Ack. Argh. (That probably dates me for those of us old enough to remember Bill the Cat.) I've been thinking about this for days now! I tried this last year and it was an epic fail. So, I decided that Deep Thought was required to suss out the roots of the issue so that next January's post doesn't begin in exactly the same way.
It's a real issue for me. I have a habit of digging deep into my ruts and staying there in the comfy, squishy space of known territory--even if known territory is just spinning wheels. I'm process-oriented to a fault, you see, and not very brave.
Last year, my main goal was to 'become more like a professional writer' which I defined as writing nearly every day. I had more specific goals but that was the big one. The other major goal was to finish all those nearly done pieces and do something with them. Plus, write new ones. These are not untenable or impossible goals. Except that last year, I did less writing and finished less work than any year since I started getting serious about this four years or so ago. So what happened? (Visualize that sideways shoulder slump and hunch that accompanies these sorts of questions for me.)
The ways of one's unconscious are by nature and definition mysterious. But for sure, I came to realize that the 'write every day' tenant of everybody from Chuck Wendig to the nice acquaintance on my FB feed who indie pubs doesn't really work for me. I immerse myself in a project--which is why NaNo does work for me. I work in long intense bursts. I just need to create a way to make that happen inside the rest of my life. I need a ramp month (two weeks?) where I research, plot and plan. I need a month or so to focus on the writing. Then I need to leave it alone. (For the flavors to marinate?) Ideally the third month would be used to edit a project that I had finished earlier... Somehow I need to figure out a way to create that kind of work schedule so that it's habit. I need to slip into it and never, or rarely ever, slip out of it. I have enough family support--or I can drum up enough from my kids, who will hate their new chore load--to make it happen, with some adjustments on all our parts. :-)
But that doesn't deal with the other issue--all the 'almost finished' stories that I've written in the last few years. They need a home. Some of them will reside on my hard drive forever, of course. But some really should find readers, I believe. But to find readers, I need to get over myself and get them done. I have one that is so close that I actually have a self-pub cover ready for it and a pseudonym all picked out. It's been read or edited by three people, all of whom liked it. Remember when I said that I wasn't brave? Yeah.
So 2014's goals are:
1. Be Brave. In the immortal words of Chuck Wendig, "finish what you start."
2. Actively adjust my world to support the way that I work even if that makes me feel selfish as all hell.
3. Write at least one new project to set up that schedule.
4. Avoid Scrivener like the Plague. It's a long story. Someday at Panera, over a cup of coffee, I'll tell you about it if you haven't already heard it about a dozen times.
In January, my goals are:
1. Finish writing November's NaNo novel.
2. Do one last go through of Lily.
3. Start the formatting process for Smashwords and Kindle for Lily. Ideally, I'd like self-pubbing Lily to be a goal for the end of February but given that I have a jewelry show at the end of February, March is more realistic.
