My Writing Goals For the Year

Writing goals for the year… I’m sure you’re looking at the title of this post and then glancing back at your calendar thinking “But… it’s May. Shouldn’t you have figured out your writing goals by now? That’s a January thing!”

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can set your goals for the year whenever you want! Especially with this whole pandemic going on and people staying at home all of the time, time and days have no meaning anymore. Besides, what better time than now to do some goal resetting, right?

Right.

Besides, since I’m new to this whole “my book is actually going to be published” thing and am still figuring out the ropes, I haven’t had much of an idea of the sort of timelines and goals I should be giving myself with my writing. I’m starting to get a little better vision of how things go, which makes me much more comfortable to figure out what I want to do.

Even beyond that, I think having goals is helpful right now. I need things I can obtain and accomplish so when I look back at this time spent I can say “I did that!” I definitely have a lot of relaxing time too, and if you’re in a place where you don’t feel like you can be motivated and do ALL THE THINGS that’s okay too! But, I want to go for it.

Look at me all ready to crush those goals, sitting naturally at my desk for the camera. I even put on lipstick for the first time in about a month. #pandemiclife

Top Priority: Edit The Night’s Chosen and Prep it for Publishing!

This should be a no-brainer. Everything is going to come second to this. I want my debut novel (and any novel I publish for that matter) to be the absolute best it can be. Yes, I want to accomplish other things too, but if they need to be set aside for me to revise and edit The Night’s Chosen, so be it. It’s also the goal I’m most excited and scared for. The pressure is on now!

Next Up: Knock Out the Synopsis’ for The Next Book (or two)

A majority of the time your second book is sold on synopsis. Since The Night’s Chosen in my head is the first in a potential series, I want to have a rough outline and synopsis done for the sequel - maybe even the rest of the series! That way when the time comes, I can have it ready to go to pitch it to my editor instead of rushing to do it at the last minute.

Then: Write a Freebie for my Newsletter Subscribers

Yup! This has been on my list for a looooooong time. I want to be able to give away a downloadable short story or novella for my newsletter subscribers. If you’re already subscribed, I’d send it to you early. Then all new subscribers would get it when they sign up. The problem? I can never decide what I want to write about! All of my ideas end up becoming bigger and would do well as full length books instead of something shorter. But, it will happen. This goal is always in the back of my mind and I want to have it for you all as a thank you for all your support.

After That: Write More Short Stories

This is a skill I’ve wanted to hone for a long time. I started to awhile back with my flash fiction pieces, but then I fell off the wagon. (Probably around the time I stopped blogging in general. ::facepalm:: I want to do this for a few reasons. 1) So I can post more of my fiction writing to this blog and share it with you all! 2) A great way for me to get my writing out there in the world is to submit to magazines and anthologies and for those you need shorter pieces. 3) It’s just a good skill to have in my author tool belt.

And Another Thing: Keep Up With my Blog and Social Media

This blog has been on the back burner for far too long, and I want to keep up with it again. Only one post a week, but keep it active and up to date. I want this site to be the “main hub” for anyone to go to when it comes to my writing and what I’m up to.

AND ANOTHER: Keep Learning About Writing

This is a goal I’m continually doing because I need to keep learning about my craft and honing it so I get better. I want my first book to be amazing, but I don’t want to stop there. I want each book I write to be better and better.

But I’ve noticed how lax I’ve been. For example: I listen to the podcast Writing Excuses every single week and I love it. These writers are so knowledgeable and have such a wealth of wisdom to share! I love soaking it all in, even though the episodes are only 15-20 (sometimes longer) minutes long. The thing is… I never do the homework. Ever. It’s terrible! My editor had me take a class a couple weeks ago and I thought a lot of the concepts I already knew, but when I started to do the exercises and homework I realized that I could know all the information about metaphors and poetic language that I wanted - but if I didn’t actually practice writing them I was never going to get better. So, I want to keep up with taking classes, reading books, and watching videos about writing while actually doing the practice items the instructors give.

Finally: Think of More Novel Ideas!

I have a few of these floating around in my head and my journals have little notes and thoughts jotted down in them. But I’m getting excited to dig deeper into them and see if there’s anything more I can make of them. As much as I love The Night’s Chosen and the world I’ve created with it, I want my author career to go past it whether it’s a stand-alone book or a full series. There are more characters and worlds to create and I want to explore them!

Okay… looking at all of these feels like a lot. But, the idea isn’t to do all of them at once. This is for the whole year. When I get my notes back from my editor, I’m going to only be focusing on that until it’s done. After I turn in that round of revisions, I’ll look back at my list and pick another goal to focus on for a bit.

We’ll see how well I actually do, but for now I’m super motivated and ready to go!

Anyone else have goals they want to accomplish this year?

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When Writing is A Battle

I’m in high school and trying to think of a book idea.

I’d played around with novels in the past and always said I wanted to be an author, but I wanted to sit down and really do it. I mean… I was fourteen years old for crying out loud. SE Hinton had her first book written when she was 15 and published when she was 18. Clearly, I had to get going.

There was the age old advice of “write what you know” and I always rolled my eyes at it. What I knew was so boring. Until my sister points out “you know the story of Snow White better than anyone. Why don’t you just write about that?”

Well… now there’s an idea.

It’s a few years post college and I have an incredibly rough draft complete of this old idea about Snow White I once had.

Having put my writing aspirations aside as a hobby and only participating in NaNoWriMo and toying with edits in exchange for focusing on a different career path, I realize I’m tired of keeping my writing on the side. I have so many other ideas. More characters and worlds to explore. I can’t not write anymore.

But… this book is not good.

For someone who played around with it periodically in high school in college it’s just fine. As an actual publishable novel? Not at all.

And I’m okay with this.

I set the book aside and work on something brand new.

It’s a couple years later.

I’ve completed and revised a book and queried it out to agents. Nothing happened with it. While I’m sad and disappointed, as I look through the manuscript I know there’s so much work to be done on it and to be frank - there wasn’t a market for this genre at the moment. Maybe I can return to it someday.

Yet, I don’t have anything else to work on.

As I sit in my living room watching TV an idea hits me like a lightning bolt. It has to do with Snow White. But… different.

No. NO WAY. I can’t go back to my terrible terrible book from high school. BAD IDEA.

But…

The same skeleton of the Snow White tale is there (obviously) and the same with the love interest. Yet… there’s more. A completely new turn. A new story. Sure, use the same character names if they still work. But this isn’t just revising a terrible old draft. It’s something new.

It’s August of 2018 and there’s two weeks to go until the PitchWars deadline.

My Snow White novel isn’t complete. It’s close, but, there’s so many more words to write than I’m used to in such a short period of time.

Yet… maybe I could do it.

Would it be hard?

For sure.

Is it possible though? Am I crazy enough to go for it?

I set a schedule for myself where I wake up early each morning before my 7am clock in time for work. When I get home, I write even more. Sometimes from the moment I get home to the moment I go to bed only to start it all over again the next morning. I cancel plans with friends and have to back out of meetings. I talk to my supervisor about my goal and they’re kind enough to let me leave early the day before my deadline and have the whole next day off so I can get it done.

With a few hours to spare - the book is done. The last half isn’t perfect. The last quarter is a hot mess. But it’s done. I’m completely and utterly exhausted and I never want to look at a computer screen ever again. I also have never been more proud of myself regardless of the outcome.

Submit.

It’s April 2019 and I’m still revising.

I didn’t get picked for PitchWars - but I later learned I did get attention. Someone helps guide me through how to revise. I read a book about plotting. I outline, write and edit, reoutline then rewrite and reedit. I get started, then there’s times for weeks I can barely look at the page.

Each time I have a break through a roadblock appears. Even if it’s just one I’ve created in my own head. I think I have it all though through then when I go to write my mind completely blanks out.

I’ve cut so many words and added even more words only to have them cut again.

I know this is how the revision process goes, but it doesn’t feel like I’m making any. I know it’s being made, but my heart won’t accept this fact.

Other novel ideas are floating around in my head and it’s so tempting to just say “well… I tried that time for something else.” I want to dig through those stories and characters. I want to take all that I’ve learned and maybe, just maybe, this time around it’ll be better.

It’ll be easier.

But if I stopped one book and started a new one every time it got hard I would never have anything complete. So, I keep going.

Then I doubt myself. “What if this wasn’t such a brilliant idea in the first place? What if there isn’t really anything to salvage out of this? Do I really want to waste my time on a book that’s never going to be great? Maybe you were never meant to publish a book. You’ve been talking about this literally your entire life and you still can’t even get revisions on this one book done.”

There’s a literary agent/writer I follow on Twitter, Eric Smith, and he tweeted several weeks ago “The book of your heart is worth fighting for.”

In case you're a writer who needs to hear this...

The book of your heart is worth fighting for.

— Eric Smith (@ericsmithrocks) March 16, 2019

Is this Snow White novel the book of my heart? It might be. Although, I wonder if there is even a single “book of your heart.” I think you might have a few. They all just each explore a different part of your heart. I think this book is one of the books of my heart.

I keep trying to remind myself that if this is the case, it’s worth the fight and the battle. The days of self-doubt and frustration. All of it will be worth it.

Maybe I should shoot for only 100 words a day. Even if it’s not much progress, it’s at least something on days when my brain can’t work any more. Maybe I should set another hard and fast goal to force myself to get it done and stop making excuses. Maybe if I make one more outline it’ll work itself out.

Maybe this

Maybe that

Try this

Try that

Yet… it’s still not done.

Why isn’t it done?

I know I don’t have a timeline and I can’t compare myself to the routines of other people because every has their own process. In spite of knowing this, I can’t help but keep asking myself “Why can’t I just figure it out and get it done?”

There’s something that’s going to be special and unique about this book. There has to be. Something in me says to keep going and keep digging through the muck and I’ll find something special. For some reason, it’s not coming out yet.

I know writing and revising is hard. Most of us writers know this. But when we’re actually in the middle of it, we (or at least I) start to wonder “Is it supposed to be this hard?”

The book of your heart is worth fighting for.

So, I’m trying. And I’m fighting. Even if I don’t hit my word count goal each day. Even if end up deleting all of the scenes that I’ve already written and I have to start some of them (or all of them) over. Camp NaNoWriMo and spring arriving with it’s sunshine helps. Talking with other writers and my CPs helps. But it’s hard right now. It’s been hard for several months now.

But I can’t stop fighting for this book.

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Tooting My Own Horn

I’ve never been good at choices. Even with seemingly simple things, if I think too hard or have too many options, my completely freeze up. Back in college picking a table to sit at in the dining hall was always a dilemma and drove my friends nuts. (There were just a lot of people I liked to have meals with, okay???? If my usual group of friends weren’t eating at the same time I was, it made picking a table very difficult.) Even now, when one of my friends and I try to decide on where to hang out after church we both slightly panic and then usually end up going to one of the same places we always go simply because it’s easier than making any other choice.

I’m always in that classic dilemma of “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?”

Needless to say, if I can’t even make a decision on where to eat or hang out on a certain day, when presented with bigger questions such as “what do you want to do in your life” or “where do you see yourself in 5 years” leave me completely overwhelmed.

I’m sorry, but how do I know that what I want now will be the same thing I want in 5 years? Just look at my career history for example. All through college I knew for sure that I wanted to be a youth minster. I did that for 5 1/2 years… for at least 2 of those years I was wondering if that was what I really wanted and ended up leaving that career path.

I’ve never been one for bucket lists and writing down my goals.

Yet lately, I’ve been wondering if it’s something I should be doing. One of my favorite bloggers, Helene In Between, on her blog the last few weeks has been talking a lot about getting what you want in life, making bucket lists, and reaching your goals. Then, this week I picked up the book Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis.* They’re both basically saying, if you want something, then find a way to get it.

As much as I avoid making choices and setting five year plans and all of that, I still have to admit there are things I want in life. Things I want to accomplish and goals to achieve. So, making that list for myself is a project I’m working on for myself. The goals might change over time, and that’s okay. But there is merit to writing them down because they become more tangible. Something that “yes, I am going to do this.” Whether I share this list or not, who knows. But it’s a start.

In this vein, Helene wrote a blog post about her bucket list and what she’s done and what she still hopes to do in life. I’ll admit, I tend to get a bit jealous as I read her blog and browse her Instagram account. If you don’t follow her - you should, but be prepared for major travel envy. She and her husband live in Germany and she’s a full time travel blogger. So many times I think “why can’t my life be like that?”

Then, something interesting happened. I read through her bucket list and some of the things she hopes to do one day and more than once I thought “Oh, I’ve done that.”

Yup. Little me who lives a completely boring life, works an hourly job, lives with her parents, who is perpetually single, doesn’t have kids, and doesn’t travel often, has done several items on Helene’s bucket list that she hasn’t gotten to yet.

Say whaaaaaaa?

It was kind of a cool feeling. (Not that we should be comparing our lives to others, and maybe this seems super shallow and selfish of me, but I was kind of excited. Sue me.)

It made me think back on the last 32 years a little differently.

Then, as I was reading Girl, Wash Your Face, one of the things she suggested the reader do is to write down the things they’ve accomplished. (She’s also mentioned writing down your goals.) We as women I think have a hard time with this. We don’t want to brag or seem to full of ourselves. But, we should celebrate and acknowledge these things. Even if they seem small.

So…. I sat down this morning and started a list of all of the things I’ve done so far in my life. Yes, I started with the things on Helene’s bucket list that I’ve done because I’m shallow like that.

To be honest, once I got going, this list was much easier to make than the one of what I hope to accomplish. Which was kind of awesome.

Here it is. I am tooting my own horn and saying “LOOK AT WHAT I DID.” We all have gifts, opportunities, and talents we’ve been given, and we need to use them. We can celebrate what we’ve done with our lives, even if it seems simple.

• Written 2 novels in 5 years (both were over 100k words)

• Queried one novel

• Won NaNoWriMo 9 times

• Sung in Pearl Harbor, the first Christian church in Hawaii, and on TV (thanks to my high school choir director)

• Performed in Disney World, Toronto, Michigan State University, state competitions, and local band competitions (thanks to my high school band director)

• Performed in 5+ local theatre productions

• Been paid to play/teach music

• Built a youth program

• Became a godmother

• Rescued an animal

• Read over 100 books in a year

• Seen a show on Broadway

• Met Broadway stars Samantha Barks, Steve Kazee, and Tony Baracco

• Met the following authors: VE Schwab, Becky Albertalli, Laini Taylor, Jay Kristoff, Amie Kauffman, Keira Cass, Leonard Sweet (we shared a golf cart at a conference once), and Stephanie Perkins

• Seen John and Hank Green live

• Seen Blake Mycoskie (the founder of Toms) speak live

• Met cast members of Gilmore Girls and This is Us

• Watched the sun rise on a mountain in the Appalachians

• Graduated college (this is a privilege I think too many of us take for granted)

• Seen Hamilton (I’ve seen several musicals, but considering how these tickets even here in Chicago can be super hard to get, I’m proud of this fact)

• Gone 8 years without a major injury (for someone with my bone condition, this is a BIG deal)

• Been on several service and missions trips

• Learned to play 5 instruments (one self taught)

• Traveled/Lived in the following states:

  • Illinois

  • Indiana

  • Missouri

  • California

  • Hawaii

  • New York

  • Alabama (Including going to Selma and seeing the inspiration for To Kill a Mockingbird and other important places relating to the civil rights movement)

  • Iowa

  • Louisiana

  • Florida (gone to Disney, The Magical World of Harry Potter, and Panama City Beach multiple times)

  • Minnesota

  • Michigan

  • South Carolina

  • Virginia

  • Ohio

  • Kentucky

There you have it, things I’ve accomplished in my life. Honestly, I think it’s a good list. Granted, we shouldn’t judge ourselves and our worth based on what we’ve checked off of a list or if our lists are longer than others, or anything like that. But, I do think that it’s a nice little confidence booster.

Because guess what? You’re awesome. You can, and have, do things! Awesome things! Even if they seem small.

I encourage you to make a list too. Even if there are only a few items on the list, but I think as you get going, you’ll surprise yourself. I know I did.

Because if I can accomplish all of this, then I can accomplish other things too, and so can you.

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April Goals

Happy April! 

Supposedly it's officially spring now in Chicago. Which... spring is always slightly random for us. We had the coldest Easter Sunday in 20 years last year, but it's been sunny and should be warming up soonish. 

We'll see what "soonish" actually turns out to be.

But, at least it appears as though the worst of winter is behind us. Even just having the sun out more often while it's still cold gives hope that spring is coming and gives me a tad more motivation to reach some of those goals I made back in January. Starting resolutions in the middle of winter is a terrible idea, because all I want to do is curl up in bed with a book and binge Netflix TV shows. 

April also means Camp NaNoWriMo is starting! It's like the little sister to National Novel Writing Month where people get to work on their writing projects. There are a few differences though.

1. During National Novel Writing Month in November, the big goal is 50,000 words. During Camp, you get to set your own goal.
2. You have the option to be put into a "cabin" of other writers where you have a little chat going and can encourage one another in your goals.
3. You don't have to necessarily be working on a novel during Camp. 

I don't regularly participate in Camp NaNoWriMo the way I do the big event in November. It all depends on what I'm working on and what's going on in my life. This year, I decided that I'm going to casually participate since it could be the kick in the rear I need to get some major headway in my novel done. 

What will I be working on? Glad you asked.

I'm officially stepping back from Vampire Snow White (Bleeding Heart.) I love that book and the characters, but the writers block I've had with it has been some of the most intense I've ever experienced. After talking over with my writing group, I think it's time to take a break from it for the time being. At first I didn't want to switch projects and push through it, because if you keep on switching around what you're working on, nothing will ever get done. But, I think this is for the best. I love this book, but I don't think I have the tools or mindset to tackle it yet. In the future I will, but not right now.

Which means I'm going back to the novel I originally was working on before Bleeding Heart took over, and that's what I nick-name my "fairy tale mash-up" (White Rose). 

White Rose is going to be more of an adult epic or high fantasy novel that I think would have young adult appeal. (Think A Court of Thorns and Roses. While, technically it is marketed as  YA, NONE of the characters are teenagers after the first book and has a lot of content that I don't see as being YA. I see my book as being something similar.) The main focus is combining the two fairy tales of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" with "Snow White and Rose Red" where we see the story of two sisters, Eira and Rose. There's a bunch of other fairy tales I want to reference though, which makes it really fun.

I'm pretty excited about this book because since it's not a urban fantasy, all of it will take place in a different fantasy world and I'm enjoying building it up. 

My overall word count goal is to write 25,000 words. I already had 14,000 words written in this novel. So, by the end of April I should have roughly 40,000 words done. This makes for a little over 800 words a day. Which is not bad at all.

I'm not going to stress myself out about word count though. As long as I'm making regular progress each day, I'm going to be happy. I also will not be joining a cabin. I have a good core group of writing friends and other connections I've made, and they aren't all participating in Camp. It's just easier and more helpful to go to them when I need support. 

It's going to be a fun month writing-wise and I'm excited!

I have one other goal I want to work on this month too. That's building up my email list. A few days ago I posted on social media that if I were to add an incentive for people to join my email list, which would be the best:

• Original fiction
• Writing help freebies

Some people said they'd want original fiction, but the majority asked for writing help freebies, to my surprise! So, that's something I'd like to work on. It'd be great to have some sort of free worksheet or workbook or something for people who sign up for the email list. I'm not sure how to do it yet, or what it will entail, but it's definitely on my goals for April. 

If anyone has experience making the PDFs for their subscribers (writing or otherwise) please let me know, because I have no idea where to even begin!

What are some of your goals for April? Anyone else participating in Camp NaNoWriMo?

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2017 Year in Review and Looking Ahead

It's the first week of January and I'm already breaking my posting routine by blogging on Wednesday and not Tuesday. But, when I saw that one of my favorite bloggers, Helene in Between, was hosting a year in review and 2018 goals for January 3 link up, I had to join in on the fun. I was already planning a blog post on this topic anyway, so why not. Right? 

Right.

Click on the photo below to go to Helene's blog and find others who are linking up too!

2017 in Review

Life

At first, I didn't think 2017 had much going on, and for so many people 2017 was a terrible terrible year with politics, hurricanes, Nazis... just to name a few things. But, when I thought about it, there were a few big moments at least for myself and my family!

My sister and her husband had their first baby! All year my family and I were preparing, organizing the baby shower, and general excitement for the new arrival! She was born in November and we couldn't be happier!

I got a new job at another hotel. The same position at the front desk and same company as the hotel where I was previously, but this one is much closer to home. At my old job, I was driving an hour each way and when I looked at the cost of the commute, it just wasn't worth it. I'm really enjoying my new hotel which is also smaller than the previous one, and makes for a much more relaxing work environment. 

My parents and I moved to a new condo. It's smaller than our old place, but we really like it! It's cozy and perfect for us and the animals. 

I was in a friends wedding in Orlando, and while I was there I decided to spend a couple extra days to visit Disney World and Universal Studios. It was a blast! The best part was meeting Snow White (along with Elsa, Anna, Aurora, Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins, Alice, Ariel...). Which, I know that makes a total dork! But I love Disney, and Snow White has been my favorite character ever since I was a toddler. I've gone to Disney World a few times, but never got to meet her before now, so it was definitely exciting for me.

Me at the wedding in July. The venue had an awesome library!

Blog

I finally bit the bullet and got my new blog started up! My old blog, Love Woke Me Up This Morning, had it's domain expire and I couldn't get it back up again. I took it as a sign to officially close that one down and get this one set up. I'm loving Square Space, and I'm really proud of the design and layout, and my blog posts and topics are much more intentional than they used to be.

Meeting Snow White in Epcot!

Reading

I read 113 books in 2017! In 2016 I had read 124, and I wanted to read less so I had more life/reading balance. Technically, I did read less. So... mission accomplished? Although, I'm not sure if I've nailed the life/reading balance yet - haha. 

Here's the genres I read (many books overlap into several genres and categories):

• 56 adult 
• 49 young adult
• 25 contemporary
• 59 fantasy
• 19 historical
• 2 graphic novels
• 6 sci-fi
• 3 classics
• 5 non-fiction
• 1 action
• 3 horror/thriller
• 32 romance
• 18 own voices
• 51 books which featured main characters from marginalized groups

I'll be posting about my top 17 books of 2017 next week, and if you want to see a full list and more stats, click here. 

One of the pretty trees at our new condo!

Writing

2017 was the year I finally began querying my urban fantasy novel to literary agents! It was terrifying.

After sending out 47 queries, I had exactly one agent request more pages, and all 47 ultimately said no. Sometimes through an email back, sometimes by not responding at all. Which, was a bummer. But, this was a big and important step for me in my writing career. 

Sending out queries helped me learn how to handle rejection. I learned what agents are looking for in a good query and opening pages. I learned how to get over the fear of putting myself and my work out there. Now that I've overcome the hurdle of starting the querying process, I know I can continue to do it.

I got started on a new project, which I've nicknamed "Vampire Snow White." It's exactly as it sounds. What if Snow White was a vampire? I'm obsessed with this project and these characters. It's been so much fun!

I joined the summer writing contest through The Write Practice, which was my first venture into short fiction and writing contests. I learned that I'm not very good at short fiction, but it's something I want to continue to work on. Thus, I created Flash Fiction Fridays here on my blog. It's a series I'm already loving, even though there's only been four stories so far. I hope you all have been loving them too!

Finally, I gained more writer friends and critique partners. There's a trio of myself and two friends from college where we've made our own little writing group and it's been a blast reading their pages and getting their feedback on mine too. Even beyond the writing elements, I'm living for our ongoing Facebook chat. 

Me and my niece, Elsie, the day after she was born! Isn't she the cutest?

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2018 Goals

I know that in all reality, the start of a new year is just another day. We don't need to count down to midnight and turn the page in our calendar to get started on our goals and what we want to accomplish. But, I love the symbolism behind it, and I like having that set time to start fresh. It doesn't erase or change anything from the year before, but it has the feeling of something fresh and new. 

Here are a few of the things I'd like to happen in 2018.

Life

It sounds a little sad, but I had a hard time thinking of goals for myself that are simply for myself and not the blog, reading, or writing. I'm not one to say "This year I'll go to the gym every day!" or "I'm going to eat healthier!" 

We all know that neither of these things will ever happen. 

But, I did think of a couple things in life I know I need to work on.

• Spend time with friends. Now that I have a semi-normal work schedule, I don't have an excuse to not see them anymore. I get off work around 3pm nearly every day, which means I have plenty of time in the afternoons to hang out and have a social life. I'm always happier when I'm out and about, but I let some anxiety get in the way.
• Go on actual dates. A friend and I were talking about this the other night and how we moan and groan about being "forever single." Then we turn around, talk to a guy for a bit, then ignore him, and never go out. It doesn't make sense. (We also joked about making a podcast about our crazy online dating stories just for comedy's sake because wow - we have some funny ones.) 
• Make a plan to go on a vacation. I've been doing better about this the last couple of years. I love to travel and see new places and experience new things, but I have a hard time making it a reality. My mom and I were discussing this not long ago and how we need to pick a place to go that we've always wanted to see, and figure out how we'll get there. 

Blog

I'm pretty proud of myself as it is with being able to keep up with blogging as much as I have been already. But there is always room for improvement and growth!

• Build up my email list. From what I've read for aspiring authors, I always hear how the email list is super important. Already I have it set up so people receive an email with each blog post, and a monthly newsletter. I'd love to have a freebie to include though when people sign up like an exclusive short story you can only get as an email subscriber. Keep an eye out!
• Post more often. So far, I've been posting once a week. Twice when I have a Flash Fiction Friday or a special occasion. I'd love it though if I could bump it up to twice a week.
• Include guest bloggers. Yes! I want guest bloggers! My email list was already informed, so they have first dibs. But I would love to include other writers, readers, and friends on this blog with guest posts and interviews. If you would like to write a guest post or be interviewed, send me an email! (eehornburg [at] gmail [dot] com)

Blog posts about planning for the new year means showing off your new planner, right? Right.

Reading

Usually, I try to go easy on the reading goals. Reading is a fun escape for me, and I hate it when I feel as though I "have" to read a certain book, vs. wanting to read it. But, I did notice that I wasn't reading as intentionally this past year, and there are a few things I'd like to accomplish.

• Read less. It sounds weird, and this was a goal last year (I read 124 in 2016 and 113 in 2017), and it's one I want to keep up. I love reading a ton of books every year. But, I know I need to be better at life/reading balance. I don't want to wake up one morning realizing I missed a ton of life opportunities and experiences because I had my nose stuck in a book.
• Read more own voices. I definitely have been reading own voices books, and reading books where the main characters are from marginalized groups. But, when I look at the numbers, I can do way better. Especially with own voices and books for adults. Not that I don't want to read YA own voices - I absolutely do! But, I'm familiar with that market and know where to find them. I want to work on finding authors for adults who are also own voices. All books need to be diverse and have representation from everyone in them. But, we need to be sure the own voices are being raised up. 
• Read books I already own. This is a big one. Of the physical books I already, I have roughly 35 I haven't read. Which isn't a bad number. But of my ebooks... that's a whole other story. I have a severe ebook downloading problem. They come so inexpensive, I feel like a fool NOT downloading them! Then here I am... with over 130 unread books sitting on my Kindle app. When I think about it too much, I get ridiculously overwhelmed.

Writing

My writing goals at this point in my life are some of my most important. Mainly because I'm impatient and I just want to have an agent and a book deal RIGHT NOW. 

I know this is not realistic, and even after an author signs with an agent, there's a ton more waiting and work to be done. But, my impatience helps to keep me motivated.

• Have a full rough draft done for Vampire Snow White and ready to send to my critique partners by the end of February. I got a big chunk of it done during NaNoWriMo, took a much  needed break in December, and now I'm ready to get back to it. This means writing about another 50,000 words. Considering I wrote 50k in one month, I can totally get another 50k done in two.
• Work on revisions and rewrites for my urban fantasy, Guardians of the City. This one is much more tentative, because I do think I need to take a step back from it for a bit. But, I'd like to think at some point this year, I'll be ready to tackle it again.
• Get back to work on fairy-tale mash-up. This is a project I was in the very beginning stages of before VSW took over my life. I didn't intend to cast it to the side, because I think it has a lot of potential. But, I'm so excited for VSW that I knew I needed to put all of my focus on that. I think while I'm waiting for readers to send me feedback on VSW I'll play around with this one a bit. Get some brainstorming and outlining done. I'd love it to be my 2018 NaNoWriMo project!

Apparently, I need to use pencil when I use my planner because I'm always crossing things out and rewriting it!

How's that for a list of goals and resolutions for 2018? I feel like such an overachiever when I look over these lists. But, I also know in reality, I most likely won't be able to accomplish all of them, and I'm okay with that. Which doesn't make me such an overachiever after all. 

How was 2017 for you? Any favorite memories for the year? Do you have any New Years Resolutions, Goals, or Plans?

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