2015 Goal Update

I know I am early with my quarterly review, but with my upcoming surgery at the end of the month I have no idea how I will be feeling later. This quick review will also help keep me on track while I am stuck at home recovering. 

Daily Bible verse reading.

I have failed at this one miserably. Balancing real estate, editing, and family life is proving to be quite a challenge. I plan to take my Bible with me to the hospital and I plan to get on track with this goal while recovering.

Complete editing projects.

One is pretty much done. The second is taking much longer than I planned. I really hope I complete it before going in for surgery.

Complete Amelia's Mission by May 31st.

I finished the last chapter and got it over to my critique group. I'm currently at 20,113 words of my planned 35,000. Amelia just made it to Elms Academy. It doesn't look like it will go well for her.

Reconsider blogging duties.

I still haven't decided what to do about this yet. I currently run the following blogs:

The Book Connection
The Children's and Teens' Book Connection
The Busy Mom's Daily
Cheryl's Christian Book Connection
Books Can Be Deadly
Little Shepherd

I also contribute to the Christian Children's Authors blog twice a month. It is too much to continue now that I am working outside the house. I will probably make a decision soon.

That's it for now. How are you doing with your goals?

Blogging at Write2Ignite!

I'm a guest blogger today over at Write2Ignite! You'll find tips to help you stick to your writing goals. Hope you'll stop by at http://write2ignite.com/2014/12/30/tips-to-stick-with-your-writing-goals/

Goals for 2015

It's that time of year again! Is is crazy that I look so forward to setting goals for the upcoming year? Even though I often fall short, I'm happy to keep checking my progress throughout the year.

My previous update for 2014 was in October. Here's where I stand to close out the year:

Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m.

I stuck with this goal for a while, but as soon as I started working it fell by the wayside. Though I've read several times since my last posting in October, I'm not reading daily.

Reduce blogging/reviewing duties.

This was an easy goal because I am out of the house so  much I don't get a chance to read as much as I once did.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th.

I'm disappointed that I couldn't meet this goal, but I have plans for 2015 (see below).

Research one new publisher/agent a month. I want to submit more often.

I didn't follow through with this one enough, but I am slowly checking out names and places.

Complete editing projects.

This was an addition in the latter half of 2014 once I received word from these clients they were proceeding. I am currently working on these two projects, but they will overlap into the new year.

2015 Goals

Since I already know that the main focus for 2015 will be on expanding my real estate business, my other goals are very trim. If I find I have more time, they can be expanded.

Daily Bible verse reading.

As long as I read one verse a day, I'll be happy.

Complete editing projects.

Two projects came in at the same time: one moderate and the other substantial. I plan to be done with them by the end of January--God willing.

Complete Amelia's Mission by May 31st.

I have surgery coming up in February, so I'm thinking I might be able to use some down time to complete this story. I'm 15 chapters in, so I really feel that's doable.

Reconsider blogging duties. 

I started two new blogs in 2014 that I would like to post to at least twice a week. I also plan to keep The Book Connection and The Children's and Teen's Book Connection going. I'm considering getting rid of The Busy Mom's Daily or making it strictly posts to its Facebook page.

As far as real estate goes, I've set a monetary goal and I have a business planning meeting all set for next week with my manager. I would like to hire a part-time marketing assistant to help me get my name out there. I've got two listings now--one that will close in January--and another listing on the horizon. I'm also working with some buyers, renters, and landlords, so I know I want to focus on the meeting and greeting end of the business. A marketing assistant will free up more time for me to concentrate on that goal.

Hope you had a wonderful 2014. Feel free to share some of your accomplishments and challenges. Are you setting goals for 2015?

Happy New Year! Blessings of peace, joy, and happiness.

Blogging at Write2Ignite

Today I am blogging at Write2Ignite. The Write2Ignite Conference For Christian Writers of Literature for Children and Young Adults is for those Christian writers who desire to write for Children’s and Young Adult markets. Now that it's October, my mind is on reviewing my goals for 2014 and plotting out my goals for the new year. Today's topic is "Be Positive about Your Writing Goals." It encourages writers to think positive when assessing their writing year. Hope you'll visit at http://write2ignite.com/2014/10/01/be-positive-about-your-writing-goals/

Writing World Update

I'm either late in visiting my goals for the second quarter or early for visiting them in the third quarter. I'll go with the latter.

Here is the list of goals I set for myself at the end of 2013, along with updates on how I'm doing.

Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m. 

This one went well until summer vacation. Then I stopped reading altogether. I'm still putting together lessons for the kids once a week and I compiled the majority of the vacation Bible school program we used this year, but I still want to make time during the last part of 2014 to get back to daily Bible reading--even if it's less than a chapter a day.

Reduce blogging/reviewing duties.

I had a bit of help with this one. The new job that I started in June hasn't allowed me to blog or read as much as I was. I've stayed mostly committed to not taking on new books for review, which has helped too.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th.

Never happened and still not done. I'm not upset about it. The great thing is that I joined a local writers group this year, so I am getting tremendous feedback on this story. If I can back away from other things (not likely right now, but one can hope) I'll be able to pick up writing where I left off--partway through Chapter 13. 

Research one new publisher/agent a month. I want to submit more often. 

I stuck to this for a while, but haven't performed any research for a few months. I haven't increased my submissions, but I did receive an acceptance for another picture book earlier this year.

Write one short story for submission each quarter. 

I've given up on this one. It just needs to sit for a bit while I get acclimated to my new job and finish off the first draft of Amelia's Mission. I'm so stoked about Amelia's story that I don't want to spend time working on anything else.

As you can see, there is some success in this list and some areas where I didn't meet expectations. Overall, I'm still feeling good about my writing year. My hope is that once I get going with the real estate, I'll be able to focus on writing part of the time. I know I'll want to promote Little Shepherd and A Christmas Kindness again this fall, so my mind will be in the right place for it.  

Writing World Update

Here is a long overdue writing world update. As is usual, I set goals at the end of last year to keep me focused through 2014. I am a big believer in goal setting and breaking larger goals down into more manageable chunks. As I look back on what I've accomplished through the first four and a half months, I am proud of the progress I've made, but switching careers has meant not as much writing time. Here's where I stand as of right now with my goals.

Reduce blogging/reviewing duties.

I'm snickering as I type this. Blogging and reviewing is probably the largest drain of my writing time, and yet, I can't stop doing it. I love blogging. I actually created a new blog this year. Last one, I've promised myself. Though I started out focused on working my way through the mountain of books I've amassed over the past three years, I've begun taking on new titles to review for virtual book tours. Sigh. I really need to get this under control. Thankfully, summer is on the way and I already know that focusing on real estate won't allow as much blogging time anyway.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th.

Definitely not, but a ton of progress has been made on this project. It had been a while since I worked on this one, but I truly love the story and was determined to get back to it. I edited the entire manuscript before picking it up again. It's much tighter and focused than it was before. Thanks to my online critique group, I've been able to see where else things might be improved once I complete the first draft. In addition, I joined a new writers group in town. I got a chance to read the first chapter of this project last week and they loved it. Another reason to keep plugging away.

Right now, I have one book I'm skimming for research and then I will start writing again. The book is now overdue at the library, so I need to finish that this week. There are currently eleven completed chapters and I am partway through the next one.

Research one new publisher/agent a month.

Maybe not every month, but I have been researching them more often. Actually, I just looked into another publisher this week.

Write one short story for submission each quarter.

With so much attention on Amelia's Mission, this has fallen by the wayside. I knew it was an ambitious goal when I posted it. I think it's time for a change. My new goal is to write two short stories this year. I think that's much more realistic.

Achievements, Regrets, and Looking Forward

Chad R. Allen, editorial director for Baker Books, started his blogging year off with this wonderful post that asked readers the following questions.

1. What Made You Proud?
2. What Do You Regret?
3. What S.M.A.R.T. Goals Do You Have for This Year?
4. What Would Blow Your Mind If It Happened?

This is my list:


What Made You Proud?

I’m proud I submitted more often than I usually do. I submitted a couple of finished projects to two agents and two other projects to publishers.

What Do You Regret?

That I overwhelmed my schedule so much that my writing time this year was less than expected. Thankfully, I began putting plans into place in October to change that for 2014.

What S.M.A.R.T. Goals Do You Have for This Year?

The two most important right now, are: daily Bible reading from 8 – 8:30 a.m. and to complete my middle grade historical by the end of February. I’m a little over halfway through, so I believe I can make it.

What Would Blow Your Mind If It Happened?

It would blow my mind if I got signed by an agent this year. I’ve written six picture books; three of which are ready to submit. I’m in the process of doing some additional market research to see who would be best fitted for them. I also have two other picture book ideas started, but I really want to finish my middle grade book first.

You can read Chad's entire post at http://www.chadrallen.com/2014/01/01/bestyearever/ Hope you'll share your list here or there.

Goals for 2014

Goal setting is so important for writers. I've written numerous articles about the advantages of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, productivity, and organization for writers.

Toward the end of 2013, I realized I allowed my schedule to get away from me. I overloaded my days all year with tasks that stole my writing time and left me feeling harried. That's when I began to consider ideas that would create a greater sense of peace and accomplishment for 2014. Here are the changes I am making for the new year and the goals I have set so far.

• Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m. I wanted to add daily Bible reading to my schedule this year, but I didn't stick to it. I now realize, if I don't do it first thing in the morning, it won't happen. Once I am on the computer and working, time slips away. Bible reading before I go to my office makes more sense.
• Reduce blogging/reviewing duties. Up until the last quarter of 2011, my blogging and reviewing schedule was manageable. Then I forgot how to say no to people. I took on too many requests. More virtual book tour companies contacted me and I started hosting more authors. That's why this blog--my personal blog--got neglected. That's why I stopped writing new books in June. That's why I planned to participate in Picture Book Idea Month this November and didn't even manage one idea. I simply had too much on my plate. So, I've announced at my main blog that I'm reducing the number of virtual book tours I participate in for 2014 and I'm focusing on my TBR pile instead of taking on new requests. Another advantage to this is I'll have more time to promote my own writing.
• Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th. This might be ambitious. It needs a lot of work and I haven't looked at it in a while. I'm about 14 chapters in, so I don't think this goal is unrealistic, but I'm also trying to find a part-time job. 
• Research one new publisher/agent a month. I want to submit more often. I've started this off right by sending off a query to my current publisher tonight. I have several picture books already written and a few of them are ready to go. I simply need to find appropriate houses for them or agent representation. 
• Write one short story for submission each quarter. Again, this is ambitious. I'm not really fond of short stories, but they will make me a better writer overall, and they could help me increase my writing income if I follow through on submitting more often. 

If you would like to check out my articles on goal setting, productivity, and organization, you can visit the Time and Stress Management section of Writer2Writer at http://time-management.writer2writer.com/.