Writing Goals for 2014

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It’s that time of year again. Time to reflect on the writing goals I set for myself in 2013, and form new ones for 2014. To be perfectly transparent, I never did go back and check myself for progress. So this exercise is either going to be very fulfilling, or utterly humiliating.

First, let’s see how I did for 2013 (here’s the link to the original post):

1. Publish The Storm and the Darkness (Book 2 in the House of Crimson & Clover series)– SUCCESS! Published in July.

2. Publish to this blog often (weekly at a minimum), including finishing my Travel Series for all travels thus far– PARTIAL SUCCESS! Even at my least active points, I still managed to post at least once a week. Unfortunately, I did not finish my travel series, but at least it was for a good reason (I was writing!)

3. Participate in and complete Camp NaNoWriMo in April & July– SUCCESS! Participated in, and completed, both.

4. Participate in and complete NaNoWriMo in November– SUCCESS! Participated in and completed.

5. Start editing the as yet untitled Book 3 in the House of Crimson & Clover series- UBER SUCCESS! Not only did I start editing The Illusions of Eventide, but I actually published it in December.

6. Start speccing out my fantasy world for the fantasy series I want to write– SUCCESS! Well, I should add a caveat: this went an entirely different direction than I originally intended. I was going to write an independent fantasy series, but instead, a Crimson and Clover fantasy offshoot emerged. 

7. Launch the House of Crimson & Closer Newsletter and keep it alive– SUCCESS! Launched in November.

8. Publish St. Charles at Dusk in more places, and make it more accessible– SUCCESS! Dusk is now available on all major channels. 

9. Learn more about marketing my work, and apply several new techniques– SUCCESS! I still don’t have the magic bullet, but I’ve been a marketing machine this year.

10. Come out of my shell a bit and become a more active member of the indie writing community– UBER SUCCESS! I can’t be more happy with all the amazing people I’ve met, and all the channels I’ve opened.

I have to say- I never expected to hit all of these goals. I truly didn’t. The fact that I did is not only some kind of miracle, but also reminds me just how freaking hard I worked this year. And that’s nothing to say of the additional things I did (i.e. writing a novelette, Beyond Dusk: Anne).

So, without further ceremony, here are my plans for 2014:

2014 Writing Goals

1. Re-release St. Charles at Dusk in first quarter, with additional continuity and content edits.

2. Release Beyond Darkness: Shattered in February.

3. Release Beyond Eventide: Bound in April.

4. Release my Midnight Dynasty novellas sometime before end of the year (total of three).

5. Release Empire of Shadows (book 4) before end of the year (ideally October).

6. Finish the novella for Jon, Beyond Darkness: Shame.

7. Deploy a professional website.

8. Stay active and focused on select social media channels. Learn to focus on several and not spread myself thin.

9. Complete at least one of the spring NaNoWriMo sessions, and the November one.

10. Find a healthy balance between my two careers, home, and all other craziness life throws at me.

Will I succeed? Well, I have a whole bunch of people now holding me accountable (thanks to hitting #10 on last year’s list). I’ve learned a lot about my limits, as well as just how far I can stretch my creativity and flexibility, when needed. In sum, I know a lot more about myself than I did last December. I know what I want.

So here’s to 2014! COME AT ME BRO!

June RCC Goals

I meant to put my RCC goals up earlier, but technically it IS still the first, right? 😉

I’ll keep this simple, since my propensity to over-complicate things is unusually strong today:

1. Finish final edits on The Storm and the Darkness (publish in July).
2. Promote the heck out of it pre-release.
3. Prepare (as yet untitled) House of Crimson and Clover Book 6 outline before July NaNoWriMo.
4. Actively participate in the blog tour hosting program I signed up for.
5. Start making my daily exercise a priority that is equal to writing (my new Nike+ FuelBand should help). Gotta work out the body with the mind.

In terms of progress, I actually did accomplish quite a bit in May. I shipped The Storm and the Darkness off to the betas, worked on some author marketing (FB page has 1300 fans now), fleshed out some more of books 3-5, and posted quite a bit more of my writing online than I ever had in the past (which was a huge comfort zone stretch for me).

Most importantly- I landed my dream job. I started at the end of May and I am STOKED about it. So my biggest goal of all for June will be to try to balance my new job with all my other goals. But I’m a) a redhead b) a stubborn Irishwoman c) a Leo and d) resourceful, so I know I can do it.

Y is for Yearly Writing Goals- Check In (Rome Construction Crew Update #1)

Back in January I published my writing goals for the year 2013. I posted them here so I could hold myself publicly accountable. Since we are nearing the fifth month of the year, its a great time to revisit the list and see what progress I’ve made. It is also good timing because I’ve recently joined the Rome Construction Crew, and most of my goals involve writing.

Write Badly and Often

I accomplished a lot this past week regarding my writing, but I didn’t actually write anything. Meanwhile The Storm and the Darkness still sits at 50k, unedited words, which is exactly where it was at the end of NaNoWriMo 2011. Wow, awesome!

Writing Goals for 2013

No, really. It isn’t.

 Sarah’s 10 Writing Goals for 2013

These have been in my head for awhile. In the same way most of my goals usually are, where I can think about them when it’s convenient and allow the incomplete ones to pass on quietly, and privately. Well, I am writing these here, publicly, so that I can hold myself accountable for the things that I want to do, and am perfectly capable of doing, this year for my career in writing. The goals are more aggressive than the goals were last year, but I didn’t make writing a priority in my life the way I should have. I want to give more time to that which brings me the most joy.