Year-end Review, ROW80 Goals, IWSG, a Tammy Interview!, and Harry Potter

Goal time!

A new round of A Round of Words in 80 Days has begun (not to mention a new year).

My goals in January 2013 were to:

Finish editing Druid's Moon and share with betas
Done and done! Well, sort of (see 2014 goal below).

Continue querying Out of the Water
Done, a few times. No joy. Unfortunately, even this story needs more editing.

Start typing up Captive of the Sea
Started and finished! Now to print and edit...

Finish editing Rome, Rhymes and Risk
Hmm, I never got around to this.

Get some of my short stories fixed up
Done, and how! One of my stories was shortlisted for the Surrey International Writers' Conference Storyteller's Award.

Introduce some new tabs on the blog, linking to snips that I've posted and events I've hosted
Done! Lots of one-off snips there, including for our Stream of Consciousness exercises on the Forum and Twitter.

Scale back on Facebook
Done! I only check about once a week now.

Keep up with knitting projects Done, except I keep forgetting to blog about them.

Read some of the books I already own instead of buying more (ahem, especially the ones off the list of 180 books down the left-hand side of this blog)
Not going so well. I've got a year left to tackles that list of 180!

Tidy up the garage (full of boxes of books) and the library
Begun! I'm very excited about this. Give me another month or so, and the house should really look proper.

I like these sorts of lists because, looking back after a year, it's nice to see that I accomplished something, at least, even if I feel like I haven't gotten as far ahead as I like.

Which brings me to my Insecure Writer's Support Group suggestion: a brilliant idea from Terry Lynn Johnson:

The Good Things Jar
Isn't that a wonderful idea?

I'm going to start two, one for daily life, and the other for writing.

As for my current ROW80 and 2014 goals, I'm going to keep things simple for now: edit Druid's Moon further. It needs about 20,000 words added to it, some more tension in the character interaction, and a tighter ending. (I could add more about editing short stories, blogging about Tolkien, sorting photos, editing and querying other novels... But I won't).

Something coming up on Monday:


Yes! I was interviewed by Tammy and I survived!

Despite our snowball fight (you'll see!) I had a great time; if you haven't gone through a Tammy interview, you should definitely sign up!

Meanwhile, I've been rereading all the Harry Potter books, again.

J. K. Rowling recently gave an interview on the 15th anniversary of the books:

   

I was catching up on the latest news on her website (wish I had time to play in the Pottermore world!) and realised she's also a very good non-fiction writer. Read Rowling's essays on her foundation Lumos, on her mother and MS, and on her views of government and benefits in the UK, they're worth it.

Have you set goals for the new year?
Which books do you reread?

Comments

Carrie-Anne said…
I don't make resolutions or set goals, since I prefer to do things naturally, organically, as they unfold. I'd feel under too much stress and pressure if I knew I had to write a certain amount of words or meet a certain goal in a certain amount of time.

This year, I would like to indie publish my first Russian historical, and finish my WIP, my third Russian/North American historical. I'm thinking perhaps six more months. Depending on the final length, I may eventually publish it in four volumes instead of one supersized book. I've got a much-shorter editing/rewriting project after my WIP is done.
I saw Terry's jar - it's a great idea.
Looking forward to your interview with Tammy! Those are always funny.
Diane Burton said…
Very impressive list of projects. Love Terry's jar. Best wishes for a great year.
Zan Marie said…
Impressive results, Deniz! I'm still amazed at all you do. Energy is for the young, though. ;-)
Unknown said…
Great set of goals--best of luck! :)
dolorah said…
Awesome you made such good progress. I don't set to many longterm goals as I have a hard time meeting them. No follow-through here!

I often read books more than once. If its a good story, I'll read it several times. I have some fantasy and thriller novels on my shelves I've read at least 10 times.

......dhole
S.P. Bowers said…
Very productive year! I'm looking forward to your interview with Tammy. Those are always crazy.
Jack said…
That is a lot of planned editing. I hope it all works out really well for you! Sometimes - at least for me - editing can be a bit of a pain.

I need to finish the Harry Potter series...maybe it will make it to my summer reading.
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks everyone!
I'm hoping keeping things simple will help me stay on track - need motivation to edit!
SK Anthony said…
Oooh I have to check out the interview, thanks for the link!

Great to see the list along with what you you've "done", even I feel accomplished reading it lol

Off to check out the interview with Tammy…that girl is something else :D
SK Anthony said…
Okay so the interview is not up yet, I'll keep an eye out ;)
Tammy Theriault said…
The interview is epic!! Just like all the fun stuff going on here!
Michael Di Gesu said…
Congrats on you 2013 accomplishments and ALL THE BEST for 2014!

Where do you find the time to do all you do AND WORK full time? I am impressed!

Off to read your "Tammy" interview. I managed to survive mine, too! LOL.
Unknown said…
Congrats on all of your progress so far. I also love lists, but then I still tend to get off track.
I can't wait to read this interview!
Good luck with the rest of your list.
Anonymous said…
Man, you have lots to keep up with. You always inspire me with your energy for your work.
Anonymous said…
Solid goals there -- I need to query more this year, mos def. My novels are getting antsy while my short stories get all the attention.
Anonymous said…
You are going to have a VERY busy year. My goals are to revise two stories and begin querying.

As for books I reread...Pride & Prejudice is always on my bedside table. Plus, I will read To Kill A Mockingbird once a year.

Good Luck with your goals!
Leanne ( http://readfaced.wordpress.com/ )
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks all! If I can just keep up with the edits, I'll be happy...