2021 Writing Goals & Resolutions May Check-in

 I've been setting Top 3 Priorities for each month, and, so far, that seems helpful. 

April's Goals: 

😃 1. Camp NaNoWriMo - 20K words on a new NF book on women in business. - Yes, I wrote just over 20K!

😕 2. Submit 4 Pieces for publication - Nope, but I have 3 things ready to go that I plan on homing soon.

😃 3. Go through the drawer - Find pieces to work on, finish, edit, etc. and submit them - I went through the folders of 2014-2019, and found 14 pieces that have promise. I am working on them.

May's Goals: 

1. Revise and polish four poems to send out.

2. Revise and polish one old short story (from the drawer)

3. Make four submissions (carry-over)

~    ~    ~

    I recently discovered a writer I know sends forty submissions out each month. That floored me. I started out years ago with my first submission goal of 3 for the year, then hit that in three months, so moved it up to 6. I have been aiming to get one piece out per month, maybe even one per week, but the thought of forty.... that's more than one per day! I'm sure she is submitting the same piece to multiple places, and tweaking it for reuse, but still-- I am feeling challenged. I am not going to raise my bar just yet, but I am doubling down on making those subs this month.

    I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the number of unfinished projects I have going. I feel the need to finish them and get them out, but keep switching from project to project, getting each closer, but not yet done. Hoping to overcome any internal blocks I may be putting up myself, as a self-sabotage or procrastination.

    Every time I look to submit my poetry, I get weird about it. It's personal writing. It feels more personal and more vulnerable than prose, even my memoir stuff. So, when I look at publications, I feel like I am not ready, or maybe I'm not a real poet (old fears about not going to college), and they aren't good enough, or I don't have enough good, finished poems. I am taking a Hugo House class this weekend on Poetry Revision, so hopefully that will help me get over that doorstep to publishing poetry.

    So, that's where I'm at in my writing journey. I have more plans for revision and submission in June, and plans for a new screenplay project in July. 

   

2021 Writing Goals: The 2020 Reboot

 Hello... it's been a long time. Like most of you - and the world - I feel like I'm simultaneously standing on a cliff, hanging from this time one year ago (when the world stopped for COVID-19), and speeding through time, barely registering, much less remembering, all the crazy things that have happened since February of 2020. 

Since my birthday is the first of February, I've always treated that as my new year's day. January is just the warm-up, where I shake off the previous year and reset myself for the year to come.

In a nutshell, my 2020 Goals / Resolutions included:

• Rebuild Writing Routine
• Schedule Write-Ins (at cafes, etc.)
• Create and Maintain Checklist of Tasks and Projects
• Use Spreadsheet to track Writing Goals
• Get back to submitting short stories for publishing
• incubate story ideas
• write stories
• edit and revise stories
• find appropriate markets
• submit stories for publication
• Write Non-fiction book
• On Writing (Holistic)
• Massage & Health Related Topics
• Ocean
• Finish Poetry Project
• Finish Memoir
• Editing Projects - keep a few going throughout the year
• Teach six writing workshops
• Jan: From Page to Print
• Feb: Vision Boards for Life and for Projects
• April
• June
• September
• November
• Platform Building and Marketing
• Create and update Wordpress site
• Make Health Newsletter more widely available through sign-up
• Health Focus 
• Continue to raise mental and physical energy: build iron, work towards optimum balance and health with vitamins, food, exercise, etc.
• Daily Meditation (at least 5x week)
• Daily Act of Spiritual Practice 
• Daily Walking
• Financial Health
• Build Sanctuary Fund to allow for more time off for writing and travel
• Open a SEP-IRA Retirement Fund
• Travel
• LA in Sept
• MD & NY in Oct
• Florida - when?
• Scotland? 

So, how did I do?

Clearly, the travel plans did NOT happen. I also did not open an IRA, or get money set aside for writing trips and travel. Lockdown sapped my creative energy for a few months, too. And there was always the worry about money - would I get unemployment assistance as a self-employed person? (Yes, but not much.) Would I be able to see any clients for massage therapy? (Yes, a few... managed to keep the business open and the bills paid.) How long would this pandemic last?!? I knew it wouldn't be over by May 2020 or even September 2020, as I heard so many say. But here we are in February 2021, and I think we will be still masking up and dealing through this year... possibly into 2022. Sigh...

I did not finish any of the listed long-term projects, although I have worked on most. I also have yet to submit anything for publication...that will be a carry-over goal! I do have a number of nearly-ready pieces, though, and plan to get most of them homed in the next three months. I kept up on my spreadsheet of writing goals (need to start the one for 2021, though!), and I planned and produced the first two workshops - Jan & Feb - but, of course, the pandemic put a stop to anything beyond March. I could have shifted to online classes, but felt unmotivated to teach from my bedroom or my massage office. I need the designated space of a classroom - I had rented community center space to hold my classes, and I set up the tables and chairs and snack station and everything the way I wanted it. I will look forward to resuming those in 2022.

While my writing routine did not go as planned - I like to write in cafes, and had been meeting other writers to add to that energy - I did manage to get much writing done. I joined a friend's small writing group in July for Camp Nano (of NaNoWriMo.org) and wrote 3/4 of a NF book. The group continued, and we still meet up to 6 times a week (not all of us make every day) for writing time, workshopping, and games. I aim to make 3 each week, and usually manage that. 

I was great at daily walks, daily meditation, and regular workouts through most of 2020, but fell off the wagon around Oct/Nov and have been avoiding the wet outdoors since. But I chalk 2020 up as a WIN for health, fitness, and meditation goals.

So, what's my 2021 Resolution List?

1. Continue Building Writing Routine
1. Camp Write-Ins 3x week
2. Make new Goals spreadsheet and maintain
3. Aim for earlier-to-bed and earlier-to-rise schedule so I can get some writing and tasks done before work/family time/etc. (my goal is to sleep between 1/2/3 AM and 9:30/10:30/11:30 AM)
4. Tweak Calendar system to better find and hit deadlines and goals
2. 
   Writing Projects
1. Get those short stories out for publication - at least 6 this year; 3 by June
2. Keep working on memoir
3. Finish NF book
4. Finish Poetry Project and find a home for it
5. Finish MG Ghost Story book
3. Platform Building and Marketing
1. Reconnect with writing and publishing community
1. Hugo House
2. Conferences?
2. Finish websites so all are connected and people can sign up for newsletters
3. Blog regularly
4. Look at doing shorter online workshops?
4. Health Focus
1. Keep working on creating optimum health 
1. Vitamins & supplements
2. Healthy Eating
3. Check-in with Naturopath
4. Get iron checked when possible (post-COVID- July?)
2. Daily Routines
1. Walking
2. Meditation
3. Workouts
5. Home Office & Writing Space
1. Try to make time and money to finish clearing out Spare Room and set up a new desk and workspace for myself - open shelves, project boards, etc. 
2. Keep motivated at home with dedicated writing time and space (currently folding desk in BR)