Writing Goals - Susan Barclay

I have about a dozen writing goals for 2012, but my top three are:

• participating in 12 x 12, the challenge issued by blogger Julie Hedlund to write 12 picture book drafts in 12 months,
• completing my adult novel, and
• writing a new Christmas-themed short story for adult readers

Why these three? Well, they're all possible, for one thing. Twelve picture books may sound like a lot (or perhaps not so many, if you're among those who think writing such books is a snap), but we're talking drafts  here, not fully polished beauties :)  As for the novel, I'm in the home stretch, and started it about eight years ago, so it's definitely time to wrap it up. I wonder, if as Ernest Hemingway postulated, I'm so close to the end that it's almost scary to write it. But write it I must. I don't feel I can start any of the new novels that are churning in my brain until this one is complete. The Christmas-themed short story already has a publisher, involves characters I already know and that readers have asked for more of, so it would be stupid not to do it.

I've found a new tool, too, for goal-setting and tracking. It's called Pick Four and is an updated, simplified version of Zig Ziglar's Performance Planner. I've done the preliminary work now, and had planned to start tracking my goals today, but I've come down with a cold that's sidelining me for the time being. Once I get my health and energy back - which hopefully will be soon - I'll let you know how it's working for me.

In the meantime, I hope all of you are tackling your goals with great success, and are popping your vitamin C with regularity!

[For more of my writing, check out my website and my writing/general interest blog.]