2011 Goals

I wrote the other day about setting goals rather than making resolutions. We can work toward our goals in small steps and we're more apt to stay with it. Those major resolutions sometimes seem so overwhelming that it's easier to just plain forget them. Next year, you tell yourself. It's so easy to to that.

Yesterday, I gave thought to what some of my goals for 2011 will be. It never hurts to make a list and keep it somewhere where you see it often. Don't stuff it in a drawer or the same thing will happen as it does with broken resolutions.

In my writing world, my goals are:

1.  Read more.  I love to read, but my reading time seems to become less and less. I'm going to try to set aside at least an hour every day to read a novel or nonfiction book. I do read newspapers on a daily basis, but I consider that a totally different type of reading. Still, it's better than reading nothing at all. I am well aware that being a good reader helps me be a better writer.

2.  Submit more If you don't submit, you don't get published. Can't be said more simply than that.

3.  Read more books about writing  Some writers only read books on the tools and techniques of writing when they are beginners. It's important to do so then, but it's also beneficial to continue to read about our craft. Like the world of medicine, new discoveries are being made all the time, new approaches. I want to learn about them.

4.  Write more poetry  I enjoy writing poetry but I don't do it very often. I would like to try different types of poetry this year

5.  Write more fiction.  I've concentrated on nonfiction in recent years, but I enjoy writing fiction, and I've had a few fiction pieces published. I'd like to write more and write better in the fiction world.

Five goals seems a workable amount. I could probably make the list a lot longer, but if I do, I'm limiting my chances of success. So, five it is. How many goals will you set for yourself this year?