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.

SheWriMo or The Pen is Mightier than the Resentment

Okay, not really.  I'm not resenting anything or anyone (well, there is a student...) right now, but it's at that ever-special time of year when all the papers are coming in, and I risk blood loss via paper cuts.   It would therefore seem natural that I would ignore invitations to take on another task...unless that task is related to my writing, which is currently in a state of suspended animation.

That's where SheWriMo (SheWrites More) comes in - a challenge from the SheWrites community to write something everyday, and not only to write something, but to make your intentions known on the SheWrites site.  I actually do write everyday, but it's usually only in my journal.  I haven't really worked on a story since, oh, maybe September.  I sent my short story manuscript to an editor (who still has it, which to me is a good thing) and in the meantime have mostly been logging rejections and noticing the dwindling number of submissions still alive out there. 

Anyway, I took the bait and posted that I would write a blog post today.  Voila!  Mission accomplished!  If only it were always that easy.  (Note, evidently November is also National Blog Posting Month - say what?)  What pleases me even more than accomplishing today's writing goal is the support of the SheWrites community.  Shortly after I'd posted today's mission, someone replied with encouragement.  Seriously, that is just what I needed.  It's really too easy to be isolated in one's writing practice (which is one reason for this blog as well).

I'll have to think about what tomorrow's goal will be.