Archive for the 'Goals' Category

Page 2 of 6

Congratulations and Goals

Published on March 2, 2008 in Goals, Kick In The Pants, Life and Writing. 3 Comments

The winner of the Purple Explosion Contest was Jennifer McKenzie!! Way to go Jennifer. I’ll be mailing you your Six Degrees of Sexy t-shirt this week.

This Sunday also ends my kick in the pants challenge.  I did really well on the writing front, managing 7,432 words this week. I didn’t get much done on my urban paranorma, but Amy and I made great strides on our story. I’m really loving it and I can’t wait to see the next chapter (no pressure Amy! :D ).

I actually re-read what I’ve done in my paranormal, and think I’ve found a few problems with the plot. I’m going to try and fix them and then hopefully get back into it. I’m also going to sign up for Sven today. That should help motivate me.

With any luck, my day job will be a bit lighter this week and I’ll have a bit more energy to write. I do love what I do, but it can be very demanding.

So what is your week looking like? How did your writing go?

Ass In Chair

Published on February 19, 2008 in Goals and Writing. 6 Comments

I’m a procrastinator by nature. Some of you may find this shocking (except Amy…she knows how bad I am) when you hear about some of the things that I’m working on, but it’s true. Yesterday was a holiday here on Ontario and I actually took advantage of it and got some writing done. I manged to finish a chapter that had been giving me grief, and started the next one.Now before I did this, I naturally tried to find every excuse out there to do something different. Here’s what I managed to accomplish:

  • watched The Game Plan with the girls
  • did the laundry
  • cleaned (a bit)
  • made lunch
  • played on YouTube
  • read some fanfiction

Finally I put my butt in my chair and wrote. I need to just do that first next time LOL!

Just a reminder that I’ll be a part of the Purple Explosion chat today on the EC message boards. Please stop by and have some fun with R.G Alexander, Lillian Feisty, Red Garnier and myself!

The Power of Motivation

Published on January 29, 2008 in Goals and Writing. 11 Comments

Now, I’m not about to claim I came up with this idea and will give credit where it’s due, but I have to say it really worked for me tonight. The RWAC RWA chapter have been getting together recently at a local coffee shop to do what they call write ins. They sit and write for 30 mins or so, and then they take a break. They talk, relax, recharge, then sit and have another writing session. It is very successful for the people who go.

I also thought it would be a perfect thing for me to try. Now, since I’m no longer geographically near them all (sob), I thought I’d do this virtually. But it’s not as much fun on your own…so I grabbed Amy. We had a ball…well I did at least. :D

In an hour and a half, I manged to write 1830 words. We ran it through IM, and it worked really well. I would set the time frame to write, we’d get ready and then WRITE! No checking email, surfing, etc. When our half hour was up, we reported our word counts and chatted for 15 mins.

Wow was this awesome!! I’m definately going to be doing this again, as I find I work really well in short periods like this. Plus, by giving myself permission to get up and take a break, and better than that, have it scheduled, I found it helped focused me. I got more done in those 30 mins than I would have if I’d planned to write for a whole evening.

The awesome news is I’ve passed my writing goal for the week already!! So I’m officially tacking on another 5k words to push myself to continue.

What strategies do you use to keep you motivated??

Need to get my groove back

Published on January 17, 2008 in Goals and Writing. 18 Comments

Anyone who knows me knows that I live to write. I can get lost in my typing and never seem to come out. But recently, I’ve been finding it hard to concentrate. It’s not the story – I love what I’m working on. I think it’s the tired factor.

This is part of the reason I’ve been the worst blogger in the world recently. I’m hardly visiting other people’s sites because I spend most of my time staring at my computer screen, trying to find the energy to write. I can’t blog hop if I haven’t met my quota of works. Needless to say, I haven’t been doing that.

So this weekend I think I’m going to make a bit of a plan for myself. Over the next few weeks I want to set out some goals (because I work well with a goal) and then hold myself accountable. My own version of Sven or NaNo. I need to do this to hopefully push past this lull and get back into the rhythm of writing.

So I wanted to see if there is anyone out there who wants to join me in a bit of a writing bootcamp. We don’t need to be as structured as Sven or NaNo, but act as more of a support group. If anyone is in, post here and on Sunday I’ll post some very basic rules for us to follow. Simple things like – write everyday, set a goal, that sort of thing.

Who is in? :D

What is is about Friday

Published on January 11, 2008 in Goals, Life and Writing. 5 Comments

There is something liberating about Friday. Even though I have a full day of work ahead of me, I’m excited that today is the end of the week. And boy did it fly by.

Tomorrow I’ll be going to my monthly writers meeting and I can’t wait to see everyone. I always feel recharged and ready to write again once I have those meetings. Considering I’ve barely written a word this week, that would be a good thing.

My historical novel (the first novel I ever wrote) is all cleaned up (thanks Red and Amy!!! :D ) and I’ll be submitting that this weekend. That gets one manuscript off my plate and frees me up to concentrate on my paranormal. I don’t know why, but I really needed to do something with that historical. Maybe something about the fact I had a 92k word novel sitting there without a home…

So next week, back to work on Xander and Alyse. My goal is to have them done before nationals in July so I can pitch the story. Well, the goals is to actually have book two almost done as well, but I’m not going to push it. :D

On another note, tonight my girls are going to a sleep-over for girl guides. That means hubby and I have a night alone!! Lord knows what we’ll do…

*cough*

So what are you up to??

Deep Breath

Published on January 7, 2008 in Goals, Life and Writing. 8 Comments

Well, this week is off to a fast start already. Yesterday I started work on a second project, and I have to say that I’m super excited about it. I can’t say too much at this point, but I promise to bring you up to speed on it soon. It does mean that my writing on my urban paranormal will be slowed down a bit, but not by much.

I didn’t manage to get up to write this morning due to some gee-I-feel-crappy issues, but I plan on doing an hour tonight when I get home from work. My writing goal for this week is to get at least 6000 words written on my urban para. I’m making good head way on the story, which is definitely taking me in different directions as a writer. I hope it turns out the way I hope it will.

This weekend we got the girls’ hair cut and got them ready for school. My husband is excited to have his house back to himself. While he does work from home, it’s hard to get anything done with two kids bouncing around (as a lot of you out there know).

So what were you up to this weekend?

2008 Goals

Published on January 1, 2008 in Goals. 10 Comments

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows I’m big on setting goals for myself. In 2007, I actually made great headway towards what I was hoping to accomplish for myself. So, to keep me honest, I thought I’d post what I want to do for 2008. So here we go!

  • Submit All Bottled Up to at least four print houses this year
  • Submit to at least four agents this year. Pitch to an agent at RWA Nationals
  • Finish writing book one of my urban paranormal in time to pitch it at RWA Nationals
  • Write book four in my Bond series
  • Write at least three additional books for EC
  • Spend at least 90 min a day on my writing career. This could be actual writing, editing, critiquing other people’s material, and/or marketing

Apparently, I’m going to be busy. :D So what are you hoping to get done in 2008?

2007 Goal Recap

Published on December 31, 2007 in Chasing Phoenix, Goals, Sweet and Spicy Spells and The Bond That Ties Us. 6 Comments

I find it hard to believe that 2007 is done tonight. This has been an amazing year for me personally and professionally. A lot of changes, many of them huge, have kept me on my toes. I thought before I post my goals for 2008 tomorrow, I’d take a look at what I’d hoped to accomplish in 2007. This was from a Thursday Thirteen post last December and I’m amazed at how well I did.

1. To get published. The funny thing with this goal is that it was the first one I completd. About a month after putting this on my site, I sold The Bond That Ties Us to Ellora’s Cave. :D

2. To write consistently every day for one hour. I somehow managed to be pretty consisten with this one. Many days I managed to write longer than an hour, but I kept myself to this. I think its made a big difference with not only my output, but with my quality.

3. To read five writing craft books. Oh I fell short on this one. I think I only managed to read one and a half. I really need to get better with this.

4. To read two new releases a month. Yeah, I didn’t managed this, though I read quite a few new releases. I might have averaged two a month, but I tended to read them in spurts. I’m going to continue with this though.

5. To finish the second draft of All Bottled Up. Done!! This is now sitting with a few editors, so cross your fingers.

6. To finish the second draft of Summer Theatre (novella). This actually turned out to be Chasing Phoenix, which was releasd on December 14th from EC!

7. To plot and finish the follow up manuscript to All Bottled Up. I didn’t do this one because I hadn’t sold All Bottled Up. I do have it plotted, but I’m going to wait to write it. Hopefully, I’ll be working on it soon.

8. To finish the first draft of Perfect Match. This is done and sitting with my editor right now. Cross your fingers that Bree likes it. :D

9. If Ellora’s Cave doesn’t buy The Bond that Ties Us, to send out partials to at least three publishing houses. Wasn’t a need to do this because EC bought it!!

10. To query at least three agents this year. I actually queried five…and got four rejections and am currently waiting on the fifth. I’m not so worried about this and I’m glad I went through the process. The agent thing will happen when it’s meant to be.

11. To send All Bottled Up to at least three publishers. Did this. Have gotten two rejections and I’m waiting on the third and forth ones. I hope I’ll hear something in January on this.

12. To send Summer Theatre to at least one publisher. Sent it to EC and they bought it. :D

13. To blog at least five times a week.  Oh yeah I did this. And I joined up with my Sexy sisters over at Six Degrees of Sexy too. Love those girls!

So surprisingly, I didn’t do too badly in 2007. In addition to the goals I set out, I sold an  additional book, Sweet and Spicy Spells, which has been doing awesome! I’m hoping 2008 will be as good for me. :D
How did you make out with your goals??

Whew…

Published on October 29, 2007 in Goals, NaNoWriMo and Sweet and Spicy Spells. 9 Comments

Crazy day today, but lots of fun. I didn’t do any writing. I’m going to hit Taber’s story hard starting with NaNo on Thursday. That doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything though. I’ve been plotting scenes in my head all day long.

Man they were making me hot.

Taber is going to be such a fun hero to write. I just hope I can live up to everyone’s expectations. I guess this means I’ve finally figured out what story I’m going to do for NaNo! LOL! :D

A few little updates in my writing world. I’ll be participating in a group blog for NaNoWriMo called Creative Insanity. If you stop by you’ll recognize a few of my fellow bloggers who have decided to joing me in the NaNo fun time. I’ll still be posting my progress here, but we’ll be cheering each other on there as well.

I’m also going to be participating on The Romance Studio’s blog. This is a great site and there has already been some fantastic posts. Please try and stop by to check them out. I’ll let you know when my turn is coming up. :D

Lastly, I just have to giggle. I got my author copies for Sweet and Spicy Spells today. Man, I got excited all over again seeing them. The butt on that cover is so….*drool*

When Things Click

Published on October 28, 2007 in Goals and Writing. 6 Comments

Oh boy did I have a good writing day yesterday. I didn’t plan to either, things just sort of happened. I sat down and was going to do some planning for NaNo and instead thought I’d peck away at The Bond That Consumes Us (Taber’s story). Well a few hours and 4678 words later, my husband pulled me away to watch NCIS.

Wow. Once I got into Taber’s head yesterday things started to really click along. He’s easily one of my favourite characters, and it’s great to finally be in his head and getting his thoughts on paper. And his girl, well, she’s a spit-fire bartender who’s going to shake him up big time. I have company visiting today (they are playing the Wii so I thought I’d sneak off to write this) and can’t work on this until later.

Most of my writing goals this week are going to center around NaNo:

  • Write 2000 words a day for every day of NaNoWriMo

Basic, but straightforward.

Now my dilemma is this…for NaNo I’m supposed to start a brand new story. I’m only on chapter two with this one. Should I stop and not start again until Thursday, or work on this like crazy until then and start my urban paranormal for NaNo. ARRGGH!! Bond That Consumes will be 70,000 plus, so I’m not worried about not having room for the 50,000 words I’ll need for NaNo. But I don’t want to cheat either.

What do you think?