I have a problem with resolutions (a.k.a. intentions, a.k.a. goals). I don’t mean that I don’t believe in them or anything. It’s the opposite, actually. I am addicted to them. I’m known for coming up with a fairly hefty set of goals (See me texting my best friend the other day, “Got any resolutions?” and her responding, “Do you already have your list?”). No small number of my goals has to do with writing. But this year I’m trying to take a slightly different tack by a) Not setting any goals that are so bananas I’m almost certainly going to fail and b) I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t slay every single one of them. In this way, I’m finding the middle ground. I’m challenging myself, but also not holding myself to impossible standards.
You’re probably thinking, Why are you delving into this at the end of January, though? I like to think of January as the reality check period for my goals for the year. Everything feels so shiny and achievable on January 1st, but by the end of the month, I can see what’s going to work and what is just a little too pie-in-the-sky. Without further ado, here are the writing-related goals I’ve set for myself for 2020.
The Agent Search Continues
Some years I pursue this harder than others, and last year I had some promising bites from agents, one of which led to a massive revision, that, while ultimately not a good fit for that agent, I believe made my book much better than it’s ever been. This year, my goal is to query at least ten agents re: my first novel.
Remember that NaNoWriMo Novel?
I did meet my NaNoWriMo goal and write 50k words in November! I still don’t feel like I have a complete first draft, though, so right now I’m working on adding and changing elements so I can have that draft done, hopefully within a few months. My first two books were YA, but this is my first real YA romance, so I’m excited to see where the genre takes me.
Making Regular Writing Time
This is one I know a lot of us struggle with. Between teaching, my kids, running Plume, and all the other things life continues to throw at me, carving out time for my writing is a challenge, to say the least. I always remember a professor in grad school offering simple advice: Do your stuff first, and then the work obligations. There will always be essays to grade and lesson plans to put together, and I know I have to do them, so I if I do my writing first, I can’t put it off until the other things that I’m obligated to finish. Though my schedule changes every few months, I’m planning to build in those times, even if it’s jotting down a page or two by hand during my kid’s Taekwondo practice on the weekend.
Growing Plume
Our Plume community, both our subscribers and our online followers, are such a supportive group of people. We want to continue to reach out to more and more writers, to find new and exciting featured writers, as well as expand the writers we support and encourage through our endeavors. We’ve already got several events planned for the first half of the year to help us reach this goal, and would also love if you could tell your friends about us. We are so grateful to you and your continued engagement with Plume. Truly, thank you!
What are some of your writing goals for the year? Let us know here in the comments or on any of our socials: Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook.