Today, I vow...

Monday seems to be the perfect day to renew the promises we make to ourselves when it comes to our writing. I know it works for me. Lately, despite all the fabulous advice I've gotten from conferences and author signings, I find myself letting physical barriers prevent me from reaching my set writing goals. Like my laptop--I can't use it like a laptop anymore. The power cord (second one) is failing, so it has to be on a flat surface in order to work--with the cord wrapped tightly underneath to maintain a taut connection. It's also having serious software issues, and I know I'm going to have to scrape together some money to get it fixed soon.

But I had a solution to that problem. I can either move the laptop to the desk or simply use the desktop. Have I done it? No. Why? Well, my shoulder has been acting up and causing me a great deal of pain. Sitting at the desk will only make it worse.

See what I mean? On the surface, they seem like legitimate reasons. But in reality all you're looking at are excuses. My mind is about to burst with all my characters have been throwing at me. But I haven't put it down.

The truth is none of us is ever going to find that perfect groove; the moment in the day where we're free to write without distraction in that ideal spot in our world. It doesn't happen. Those moments don't fall into our laps. We have to make them happen. And sometimes, we have to fight for them.

So, what goals are you putting off? Let's all work to make them happen.

Making and Breaking Goals

Things have been hectic in my neck of the woods--or rather, they've been hectic keeping me away from my neck of the woods, which has made trying to complete my writing goals difficult (but maybe if I weren't so easily distracted that wouldn't be such a problem). After the Storymakers' conference I decided that on days I don't have other large commitments that I need to make a goal to write at least 3,000 words. That's less than two hours of writing if I plan what's coming next while I'm cooking, cleaning, or gathering eggs--that should be totally doable most days, even if I do have a five-hour commitment?

Of course, when you take out the days when I had to be out of town for work or book signings, Sundays, and the day I had a long patient transfer on the ambulance, it didn't leave a lot of extra days for writing.

On day 1 I managed 3,145 words.

Day 3 I squeezed out 1,450--I'm still not sure where the rest of the day went, but by the end I was just glad to have written *something*.

Day 5 I wrote 7,000! Woot! the only problem is it was on the wrong MS! Of course, I do need to work on Danny's story, but it wasn't the one I was SUPPOSED to be writing on (Though the new first chapter totally rocks, though, so my local monthly critique group will be excited to see it next week). *sigh*

Today I had intended to get some writing done (I don't count my numerous blogs), but there was animal housing to rearrange, cakes and bread to bake, a kitchen to clean up, and a zillion, trillion little things around the house that weren't done because I was out of town for a few days.

I have this beautiful goal of having a rough draft done on Grayson's book before the end of June. That should give me time to do a quick rewrite on it (or at least makes notes about rewrites) before I finish Shelly's book with my critique group and have to have a new project. Now if I could get Danny and Tia (and her irritating mother) to stop yapping at me and feeding me new scenes and situations I didn't realize existed in their story, I could focus on Grayson and the project he and Olivia are about to undertake, and the secrets they're both keeping.

It can get pretty noisy in my head when all of my characters start talking, but I'm going to use a firm hand on this one and make Danny and Tia wait for a while. Olivia has some big-sister meddling to do.

The Last Day of the Year

Whoa! It's halfway through the last day of the year and I'm just barely blogging. I guess I've been too busy thinking about lots of things; my new year's resolutions, what my plans are for tonight, and what I was doing ten years ago today. (Because ten years ago today was the last day of the last thousand years, and I wondered what would happen with all the Y2K hype going around. I was also ten years younger, and ten years less wise. I had two less children as well, and the idea of becoming an author one day hadn't been sparked yet.)

But somewhere along the line between ten years ago and today, I decided that I wanted to become an author. So when a story idea came to my mind, and I wrote it all down, I had dreams of seeing it in a book one day. When that didn't happen, I gave up my dream of becoming a published author for a while, until my next story idea came to mind. This time around, though, I was determined to see it published, and I dreamed about what it would be like to see the contents of my brain's imagination in a book that I could hold in my hands.

But whether or not I realized it, I set goals to see that happen. For four years, every time a new year came, I would write as my new year's resolution, "Finish my novel and get it published." Finally I did accomplished my goal, but it took longer than I wanted.

As I reflect back on how it all happened, I realize there were some different ways to set goals that would have made my journey a little smoother. Maybe even chopped off three years. (I guess I won't really know, because it all worked out and I learned a lot along the way.)

One thing I learned about setting goals is that they need to be attainable, by breaking a large goal down into smaller goals. For example, I would like to have another novel completed and in the works to be published by the end of 2010. I first need to break it down into smaller, more attainable goals, like completing a chapter a week. That way I can feel satisfaction in accomplishing a mini-goal, and that sense of accomplishment is something that keeps me going. Otherwise, I think I would feel overwhelmed and just give up.

My goals also need to be flexible. For instance, is it reasonable to expect myself to keep my writing goal during Christmas? Not in my case. I decided to take the week off. I have also found that my goals need to work for the type of person I am. Everyone is unique, and what works for one may not work for another.

It also helps to write goals down. There's a sort of magic feeling that's generated when you write a goal on paper and an even better feeling when you can cross it off after it has been accomplished.

This concept of goal setting carries over into any goal, no matter what it is; getting into shape, learning something new, or achieving exaltation. When you look at the big picture, look at the little steps that need to be taken in order to get there, and recognize that accomplishing little goals along the way brings a whole different kind of satisfaction that helps to keep us moving to the big picture.

Now, I better get back to my goal of making New Year's Eve plans so I'm not doing nothing all night, and I wish you all a happy New Year!

The Importance of Goals

by Rebecca Talley

Someone once said, "A goal not written down is merely a wish." I heard this long ago and since then have tried to write down my goals. At the beginning of each year, I write all the things I'd like to accomplish through the year. Though I don't always accomplish all of those goals, it keeps me more accountable during the year. (You'd think after setting patience as a goal for the last twenty or so years I'd at least be closer on that one).

On a daily basis, I'm a list person. I write a list every day of my to-do items and check them off as I complete them. It helps me at the end of a day of cleaning when I look at my messy house because I can return to my list and verify that I actually did clean the house (amazing how kids can destroy a clean house in the blink of an eye).

With writing, it's important for me to set goals, write them down, and then revisit those goals to see if I've accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. Recently, I've set the goal to write 1000 words each day on my current work-in-progress. Some days I haven't quite reached that goal, but some days I've surpassed it. The most important part is that it keeps me on task and gives me the kick-in-the-bottom I need to keep working on my WIP (even when I'd like to hit the delete key for the whole thing).

The number of pages set as a goal isn't what's important, it's the setting of the goal. A novel, or short story, is written page-by-page. No one (at least no one I know) sits down and writes a 60,000 word novel all in one day. It happens bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece. Setting realistic goals each day will help us to reach the major goal.

Some of my goals have included:

Write a character sketch
Research a job for a secondary character
Create a family tree
Write the time line for the novel
Interview my main character
Ask "What if?" for a sub-plot
Write a synopsis for the whole story
Write the story goal
Come up with the story-in-a-sentence (20 second elevator pitch)
List complications for my main character
Outline the story

These are some of the things I do before I start the actual writing and then I set a daily word count. I know some writers who set a daily goal of 2000 words while others set a goal of 100 words.

Don't just wish to write a novel, make it a reality by setting goals to accomplish it. You may be surprised at what happens!