Writing goals: Did you meet 2011’s? Set 2012’s?

Success and failure sign
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I can hardly believe another year has gone by. I don’t know about you, but I love looking back to the goals I set myself on January 1 and remembering what I’ve accomplished this year.

I had set myself some day-job goals (not to be a jerk-wad manager, since I was about to hire my first managee), personal goals (to roll with the punches, since Smarty Pants was set to finish his PhD and would be looking for jobs around the world), and writing goals.

I’m happy to say I met most of my goals.

  1. I wrote and revised my contemporary romance All Things Easy, which I pitched to agents at my first RWA National Conference in July.
  2. I wrote the first draft of another contemporary romance, No Fragile Heart.
  3. I got half-way through revising my first manuscript, First Aid for a Broken Heart.
  4. I made more friends than I could’ve imagined on this blog and on Twitter (thank you, everyone, for the many hours of chatting and thoughtful comments and conversation!).

Goals for 2012

Day job

Since Smarty Pants got a job in the Netherlands, we moved in October and I now have a new day job. I’m so excited about it because it’s full of challenges and opportunities. My main goal is to tackle all of those without sacrificing my sanity, since I usually let myself be consumed by work.

I will probably get to go to Bangladesh and India for work this year, so my other goal is to make the most of those opportunities.

Personal life

I want to start learning Dutch. In the Netherlands, people speak such amazing English that I haven’t had to so far, but I feel awful asking people to speak to me in English. Smarty Pants and I may hire a tutor or take a class so we can at least learn the basics of the language.

Writing goals

This year I will:

  1. Finish revising First Aid for a Broken Heart.
  2. Revise No Fragile Heart.
  3. Write and revise the book that comes after All Things Easy.
  4. Judge three contests and enter three contests.
  5. Go to RWA Nationals and pitch to agents and editors.
  6. Build myself a website.
  7. Continue growing my blog and social media conversations.
  8. Keep track of the books I read on Goodreads.

How about you? How did you do with last year’s goals? What are this year’s goals?

5 comments

  1. I applaud your energy, enthusiasm and commitment. I also hope to get to Nationals this year so we can finally meet in person. I bet this will be a great year for you as far as writing goes…you’re doing all the right things, and you’re definitely a good enough writer to find success.

    I only have one goal. To stay alive. That may sound odd, but since I become so focused on my writing (obsessive) I don’t always take as good a care of myself as I should (no sleep, my husband’s cooking, not enough exercise. Like right now…instead of doing laps…) And anyway, if I fail, I won’t have to berate myself for long, will I? So it’s a win-win. Sort of.

    I wish you all the best. And Mr. Smarty Pants. too. Happy New Year!

    1. Great goal, Kaki. I really, really hope you achieve it! And it’s something more writers (myself included) should be more aware of. We tend not to be the fittest bunch of people.

      I can’t wait to meet you in Anaheim. First glass of wine is on me! (Hey, it’s in the fruit group, right?)

  2. Hi Kat,

    happy new year! Didn’t know that you live in the Netherlands, where do you live? I live near the Netherland/German border. To learn Dutch is fun, especially for English or German native speakers, because Dutch is very influenced by both languages. I have several goals for this year, but one especially I want to finish my story.

    1. How cool! I didn’t know you lived so close. I’m in Groningen. And I’m excited about learning Dutch for exactly the reason you said; it feels like I already understand half of it because it’s so close to English!

      Are you Dutch? German? Other?

      Best of luck finishing your story! I hope you’ll keep us up to date on how it’s going. 🙂

      Happy New Year!

      1. Hi Kat,

        I live near Arnhem and Nijmegen. Round about two hours away from. I am German, but I am also an 1/8 Dutch. I recently took some Dutch lessons at university, something like back to the roots. LOL.

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