Goal Setting for the New Year

Since I was a kid, I've always been a big list-maker. One of the most satisfying experiences, in my opinion, is making a list of all the things I hope to accomplish in a day/week/month/year and ticking them off one at a time till they're all done. I love that sense of completion I get from looking at a list upon which every task has a corresponding checkmark. I also learned early on to break up large jobs into small tasks so that I could simultaneously give myself achievable goals and positive reinforcement that would see me through to the end. This system has stood me well as a writer as well.

I have very ambitious long term goals, but the only way I'm going to see them to fruition is by setting a series of short term milepost goals that will lead me in the direction I want to go.

With this in mind, here are my goals for 2014 (yes, I realize this is a long list, but they're all attainable given the proper planning):

Writing Goals

• Find representation (In process) for the book series with the goal of publishing Book 1 within a year
• Meanwhile, write manuscript for Book 2 between January and May.
  • Write summaries for each character's storyline, with their key scenes detailed
  • Outline the chapters in order, interweaving those storylines
  • Organize the book into 3 acts (30-35 thousand words per part) in order to give the story structure
  • Create the Scrivener project for the book
  • Set a schedule for each week with a deadline for completing each of the parts (one per month?)
  • Maintain a record of words completed each week
  • When first draft of each section is complete, take a couple of days off and then do at least 3 rounds of revision
  • Update outline as needed until the entire manuscript is complete and ready to begin editorial process
• Write at least 2 short stories in the summer of 2014 (related to the novel? unrelated?) and shop them for publication in the fall
• Determine what manuscript I want to work on during The Stanley Hotel Writer's Retreat

Social Media Goals

• Set a weekly/monthly schedule for regular blogging/posting
• Learn how to use analytics to determine content goals
• Find an admin assistant for my FB and Twitter to help manage postings if needed

Personal Goals

• Schedule exercise into my weekly calendar 3 x per week and take it as seriously as I do my writing goals
• Expand my container garden to grow more than just tomatoes this year
• Reorganize my laundry room and consider purchasing new equipment
• Learn to crochet
• Dedicate one room for hobbies and organize supplies
• Spring cleaning during the week of Spring Break to sort clutter, then store, toss, or donate as appropriate
• Read 50 books using Goodreads to keep track of my goal

Notice that these are goals, not resolutions. Resolutions seem to always be broken. I am going to do these things, not just say I'm going to. Getting out my calendar now to make my plans. 2014 is going to be a good year.

What are your goals for the New Year?

Nuts and Bolts Aspects of Writing: Why Scrivener Rocks

I've been using Scrivener to write my novel, and it has proven to be not only economical, but also absolutely perfect for my needs.

Storyboarding

As a visual learner, I love the storyboarding aspect (seen below).

 

I now have the first 20 chapters written with three more chapters left to go before I begin Part II. That section has been planned now for 20 more chapters. I love the visual aspect of storyboarding, and Scrivener allows me total freedom.

Flexibility

Scrivener allows me to format and save files in a wide variety of ways. Just with ebook formats alone, I can save my book for Kindle, Nook, or iBook and can even make it a .pdf file as well. I can also easily change the format of my book from ebook to paperback. I can also create a screenplay based on my novel using Scrivener's templates.

 

Portability

My favorite aspect of Scrivener is the portability of the content. I can back up my entire project to Dropbox and then work on each individual chapter file on my iPad. I use the Notebook app for iPad, though other writing apps would be fine as long as they will synch with Dropbox. It's easy to import the files to my iPad, work, then save those iPad changes to Dropbox and import them right into Scrivener when I get home. That means I can write wherever I am and not risk compatibility issues changing from one machine to the next. I can also then share those files with editors.

Make the Switch

I had previously always worked in Word, but Scrivener is so powerful, I will never go back. It's quite honestly the best software I can imagine for what I do. I cannot recommend it highly enough for writers, no matter what genre or medium.