Obligatory New Years Resolution Blog
With the New Year right around the corner, it’s that time of year when we all start taking a look at what we’re glad we did, what we wish we could have done, what we wish we hadn’t done, and what we plan on doing next year.
I prefer dwelling on the good and hopeful than bemoaning the unattained and disappointing, so in my true Pollyanna fashion, I figured I’d say what I’m particularly thankful for and what I’m hoping to accomplish this coming year.
In case anyone in the free world hadn’t heard, I managed to finish my first MS. But I’m not just happy about the finishing. I learned so much about how I write, about my process and my voice, about the ups and downs on the journey, that I don’t even care anymore what happens to my first MS. I’m just thrilled with the entire experience.
This coming year I’d like to finish two stories. Now that I know more about myself and my process, I think that’s possible, if I just buckle down. And I could stand to lose 10-15 lbs (damn holiday baking).
As far as personal stuff, my baby turned two, my hubby got promoted, and I managed to remain sane the entire year through, with only a few meltdowns and fits of hysteria on record. (I am a stay at home mom so I’m alone a lot, therefore there are probably many more meltdowns and fits of hysteria that occurred that no one witnessed but if no one sees it happen, it remains conjecture and speculation, I say.)
I hope this year brings another year of health and prosperity for those I adore and for you too, gentle readers, er, pirates. May you seize your booty and plunder where you may.
What events are you proud of this past year and what do you hope to accomplish? Any new years resolutions you wanna share? I hear public shame is a good motivator.
Books by the Crew
54 comments:
I am proud of so many things, including the actual putting my writing out there. With submissions, contest entries, finding a CP... For 2009, I intend to do more. Get something out there every month. Yes, I have enough MS to do that! I've been writing in a closet for a very long time...
But now I'm out of the closet...ta da! I am a writer!
So, a contest, a query, a submission, a pitch... RT in Orlando... Oh, and keep on writing. Need to redo my first chapter of my first MS, my pirate story...make it impossible to turn down! And finish two other MS in the works...
Oh, and lose some weight. Not going to put a number on it, any would make me happy...
And enjoy my nasty little duck! Thinking of a new drink... The Nasty Duck!
WTG, Marnee. I never could have written when the kids were home. (They never let me near the computer, LOL. Or the phone.) In my writing life,I'm happiest I wrote a lot and found an agent. In my real life I didn't piss anybody off too badly. Happy New Year!
I'm glad that I removed myself from a very poisonous work environment. It's very hard to cut yourself off from everything you know, a job you do really well, to go into a completely new field. It's hell on your ego, because half the time you feel like you really know diddly-squat.
But I'm learning :) And I'm happy I made the move, because I've probably gained back ten years of my life, and I no longer stress about work.
I'm happy to have found an agent, and gotten over my shyness to find that agent at a conference. And I for actual writing, I'd like to finish two books this year. The one I started a couple months ago and another percolating in me head.
Awesome everyone, congrats on all your accomplishments this year!
For me, I'd like to relax a bit more (hah! We'll see) And I'd like to find a better groove between work and writing and family.
Chance - Getting something out there every month? Go you. You will keep us posted. (That wasn't a question. More of a polite demand....) And the Nasty Duck sounds, well, nasty.
Mags - way to go not pissing anyone off. We really can't ask for more than that in life, ya know?
Tiff - Congrats on the new job and the new agent. Removing stress from life is soooo important. I worked at a couple jobs where I lost weight and my hair fell out, I couldn't sleep. I'm definitely not the type of person who thrives in those situations.
JK - Finding a better groove. I think that's the key; finding a balance between everything. Good luck and if you figure it out, do share with the rest of us!!
Hm. I haven't thought about what I'm going to accomplish next year. I know I'd like to finish at least one manuscript. I'd like two. I know I could finish two if I would just get off the internet and hunker down in the bat cave for a few months.
I'm committing to finishing at least one manuscript this year. I know I said that last year (and I actually did, but I'm not thinking fan fiction counts) and if it be my RS manuscript, then I must be serious about the Golden Heart. And if it's my fantasy 'script then I must be serious about sending it to EOS (home of my favorite authors).
What am I proud of this year? Very little in the first 6 months. *LOL* Oh, wait, I did go to my first "somewhat big" conference in Chicago--and it was on one of my To-Do Lists I had for "writing." I also had down I was going to query more (I think I might have queried about a dozen times, all no's, and haven't queried since--naughty Hells.) I was also going to write another book this year. Have not done. In fact, I haven't written on my manuscript in months. That's right, I said: MONTHS.
Second half of the year, I worked on "other things": dieting (moderately successful, that is until this Holiday season--but my fat jeans are still loose right now, so not totally gone yet); looking for an apartment (will be signing a lease in about an hour--provided I don't freak out--which I'm doing every other 30 minutes. If I'm not worried about paying for it all, I'm worried about my dad. Which is to say, I'm worried about myself. I'm very much the sort of daughter, who upon losing one parent, quotes Oscar Wilde: to lose one parent looks like an accident, to lose both looks like negligence...or something to that effect. Just one of my many, many neuroses.) Also, I was looking for a new job, because I'm not "content" in this one--but that didn't pan out. Finally after 2 years of putting it off, I put in an application to "reclassify" my job, which doesn't really change what I do, but does give me a nicer title and sometimes will give me more money. Except as soon as I submitted the paperwork, our school put out a hiring freeze due to the economy--and this also meant the reclassifications. Long story short, my paperwork was one of the exceptions; the reclassification was approved; and now they're even discussing potentionally a mid-year raise increase.
New Year's Resolutions:
Pray more, worry less. (This will clearly be difficult because I *must* worry about everything.)
Write more, neuroses less. (The first resolution will be scads easier, I know it.) And write what I love and stop trying to write for everything else, if you know what I mean.
Drink more water. (I've been having WAY too many diet sodas lately.)
Keep writing on this blog--my easiest resolution and the one I can keep because I blog with absolutely brilliant people and readers. You should always, always have one resolution that you're able to keep--and that water one is not going to be the one I keep.
Well my goals for the past year were to write one MS and make some friends, and I managed them both (woo-hoo! We moved to a small town, and I have had the worst time making friends here - but finally, I have accomplished it.)
So my new years resolutions are to (in a spin off Hellion's more proper resolution) party more and worry less; write another MS; figure out how to become (or at least how to act) more competent at my job; and exercise more (more pole dancing for me!)
And JK - I think "find a better groove between work and writing and family" is definitely something I need to get on board with
Sin - I know you can finish something this year. I think fan fic counts though, honestly. Writing is writing. But I would love to see you enter something next year. Just so I can cheer extra loud when you win!
Hells - I'm so excited for you! Moving out is such big deal. Best of luck in your new place!! I think your goals are good to follow too. I need to worry less too, and write more, neuroses less has to become my mantra. I also resolve to keep blogging on this blog, though I suspect this was my easy one to keep too. How could I possibly not?
That totally bites it about the reclassification thing. Do you think they'll ease up this year about that?
Hal - I'm glad you made new friends. Moving somewhere new is hard. :( And good luck with the pole dancing. LOL!! You and I are still set for Jan Nano yeah? Anyone else feel like joining in? Hal and I are planning to write 25K this coming month.
25k baby, I'm ready! I'm plotting and working on the synopsis this week so that by Thursday, I'm ready to roll. Who else is in?
Count me in. I'm going to try like hell to write this month.
No, the reclassification is a GOOD thing. My title was Office Support Staff III. Which was like in line with "we have trained monkeys who actually do your job better than you, but we can't actually hire them because we're not to overwork them, like we can you." THIS title is Academic Advisor, which sounds a lot cooler and more "official" than it is. It sounds like I'm advising people what to take, right? No. I say things like, "Well...I've seen this class taken n other programs. I know it's necessary. You should probably take it, so write it down, confirm this with your actual advisor, then sign up."
It also, potentially comes with more money.
Yay to Hellion on a new apartment and new job title! Woohoo!
In writing life, I'm proud to have finished my second manuscript and am more than halfway through my third. I'm also proud of all my half-written scenes and 30K of one manuscript that will never see the light of day. I love every single rejection I've gotten this past year---all 110 of them because surely there'll be a day where I don't get rejected. Right?
This coming year, my resolution is to write every single day, no matter what. I would love to nab an agent and book deal, but I'll see what happens in that end. And, I'm not going to hide my light under the bushel anymore. I'm done in going oh, I'll act dumber than I am, and oh, I'm not that smart or talented. Fuck that line of thinking.
And oh yeah, I probably shouldn't swear as much, but then what fun would I have? *g*
Academic Advisor does sound very scholarly...
Congrats! A much classier title to put on the bio part of a query than Office Support Staff III.
And sounds much sexier.
Sin - Yay! 25K is a little higher than my usual numbers (usually I write about 5K a week, so this is going push me) but I think it's not as scary as 50K like the real Nano. (Kelly girl, you out there? I'm still impressed you finished. Go you!)
Hellie - I just meant that it sucked that they froze things and no reclassification yet, not that it's a bad thing in general. Academic adviser does sound classy and sexy, as Chance says.
You've queried 110+ agents/editors this last year, Ely? YOU HAVE BALLS, WOMAN! *clapping loudly* That's so awesome! I know, not quite the results yet you're wanting, but it's so cool you were that productive...I mean, that is PRODUCTIVE. And PERSISTENT. And I'm not going to talk about my 12 queries anymore...because mostly I think I inflated that number to look better. *grins*
You'll get it, Ely. You will.
2nd: It does sound sexier, doesn't it? *LOL* I'll have to put it on my business card. "Hi, I'm an academic advisor...and pirate." I'll be getting laid left and right...
Oh, and the fact you've brought you you didn't get an outfit to wear in the parody...that's been noted. And will be rectified.
Dude, she has to wear the skanky elf costume too. If I had to wear those hells, it's only fair everyone else suffer.
Marnee: But that was the good news about it. They DID ease up on the reclassification bit, so I will be getting at least a title change. I believe I'll be getting more money too (though from where, I have no idea!)
Ely - Congrats on your production and persistence is right. And you're so true; the more you write, the more you query, the more chances you have to achieve that goal. I bow to you, wise one.
PS, I meant heels, not hells. Freudian slip, for sure.
Oh.... Did I not read properly? I'm sorry, I got confused. (I get confused easily, i'm sure you've noticed. Please ignore me.)
Yay new title! Yay hopefully more money!!
The thing I'm most grateful for is that in these waning days of 2008, I'm still here.
I did finish my first complete mss this year, but revisions are not complete, so I'm more angry with myself than proud there.
I'm keeping my 2009 resolution list short:
Get healthy (which includes eating better, exercising more, meditating more, and thinking more positively).
Take concrete, measurable steps toward publication (complete revisions, query, and write more).
Become financially secure (For me, this basically means recognizing that a reduced income means spending less or writing more free-lance stuff).
Come to think of it, I could make one resolution to encompass all these things: be more disciplined--physically, mentally, financially, creatively, spiritually. That should do it. :)
Gee, could it be from the 2 year old playing peek a boo and screaming through the house like he's being massacred by an army of redcoats and calvary combined?
Though I'm sure the SILENCES are more unnerving. *LOL*
Hellion, that number includes TACOM and LAYLOM . . . oh, wait it might be more. Let me check my spreadsheets. I was off---I actually queried 148 agents/editors (and remember, some of the agents I queried for TACOM were the same I queried for LAYLOM). TACOM had 90 rejections, and LAYLOM has 58 (well, I have to deduct that number since two editors still have TACOM and two agents still have LAYLOM but it's only a matter of time). Trust me, if you need to know if an agent will respond or not, ask me. And at the very least, I have stories of rejection tales. LOL.
I really don't want to query ever again. But since I have to, we could hold an Under/Over Bet with how many agents it'll take to reject AS YOU WISH.
And congratulations to Hellion on the new job title. I know in academia titles can make A LOT of difference.
Congrats, Hellion, on the move and the title.
Let's see, in the last year my oldest turned 18 and moved out. My middle dd turned 15 and got her driver's permit. My son turned 13. (egads!!!) My baby will be 11 tomorrow. Dh, lost a job, got a job, then that job dissolved, so we opened our own business. I finished a ms, I'm now in intense line-by-line polish, hope to have it done by the end of this week. My goal last year was to send queries to agents, I did. 4 with 2 rejections. I also wanted to lose weight, I did, not enough.
For this next year, I will start classes full time in the spring. I plan on finishing book 2 and book 3, both of which have over 20k. Plan on losing more weight. And my biggest goal(adventure) is to attend RWA in D.C. I will continue to query. I WILL (thinking positive) get a book deal. I WILL(the power of positive thinking) land an awesome agent, before the book deal. I WILL speak positives into existence. And be happier, less stressed.
Renee
Oh silence is definitely more frightening than noise any day. LOL!!
Janga - more discipline. Now that does encompass everything doesn't it? I could stand a little bit of that. Especially about food. Definitely about food. Good luck with your goals, Janga.
Ely - You're getting closer, I feel it. This is going to be your book. I know it.
My goal is to go to RWA this year too, Renee. I hope I get to see some of you ladies there. :)
I love all your positive thinking. I think I need on that train too. Between positive thinking and discipline, I think it's possible to accomplish anything. :)
Really? That makes one of us because I sooo don't feel like that with AS YOU WISH. But maybe that's a good thing since I was 100% positive that TACOM would get signed and then I was 100% positive LAYLOM would get the deal as I was writing it. I kind of had a feeling after finishing LAYLOM's revisions that it wouldn't sell due to certain things, but I hoped otherwise.
Maybe it's a good thing that every time I write/open up AS YOU WISH, I go nope, this is joining the other two under the bed as well. See, I'm so optimistic. LOL.
I'm sure of it. I will will it so.
Make that slacked off... Man, dancing cat on head at dawn is a hard thing to shake off!
Wearing hells....hmmmm. Hey, be hard to shock me, crew! I'm dressing up as a fairy dogmother for RT, with a doggy mask, ears and all! I love to costume...
Such awesome resolutions! Discipline is a good one. So is being braver. And somehow, I feel like I've slacked of on the agent hunt... 148? How the hell did you find them? (Rank beginner here!)
And how do I get in on this Jan Nano?
Chance, dive in. I'm probably just going to end up calling everyone out all month so as long as you don't mind me poking and prodding, you're welcome to join us.
The goal, if you choose to accept it, is to write 25K in Jan. Hal and I figured since we'd finished our last books in the fall and sent out to GH, we'd need to get going again in the beginning of the new year. So we decided to do a little private Nano. I don't think I could do the full 50K but I figure I can manage 25. If you want to set your own goals, you guys can pick any number you feel is comfy for you and we'll all just ride each other this month.
Sound fair?
I'm a fairly gentle slave driver so you needn't worry too hard about too much pressure.
Oh, Marnee, I want to join the Jan Nano. It'll get my book finished because hopefully in the next three days, I'll be close to 70/75K. And 25K would be just enough to make it a nice 100K. Sign me up!
You're in! So it's me, Hal, Sin, Chance, and Ely. Anyone need a writing jumpstart!
Ely, somehow skimming through I missed your 110, I mean 148 queries. You know what, keep at it. One of my former cps has been writing for 7 years. She queried- A LOT. She was really getting discouraged seeing authors come on the scene and get contracts. It's like having a friend try for years to conceive and you're pregnant with your fourth. (Yeah, that happened to me and we weren't even trying for the fourth.) Anyway, she finally signed that contract, her debut will be out in fall of 09. This came on the wings of finding out a really good friend of mine who had only been writing for two years got her contract too.
It'll happen. I think you have some awesome cps, if I remember correctly and as Hellion said, you have BALLS! That is a total positive.
I can't imagine sending out that many queries and keeping them straight.
Renee
Way to go Renee!! :)
Oh, crap!!!! Count me in. 25 in January. I can so totally do that. I think. Nope, I know I can. Positive thinking.
Renee
JaNaNo--you know, that's just fun to say. *LOL*
LOL! Sure is. :)
JaNaNo sounds like a stripper name. It's the new mile high club. LOL.
Hellion, you're getting in on this action too, aren't you? *evil, squinty-eyed look*
JaNaNo does sound like a stripper name! We need some sort of a graphic for this....
Hmmm . . . what about this?
http://openclipart.org/people/momoko/momoko_Silhouette_of_Stripper_on_a_Pole.png
You know how to add text to a graphic Ms. Ely girl?
Girl, I seriously just found that one and was trying to add in some text. LOL!!
Oh! I love that silhouette! Miss JaNaNo...you go!
Hmmm . . . I'll try and do something. But I'm not sure if I can.
My computer is being evil and won't let me fix it. Marnee, I think if you save it and then fix it in Paint or Photoshop, that you can add text. But it's not letting me do that for some stupid reason.
I tried to do it in Paint but any time I opened the file up, it just gave me a big black blob. I don't have photoshop on my laptop I don't think but DH may have it on his laptop. Will investigate.
Ok, so hopefully you all see this, but are we doing janano in a special place? I have a friend who wants to take part.
Renee
Renee, you give me too much credit. In typical pirate fashion, I'll probably just ask here and keep a running tap on my blog. Your friend is welcome to join, no problem! Does she(he?) stop by here? If so, welcome Renee's friend, to Janano! We start in earnest on Thurs. :)
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