It's Still January; Still Time to Set Goals

I'm sure I said I don't make resolutions, and the following list is not so much a list of resolutions, but a list of goals and milestones that could help move my writing forward.  I've adapted my list from Brooke Warner's, of SheWrites, list of 52 Things - Ideas for Writers 2015.  Amazingly, I actually edited it down (rather than my usual urge to add/complicate).  I intend to amend/edit it as I accomplish one thing or another, and I will be happy if I do half of these things over the course of the year.

Here's my version of Brooke's list:

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1. Start or join a writing group.
2. Guest post for a blog you read/admire.
3. Commit to a certain number of submissions a month, and stick to it for the whole year.
4. Read a banned book during Banned Book Week, September 27 - October 3, 2015. For a list of banned books, visit: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/.
5. Submit a story to a call for submissions for an anthology.
6. Buy a book for a child or teenager in your life for no reason at all.
7. Commit to writing a certain number of words per week, or per month.
8. Attend a local author reading, or two or five or ten.
9. Support your local bookstore.
10. Write a book review and put it on your blog or your website.
11. Do one thing that truly champions another writer.
12. Read a book that falls way outside your general area of interest.
13. Go to a writers’ conference.
14. Apply for residency retreats, like Hedgebrook.
15. Do a 500 Words challenge. Writers like Jeff Goins have sponsored these kinds of challenges, where you write 500 words a day for a set number of days—a month or longer. Give it a whirl!
16. Read your work out loud, either at an open mic night or at a literary event.
17. Write and publish either an e-book or a chapbook. These can be as short as 25 or 30 pages (single stories or essays) and they can get your work on the map.
18. Enter your work into a contest. You have nothing to lose!
19. Map out a timeline for your book, or for your next book. Consider when would be a reasonable publication date for your book and write it down. Post it somewhere where you can see it to hold that date as a goal.
20. Commit to a certain number of blog posts a month—one, two, four—and stick to it for the whole year.
21. If you don’t already have a website, start one. If you have a website you know needs a facelift, commit to giving it one.
22. Memorize a poem.
23. Get involved with my local library.
24. Make a list of your top ten favorite books in your own genre and reread two of them.
25. Do something that shows your commitment to writing—plant something or buy yourself a house (or office) plant; get a piece of “writing” jewelry; or create or purchase something that’s meaningful to you that you see every day as a reminder to yourself about the meaning writing holds in your life.