can see what I have to work with.