Friday 10 January 2014

Teacakes and Goal Setting

 
 
The teacakes have been eaten and the goals have been set.
 
Last year, I didn't state any formal writing goals on my blog but this year, in order to make the coming year as productive as possible, I have decided to do so.

I wanted my goals to be challenging yet hopefully achievable and with this in mind, I met up with writing and blogging friend Tracy Fells earlier this week for some serious goal planning (and teacake eating).

Brimming with enthusiasm, I wrote this blog post but didn't publish it. Then I started to get a niggle of self-doubt and as the day went on, it grew and grew so that by the time I got to the West Sussex Writers' Group the following evening, there was little left of my writerly aspiration. Luckily Tracy came to my rescue again and told me that what I had was just one of Helen Yendall's writing Gremlins and that it was was perfectly natural when planning a big project.
 
So (deep breath) here is what I would like to achieve by the end of 2014:
 
1) Increase my story output to three stories every two weeks, (this may not be possible due to goal 2!) in the hope that I can achieve my hundredth sale by the end of the year.

2) Write another serial.

3) Now for the biggie. I have challenged myself to write a novel this year. There have been many reasons why I have not done this before: wanting to establish my magazine writing, wondering about the sense in spending a year writing something that may never be published, not having a good enough idea for it and wondering if I have enough drive to see the project through.

So what has changed my mind? Well, out of the blue I received an email from my mum. She had read one of my magazine stories and these were her words: I thought it would expand into a very good novel which I would certainly be happy to read. Now my mum is an avid reader - we share books and literary taste and if she doesn't like a novel, I can guarantee I probably won't either. This is the first of my stories she has said this about and the idea that she might think me capable of writing something longer - that she would want to read - is very flattering (although it wouldn't have been her intention to flatter).

I presented this idea to Tracy (who is also writing a novel) to see what she thought of it. After giving her the skeleton of the story, she declared it a worthy plot and we talked over how it might be developed, which was very exciting.

When I start to self doubt and dwell on the fact that the chances of publication are very slim, I shall give myself a talking to and remember that if I had thought this way about magazine writing I wouldn't be where I am now. Once I've set my sights on something I will go for it!

My next goal was going to be setting a time limit on this (ideally have a first draft finished by the end of the year) but I think that I probably need to be flexible due wanting to continue with my magazine writing.

4) Finally, I would like to publish a collection of my short stories in time for next Christmas.(This is the goal most likely to fall by the wayside as it sounds pretty time consuming.)


I am not setting any goals for writing more articles (last year's goal) - if I do write more, they will be a bonus.
 
In order to keep our goals on track, Tracy and I shall be meeting (and eating teacakes) monthly but now that I've written this all down, it looks kind of scary!

Am I being too ambitious I wonder?
 


28 comments:

  1. They won't be too ambitious for you, Wendy - you're the most prolific and hard working writer I know. As long as you keep focused and determined, and don't listen to those nasty gremlins, you'll achieve them all - no doubt about it! Best of luck with all - especially the novel which sounds very exciting :-)

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    1. I wish I had your faith in me, Jenny... thanks,

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  2. How exciting, Wendy - and I've no doubt you will give it your all. I look forward to reading the published novel! It is ambitious but don't we all need ambitions? Wishing you the best of luck.

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  3. Good luck with writing your novel, Wendy! I'm sure it will be a good idea to meet up your writing friend, Tracy, each month. I do the same with some friends I met through a writing course and it such a support - writing can be very lonely, can't it?

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    1. Yes it can, Jan. I am so lucky that Tracy lives in the village next to mine.

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  4. You've given yourself quite a workload there, Wendy, but as they say, nothing ventured....
    I do like the sound of those monthly meetings (and tea cakes) with Fiona. There's nothing like a bit of writerly support to spur you on. Good luck with all those new projects. Rx

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    1. Tea cakes with Fiona as well as Tracy... I'll get fat! (Sorry, Rena, couldn't resist that.) I shall just look at them as goals to aim for and see how far I get. It will hopefully focus me.

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  5. Better to be ambitious and not quote manage it all than not to at least try to achieve the things you want to do.

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    1. My thoughts too, Patsy. I don't expect to achieve it all but I'll have a good go!

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  6. Excellent list of goals, Wendy, and I'm sure you'll achieve most of them. Great to hear you're writing a novel - funnily enough I want to write more short stories again! Also a great idea to meet up with Tracy - you can encourage each other on.

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  7. I admire your goals and am sure they are achievable as you are a dedicated writer. Good luck and keep us posted.

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  8. I'm sure you will achieve your goals Wendy because you work really hard. Hope 2014 brings you the best. Good luck Wendy.

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    1. Thank you. Ola. The Woman's Weekly workshop seems along time ago now doesn't it. Hope your own writing is going Ok.

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  9. Well done for publishing these, Wendy. The ambitious doubt is just that gremlin again! I like the idea of goal 4 - I would like to do the same so will be picking your brains for this later in the year. Now must get on and post mine too. From what I've seen of your determination since meeting you I have NO doubt you will achieve all of these.

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    1. Thanks for your faith, Tracy and we'll work on goal 4 together - I've no idea how to go about it.

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  10. Sure you can do all of those Wendy. My mum has great faith in me too. Thank goodness for mum's eh?

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  11. Wendy, this is an impressive list but why not aim high? You work very hard and I'm sure, if anyone can do it, you can! So, go for it! You're inspiring the rest of us at the same time, so keep us posted on your progress. Interestingly, I've just set my class the task of giving themselves some goals for this term! I don't think I'd better show them your list, as they might just give up now!

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    1. Haven't written a thing since I wrote this post, Helen - not a good start!

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  12. I don't think this is too ambitions, because you have broken it down into chunks. Even so, it's going to be a huge challenge and I wish you lots of luck.

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    1. Thanks, Julia. I've written 2000 words today (of my serial, not the novel) so I'm getting into the writing swing.

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  13. Good luck with your goals, Wendy :-)

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    1. Thanks, Mandy. The more I look at them the less achievable they become!

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  14. What a great list! Six years ago I wrote a similar list (mine was to write a thousand words a day - no matter what) and four books later I have a publishing deal and a book out. Aim high, start big, and if it's one week you fail to hit targets, start again with the next week. Good luck!

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    1. Than you for commenting, Rebecca - you are certainly proof that perseverance pays off.

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