Goal setting: achieving what you want.

I'm not usually one for new year's resolutions. I never stick to them more than a day or two. I do, however, regularly set yearly goals. Now is the perfect time to review last year's goals and see how I went. I have to say, before I begin, that 2013 didn't feel a very productive year for me. I've been plagued by self-doubt and lack of motivation. I've allowed things I can't control to control me. I've been worrying about my sales and trying to be more socially active to promote my books when social interaction is one of the things I don't do well - at all. Still, that doesn't mean I haven't accomplished anything - just that I don't feel like I have.

I try to set realistic goals each year. There's no point in setting goals that are unattainable, then beating yourself up about it at the end of the year. It's better to slightly 'under-goal' than 'over-goal'. That way you can feel brilliant about doing more than you intended: the year suddenly becomes a better one because you achieved more than you thought you would. That doesn't mean the goals shouldn't be challenging. I need a certain amount of stress in my life to achieve things and I work best to deadlines, so I make sure I play to those idiosyncrasies.

I don't always achieve all my goals, but I always achieve some of them completely and the rest partially. I don't look at the partial completions as failures. They're an opportunity for me to learn what's achievable for me with other things happening in my life. They're also an opportunity for me to analyse why I didn't achieve them and formulate a plan that might work next time.

Editing long novels is one of those things. I suck at it. I'm getting better but I still don't have a foolproof process. On more occasions than I'd like to admit, procrastination wins.

2013 Goals:1 NaNo Edmo (March) - DONE
2 NaNoWriMo (November) - DONE
3 Write & submit four novellas or novels - THREE WRITTEN AND SUBMITTED (I think it was three - I lost my hard drive which had my database that mapped what I'd sent where and when.)
4 Edit one science fiction novel & submit - THREE-QUARTERS THROUGH ONE EDIT, FEEDBACK RECEIVED ON THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS, READY TO BEGIN THE NEXT EDIT
5 Maintain website - update monthly - NOT DONE MONTHLY - UPDATED WHEN NEW SALES, RELEASES, FREE STORIES, AND FORMAT CHANGED
6 Weekly blog entries - DONE
7 Post one free short story to website - DONE
I also did two CampNaNos in April and July.

When I set these goals, I was in a position to accomplish them all easily. Things changed, though, so not everything got done. I'm not giving up, though. What I am going to do instead, is to write a timetable. It's worked in the past to get me past difficult times, so I'm going to do it again.

I've taken a spreadsheet created by Svenja. It maps number of words written each day and matches to your target for the month/year. I use similar spreadsheets for various things at my day job so this should be really easy for me to maintain for my writing. The formulas are easy enough but it's nice to have someone else create the worksheet and share it. That's a lot of work the wonderful Svenja has saved me.

So, my goals for 2014 have to be things that are achievable and will allow me to work towards what I want from my writing life. These goals don't preclude personal goals, because without the balance, I probably won't achieve much at all.

2014 Goals:Writing:
Formulate plan/timetable for writing time, by the end of January. Adjust timetable as necessary for intense writing times (eg NaNo)Focus on one writing project at a time (I have far too many unfinished and unedited books not doing anything)NaNoEdMo (March)CampNaNo x 2 (April, July)NaNoWriMo (November)Write/edit and submit a total of 150,000 wordsWrite and upload a blog entry every weekUpdate Website regularlyPost one free short story to website.Personal:Spend quality time with family every weekCommit to regular exercise - and do itMake birthday and Christmas presents for immediate family (no taking the easy way out and buying things)Enjoy my day job: I have plans for major interactive displays to commemorate 100 years since WWI. It's a five year project and will mean significant liaison with community groups. Huge, but exciting.I think I'm getting closer to something that will work for me. It gives me targets and deadlines and a plan to stay on track. Now I just have to do it.

To help with that, I'll factor in monthly reviews to see how I'm travelling.