A Good Start for the New Year

This has been a nice, low-key week, very welcome after the busyness of the holidays. DH and I went to see the new Star Wars movie yesterday. It was a fitting ending to the series, though with Disney owning the franchise now, I’m sure there will be more.

For New Year’s Eve, my husband and I thought about going to downtown Knoxville for their party and ball-drop on Market Square, but decided to just stay home. That was fine with me, as I’m not fond of crowds or cold.

I’ve also been writing (TL;DR: I exceeded my goals!) and going through an online workshop, WMG Publishing’s Teams in Fiction.

What I’ve Been Reading

I finished another novel in the fantasy boxed set. It was full of fantasy cliches (like the young boy predestined to be “the one”) but also had some creative worldbuilding and I enjoyed it. Since there are a couple books in the set I didn’t like, I’m not naming it.

2020 Goals

I also figured out what I want to do with my writing this year:

Writing and Publishing:

  • Finish the current WIP
  • Complete edits on last year’s WIP and get it to the publisher

Learning/Business:

  • Complete two WMG workshops per quarter
  • Keep up blog streak every Sunday
  • Read/learn something about copyright once a month
  • Keep track of books read, including business and other nonfiction, and those not finished
  • Revamp website (it’s sooooo 2011!)

BONUS (Stretch goals)

  • Any additional WMG workshops
  • Edit the current WIP and turn it in to my publisher

What I’ve Been Writing

My goal this past week was to write at least four days, and at least 250 words/day (ramping up slowly). I wrote six days, for a total of just over 1700 words. Yeah, I’ve written that much or more in a day before, but this is really good for me, considering the past couple of years.

This week, I want to continue the slow ramp-up, and write at least 375 words, at least five days.

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Goals for ROW80 Round 1:

  • Current WIP – 36000 words (8000 in Jan, 12000 in Feb, 16000 in March)
  • WMG Workshops – Teams in Fiction, and Secondary Plotlines
  • 3x learn about copyright (once a month)
  • Blog every week

What about you–what are your goals for this year? How did you do on last year’s goals? (Let’s not talk about mine!) What did you do on New Year’s Eve/Day, if anything? I’d love to hear from you–please share in the comments, or join the ROW80 group on Facebook!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

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