Happy New Year!

2010. It's a nice number, isn't it? Though technically not correct, I'm treating it as the start of a new decade. I'm more than ready to leave the turbulent '00's behind. Change is in the air for me this month, my friends, and I plan to make the most of things.

I've refined the goals I put together early in December in a comment on the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog. I've tried to make them specific so I can easily track my progress. Ready? Here we go.

Writing Goals for 2010

1. Write Every Day
I learned during NaNoWriMo that when I wrote every day, even if it was only a couple hundred words, that I did much better than if I skipped a day. The more days I wrote in a row, the more total words I wrote. Writing begets writing, if you will.

2. Update my weekly progress on the Saturday Check-in post of the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog.
I'm making this mandatory for myself as my way of being publicly accountable for my progress.

3. Blog about my progress and my trials and tribulations on my personal blog at least 3 to 4 times per week.
This is another thing I did during NaNoWriMo that worked well for me. Not only did it help keep me focused, it was another way of writing every day, even if the words didn't add to the story.

4. Reassess my goals on a monthly basis.
How many times have I set goals for the year in January and then never looked at them again until the following December? Not this year. This is the year I truly treat my writing as a second profession and that means treating my writing goals as I do my other professional goals. Therefor, I'll reassess my writing goals at the beginning of each month and revise them as needed.

The ultimate goal for 2010 is to have at least one finished manuscript. I'd really like to have a manuscript ready to submit for the Golden Heart. I believe if I keep focused on my four specific goals, that these bigger goals will fall into place.

Whew! Time to take a break and have a glass of champagne. I'm excited about the coming year. How about you?