It’s that time of year: the time where we evaluate the year before us and set goals so that we continue to drive ourselves toward self-actualization in the coming trip around the Sun. This year was a bit of a wash for me; writing and Wikiwrimo were my saviors and reminded me that I could accomplish things. Since this year was a wash and since I did do a good bit of writing but little editing, it’s time to make 2011 the year of editing. I’ll still do a good bit of writing, but I’ll be concentrating on editing.
With that in mind, here’s the 2011 Goal List.
1. Get a job. This item is getting stale on the goal list.
2. Move out.
3. Adhere to my 2011 Writing Schedule of Doom. See below for that schedule.
3a. Do Jannowrimo, NaNoEdMo, Script Frenzy, the Three-Day Novel Contest, and NaNoWriMo.
3b. Complete at least one more version of my first 2009 novel and my first 2010 novel.
4. Go to NaNoWriMo’s Night of Writing Dangerously.
5. Read at least 25 books that I haven’t read before.
6. Pursue whatever direction in life I decide to go.
7. Make Wikiwrimo the best source for NaNo-related info.
The Writing Schedule of Doom, 2011 Edition
January: Jannowrimo. Yes, Tia talked me into it. Write first half of the third draft of my first 2009 NaNo novel. That would be the one about the haunted floating pumpkins.
February: Finish the draft started in January.
March: NaNoEdMo, which consists of fifty hours of editing. I’m going to be an EdMo rebel again and work out the universe behind the alternate world NaNo. That would be my first 2010 NaNo novel.
April: Script Frenzy. Adapt my alternate world NaNo novel into a screenplay. It’d be a cool movie, and I’ll get to try the screenplay as outlining technique.
May: Here’s where I get some wiggle room. Evaluate what I’ve written over the past two months and start second draft of the alternate world novel.
June: Continue second draft of the alternate world novel. Oh heck, I’ll give myself three months for this novel. It’s a complicated one.
July: Finish second draft of the alternate world novel.
August: Back to the pumpkin novel, which has been sitting since the end of February. Depending on how the third draft turns out, line edit or rewrite as appropriate. I really want a timeline I’m happy with in the third draft so I can start crafting instead of rewriting the whole book in search of that. Please come up with one in the next week and a half, brain.
September: Take Labor Day weekend off (for certain values of off) for the Three-Day Novel. Devote the rest of the month to the pumpkin novel.
October: Continue working on the pumpkin novel.
November: NaNo! Goal: 193,820 words if I have a job, for this will get me to the cumulative million over ten NaNos. If I’m still a bum, 500,000 or bust.
December: Edit whatever I feel like editing, as long as I’m editing something. This is far enough ahead that I’m okay with not planning it in advance.
Will I meet these goals? I better make the first two or someone’s going to have some words. Will I keep to my writing schedule? We’ll see. The second half of the year is much more flexible than the first, and that’s intentional. I don’t know how the next draft of the pumpkin novel will turn out in terms of having a timeline I’m happy with. If I am happy with the timeline, I may switch to the alternate world novel somewhere during that gap. Same for if I finish the next draft of the alternate world novel in the three months I gave myself.
Here’s to a year of editing!
15 replies on “2011: The year of writing”
Hey Sushi! Your theme is close to mine for 2011! (Great minds thinking alike!) I’m going to blog about it Jan3rd! But wow – you are disciplined! I love the monthly plan. I’m inspired! Thanks!
Lori
@Lori I’m looking forward to reading your post! We’ll see how disciplined I turn out to be, though; I’ve never made such a strict writing schedule for myself before. Thanks, and good luck!
I set myself similar goals for the next year, following the Big Fun Scary Things as set out on the NaNo boards so they only take up to the end of October 2011.
All the best with your goals in the upcoming year.
Matt.
@mattfishwick I remember seeing your post about your goals. Good luck with reaching them! You’ve set some great ones.
I’m also going to be focusing on editing in 2011. I sure hope you get a job – 500,000 words in a month… I can’t even imagine it! Good luck!
@maasmith That’s only if I’m still a bum come next NaNo. If I’m employed, I’ll be writing a much more reasonable goal. Good luck with your 2011 goals! We can wonder why our works won’t edit themselves together. 🙂
Good luck with your goals. I’m no where near as ambitious. One of my goals is just to finish my NaNovel and make it nice and prettiful to read.
@ana_marai That’s still a huge goal. It’s a goal I made last year for the pumpkin novel. You can tell how well that turned out (though I did write a second draft, at least). Good luck!
@Sushi Thanks for that. The fact that I have no life whatsoever should help me out, though.
Check out http://marianlibrarian.com for some great ideas on using the internet to find a great job. She makes a lot of sense!
I applaud your goals! And possibly steal your comment-plugin. I like it muchly!
@KDSarge I haven’t seen that site. I’ll check it out.
You should steal it, though I’m biased. Livefyre’s the name of the plugin; it’s in private beta right now, so you’ll have to request an invite first: http://livefyre.com/ The installation is really easy once you’re in; the comments sync with your WordPress comments.
@Sushi Thank you!
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