Tuesday, January 14, 2014

What's Your Outlook for 2014?















Happy New Year! I love January. It means the start of a new year and fuels hope that the next 365 days will bring laughter, joy and hopefully the fulfillment of dreams  - both big and small.


I am not a resolution kind of girl. Rather, I like to make small goals that I strive for every couple of months. Last year I worked for my first publishing credit. Then I worked toward another. I wrote like crazy and queried my first novel.


While it was a frustrating (and nerve-wracking) process, I achieved my goal. No, I didn't get an agent, but I got great feedback from the writing community (and agents) and improved my craft way beyond my wildest dreams.


So what are my plans for 2014? Here is what I posted on Twitter...



My motto for 2014: Cheer on your friends' successes and stay positive. Have faith and know your time will come soon!


Notice I didn't write "get an agent" or "sell a book." While I think these are tremendous goals, I also think they add unnecessary stress to your life. Sure, these goals are what every writer hopes to achieve, but in many ways they are things that are out of our control.


You can write a great book, but maybe it's just not catching an agent's eye. Or perhaps the market is too inundated with the topic. That doesn't mean you didn't write something worth reading - it just isn't time.


Yes, getting an agent, selling a book would be awesome, and I will still work toward those things - but my goals are more focused now on things I can control:




- Improving my writing craft


- Continuing to build relationships in the writing community


- Providing more informative posts for writers on my personal blog




What about you? Do you make resolutions or create small goals for yourself? What do you hope to achieve in 2014? I would love to hear about it all in the comments!


















4 comments:

Britney Gulbrandsen said...

I agree completely! I never set writing goals for myself like: get an agent by ____ or get published by ____. Rather I make goals like, finish draft one by ____. Or pitch to 5 agents by _____. I only make goals for things I can control. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your goals :)

Angelica R. Jackson said...

Yes, you can easily make yourself crazy by setting goals that aren't under your control!

In my 20s, I set the goal that if I hadn't been published by 25, I'd give up this writing thing (I naively thought quitting was an option back then, haha). It made me end up submitting short fiction to a lot of markets that weren't really good matches, therefore I got even more rejections.

But even then, it wasn't wasted effort because it reinforced that I will be a writer whether my words ever see print or not (but boy am I glad they have), and helped me develop more realistic goals. As well as thick skin, ha!

Kathleea said...

Yes, an agent/book deal would be wonderful, yea? But, out of my hands. I agree that small goals are better. I intend to better my craft, keep writing and getting feedback from other writers, build a bigger support group, get more followers on Twitter, read more books, go to book related events (possibly a conference if I can afford it). I love the support the writing commuity has and I often squeal when an author I love tweets me back (they are my celebrities), I tend to do the same thing when an agent follows me. LOL. Yes, small goals, attainable goals. And if the rest happens? You'll probably hear me scream LOUDLY.

rena traxel said...

I agree. While I do want to get an agent it's all the goals I'm setting now that will help me get there. The biggest goal I have this year is to finish my YA, MG and couple of picture books. And build my writer platform. I have a craft related goals set for each month (this month I'm taking a picture book writer course). I plan to evaluate my goals on month to month basis and adjust accordingly. I did pick a one word resolution author meaning my writing is a priority.