A Light Through the Darkness

Next year, I have several large goals and some smaller ones I want to hit. I'm posting them here to keep me honest.

Large Goals

Goal the first: Finish fixing Belladonna Dreams and start submitting it.

I have been putzing around on this for far too long.
Goal date to have it submit-ready: May 1, 2008.

Goal the second: Finish Dark Moons Seasons and submit it to publisher.

This is a necessary. :p Several smaller dates on this one.
Goal date to have rough draft to editor: April 1, 2008.
Goal date to have final to publisher: August 1, 2008.

Goal the third: Write outline and start rough draft of Last Rites.

Again, a bit of a necessity.
Goal date for outline: October 1, 2008
Goal date for rough draft: February 1. 2009

Goal the fourth: Finish editing Magic and Fantasy.

I have so got to get moving on this.
Goal date for first pass editing: Jan. 15, 2008


Small Goals

Goal the first: Actually track writing output this year.

I'd be really interested to see how much I write when I put my mind to it. So I'm going to actually track this and see what I come up with at the end.
Goal amount per day: 1k per day, averaged over the month.
Goal for January: 31,000 words.

Goal the second: Work on my marketing skills.

Because honestly, I have none. I have ideas. Now I have to follow through on them.

Goal the third: Master the short story.

Yes, I know short stories have no money in them. I don't care. This is something I want to do for me.
Goal amount: 1 short story per month written.

Goal the fourth: Actually finish the first year of 2yn.

Self-explanatory.

Notice that all the major goals have deadlines attached. I have discovered that goals with no deadlines become goals that Val "gets to eventually." But this year I have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in, so I need to get my arse in gear.

There are other things I'd like to do as well. I need to start working on some other books not connected with the Horseman world. I need to start working on the second series for Horseman as well.

What are your writing goals for the year?

So, it's that time of year again - when Val looks back, decides she's the laziest person in the world and makes massive goals that she'll never reach in an effort to make up for the horrid last year.

Except I've decided not to do that this year. This time, I'm going to have modest, managable goals for most of my life. This year, Val has A Plan(tm). All of these goals start 1/2/08, because that is the first day I have an actual schedule I can follow.

( Cut because it got long... )

Oh, and it looks like Calgary is officially a no-go this year. :( Manager confirmed that we're on a HW vacation bid cycle, and October-December are blacked out for us. :(