Updated Writing Goals

It isn't even two weeks into the new year and I'm already revising my writing goals. I attended a terrific meeting of my local RWA Chapter last week and the topic was all about goal setting. After mulling over the discussion and looking through the handouts, I realized that I only really had one goal (write every day) and it was too nebulous to get me where I want to go this year.

So, I worked on updating my goals and this is what I've committed to within the Chapter. Might as well go public here, too. :-)

My Writing Goal for 2010

1. Have a book ready to submit to Golden Heart in November

In order to meet that goal, I need to break it down into more manageable pieces. I'm targeting 100,000 words. Here's what that looks like right now (these may change as I reassess where I am each month).

1. First Draft finished no later than September 1.
2. First Draft edits completed by October 1.
3. Second Draft edits completed by November 1.
4. Final Edits completed before sending in contest entry

Here's how that breaks down for a monthly word count:  12,500 words/month for January to August.