2017 Goals

The year is winding down, so I thought this might be a good time to look back at the Goals List I posted at the beginning of the year.

My list included a bunch of writing stuff, but also several non-writing related things. 

Anyway, here's the original list & how I actually did:

• Get back into regular yoga workouts: UNFORTUNATELY THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN. 😰 (In spite of our yoga workouts falling behind, I'm now the lighest I've ever been. Walking everywhere & eating smaller portions helped me get to the stage where most of my clothes, even my pre-pregnancy ones, are now big on me.)

• Continue my daily walks: YEP! I NOW GO FOR TWO WALKS EVERY DAY--morning & evening--SOMETIMES MORE. 

• Aim to write more than 110k words : THIS IS A GOAL THAT I MORE THAN DOUBLED! I ENDED UP WRITING OVER 300K. 322,913 TO BE PRECISE. (I also revised 1,793pgs)

• Revise, finalise & sub my 2016 YA NaNoWriMo novel (by end of year): I DID REVISE THE BOOK, BUT DIDN'T FINALISE IT BECAUSE I WAS FLOODED WITH IDEAS & WANTED TO GET BACK INTO MY LOVE FOR WRITING. SO I DECIDED TO PUSH THE THIRD DRAFT & SUBBING TO NEXT YEAR.

• Write at least 6 short stories & sub a few to professional markets: I WROTE THREE SHORT STORIES + STARTED ONE THAT BECAME A NOVEL. I GOT A FEW REJECTIONS FROM PRO MARKETS/ANTHOS. BUT ONE WAS ACCEPTED INTO A YA ANTHOLOGY (yay!).

• Write at least two novels (first drafts): I ACTUALLY WROTE THREE NOVEL FIRST DRAFTS--URBAN LEGEND: 70,035w (YA Horror), POSSESS: 76,971w (YA Horror) & COSMIC GIRL: 53,623w (YA SF Thriller).

• Write at least two novellas (first drafts): TBH, I DIDN'T EVEN PLAN FOR THIS BECAUSE ALL MY IDEAS TURNED OUT TO BE LONGER THAN NOVELLAS. 

• Continue to sub my 80's YA novel: TOOK PART IN PITMAD ON TWITTER & GOT SOME INTEREST THAT (UNFORTUNATELY) TURNED INTO NOTHING. :/ SO I DECIDED TO PUT THIS STORY ASIDE FOR NOW.

• Take part in NaNoWriMo: I TOOK PART & WROTE A WHIMSICAL 53K SF YA THAT I CAN'T WAIT TO REVISE. (This was my eleventh NaNo.)

• Read 100 books: READ 131 BOOKS (but 22 of these were DNFs).

• Catch up on a bunch of TV shows we've fallen behind on: THIS DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN BUT I DID KEEP UP WITH MY FAVES THE 100, WYNONNA EARP & STRANGER THINGS. PLUS I WATCHED SEVERAL HORROR MOVIES AT HOME & WE WENT TO THE MOVIES TO WATCH QUITE A FEW THERE TOO. ☺

The following were also on my initial list. But I crossed them off early in the year because Samhain Publishing closed:

• Complete the editing process for RAISING SOME HELL (Elsewhere #2) COMPLETED TWO ROUNDS OF EDITS BEFORE SAMHAIN CLOSED
• Celebrate the release of RAISING SOME HELL during first half of the year WASN'T RELEASED
• Complete the editing process for TYING THE KNOT (Sierra Fox #5.5)  WASN'T RELEASED
• Celebrate the release for TYING THE KNOT during second half of the year WASN'T RELEASED
• Be super excited & proud & happy to have ALL my Sierra Fox World stories published in the one place (Samhain Publishing) WASN'T RELEASED

What happened with Samhain was a real shame, and I still randomly think about my orphaned UF & SF books plus the two that mever made it to publication. But I've dealt with the disappointment and sadness of it all, and set myself on a new writing path. 

One that I want to keep travelling next year. 😀

As you can see above, I did pretty well with my personal goals. I'm quite happy with how much I achieved this year. I'm also really excited about the stories I wrote and all of the new ideas I'm developing.

2017 Summary:

Now it's time to come up with a 2018 Goal List...