One Year: Writing Goals and Accomplishments

Posted by Jen on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 @ 11:36 pm

Today I was thinking about writing goals and accomplishments. About success and how it’s different for everyone. About how I started this blog a year ago to get serious about my writing.

I have a very big long-term goal. It’s a difficult one, and the odds are against me. But here it is: I would like to be a moderately successful published author. What exactly does that mean? It means different things to a lot of different people. For me, it means I want to have a great agent. It means I want to have a contract with a publisher for several books. It means they will sell well enough so I can keep getting those contracts and keep writing those books. The major goal, of course, being able to support myself solely from my writing. But if I get all that other stuff and never make it to that point, I’ll still be amazingly happy.

That big monster goal comes with several smaller goals. Stepping stones. And I’ve made some of those stepping stones. I think it is very important for us writers to take the time to see those stepping stones, pause, and realize that we’ve accomplished something. I’ve been getting carried away lately, and I haven’t stopped to enjoy the fact that I’ve met some pretty big goals for myself. Also, for the first time in my entire life, I’ve met a New Year’s Resolution.

So, indulge me by listening to my recount of writing goals.

1. Write the book. (Done!)

2. Edit the book. (Done!)

3. Send the book to others to read. (Done! This is major for me, by the way, because it’s incredibly scary to let others read and critique your baby.)

4. Write query letter and send to agents. (Done!)

5. Get a request for a partial. (Done!)

6. Get a request for a full. (Done!)

7. Get representation.

8. Sell a book to a major publisher.

9. Get enough sales to get a second book sold.

10. Writing “career”

So, I’ve written a book. Edited the book, and I’ve sent it out to others. I have managed to get a partial request and a full request for this one. At this point, I would be ecstatic if this book were the one, but if all I get out of it are those two requests, I’ll still feel like I’ve accomplished something major. I have learned so much, and I’ll do even better next time.

It was a year ago that I made all of these goals. I decided to really get serious about writing. Of course, the book I started then wasn’t the book I ended up finishing. Maybe I’ll go back to that one eventually. Anyway, the point of this post is to say that I’m happy about what I’ve accomplished in the year since I started this blog and got serious about writing. I’m happy I’ve gotten this far. I have learned so much in the past year, and I’m so glad I started the blog. Hopefully next year I can come back with more goals met. I’m just going to keep at it until I get there. For all of my blog buddies I’ve met during the course of this thing, I just want to say thanks for all your words of encouragement and advice. You guys are awesome.

The other point of this post is to remind everyone to take a step back sometimes and look at what you’ve done. Every time you make any progress at all, you’re taking yourself one step closer to your goals and dreams. It’s something to be proud of. You’re trying, and you’re reaching for your goals. That’s inspiring as it is.