Monday, May 08, 2006

Goals - no time like the present

Sorry for the boring post, a lot of this is for my own benefit. :-) I've decided to make some writing goals for several reasons.
1) Creating them gives me definitive deadlines to work toward
2) Posting them on the blog forces me to be accountable for the ones that are in my control
3) It gives me reasons to use some fantastic
excuses when I don't reach them - just kidding!
4) I really like making lists, especially bulleted lists. It's a passion of mine. I've even made a list of lists I've needed to make. Muhahaha!

Okay, here are my goals as of today. I know, I know. This looks INSANE. But, I'd rather push for insane, I'll get more results that way. Now that my puppy needs less maintenance, I can get back to writing in the evenings. I don't have kids and my job is pretty steady and 8-5 most of the time, with some freelancing, so I really should have the time to do this.

I can write anywhere from 1-2k per hour, depending on if I already know what's going to happen (need to outline...). That means 10-20 hours per week on WIP, thus averaging 1.5-3 hours per day heavy on the weekends. Given a one hour lunch break most days, this seems doable. First I need to trim down my reading. I'm reading 1-3 books a week! Then I need to squeeze in time for some shorter works to submit for e-publishing.

May
10: Complete short story and submit to Freya's Bower for anthology (fingers crossed!)
12: Outline major plot points of "Cursed to Hate, Bound to Love (CtHBtL)" - no more panstering
14: 30k on CtHBtL
15: Complete first draft of short story for Phaze HeatSheet Samba submission
21: 50k on CtHBtL
28: 70k on CtHBtL
31: Complete first drafts of stories for themed anthology e-pub submission & Phaze Samba submission

June
4: Reach 90k on CtHBtL & submit Phaza Samba story
11: Finish draft one of CtHBtL
15: Finish three stories for anthology
25: Begin revising CtHBtL
30: Submit anthology of short stories to e-publishers

July
25: Complete CtHBtL in time for RWA Nationals (and the Write-On! deadline for a nifty t-shirt!)

August
1: Write synopsis and query letters
7: Begin book two in Last Hunter Series or another book - haven't decided if it looks better (to agents) to be working on the next in a series, or something entirely different in case an editor doesn't want the series (gulp!)
11: Send out agent queries then relax the next couple of weeks while I participate in festivities for my brother-in-laws wedding

By the end of the year I hope to have accomplished these goals:
1) Complete CtLBtH
2) Complete at least first draft of another novel
3) Be e-published in at least one short story
4) Find an agent!

Let's hope I'm still with these goals come May 31...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, those are some lofty goals. You go, girl! I know you can do it!!!

I've resigned myself to the fact I am a 2-book-a-year writer right now while my kids are young. (100K words). Three would be pushing it for me.

Lisa Pulliam said...

Yeah - lofty is a good word

Two books a year is a lot! Especially when you think about commercial fiction writers, many who average two years per book. I don't know that I could do more than two either, even without kids

I have yet to revise a whole novel, that's the make it or break it I think.

Anonymous said...

ROFL. You're talking to the woman who just went through revision hell. I'm soooo glad to say I'm done with that one!

I think the more you write, the better your first drafts become therefore the less overall revising you have to do. At least that's true for me. Maybe. We'll see.

Lisa Pulliam said...

Yeah, I'll be knocking on your door for advice when it comes time to revise. Your blog provided a great idea for revising, I can't remember if it was your personal one or RWKF though. You mentioned that each level of revising looks for a different thing (i.e. looking for plot holes one run-through, characters the next, description the next, etc). I love that!