I loooooveee making lists in relation to writing and all things bookish things. I have several OneNote folders filled with schedules, blog post ideas, deadlines, color coded book lists, and so on and so forth.
I'm going to add another list to the already long list of lists (I used "list" way too many times in that sentence) and write up an "End of the Year Goals" post inspired by Ava Jae.
Also, you guys should make up an end of the year goals post as well and share it in the comment, because I'd love to read them!
So we're going to get right to it: a list of goals to accomplish in the approximately three months this year has left. (with lists within the lists. listception.)
1. visit more blogs and comment on allll the posts.
because:
a. Other bloggers are awesome.
b. I get to make new blogging buddies.
c. Inspiration for posts/design.
d. Just another way to procrastinate, duh.
2. finish the third draft of Song of the Desert.
THIRD. (ahhhhh!)
I shall accomplish this by:
b. Line editing the other 20k or so in December.
c. Consuming lots of pizza. (this work with you, mom?)
3. write first draft of The Sand Dragon's Song.
a. LOOK I HAVE A TITLE FOR THIS NOW. *happiness*
b. I'm planning this thing in October.
- Definition of "planning."
- Verb. to hastily scrawl a few plot ideas on a piece of notebook paper and call it good.
c. Complete this draft in November.
d. Yes, the full draft. Somewhere between 90 and 100k. All the insanity.
e. You'll be able to track my project on my NaNo profile and the widget in the footer of this blog.
e. You'll be able to track my project on my NaNo profile and the widget in the footer of this blog.
4. finish my goodreads goal of 67 books.
a. First of all, go friend me on goodreads if you haven't already.
b. No, there is not a reason for the random goal of "67" books.
c. I may or may not have a secret goal of 70 books.
d. I have 60 (I think.) books so far, so this should be pretty easy.
5. eat lots of pizza.
a. I mean, why not?
b. (If you're new here, you must understand that I love pizza.)
6. beta projects.
a. I'm beta-ing one novel for sure.
b. There's about 2908 other people where I offered to critique their novel or they put me on some list, so I'm not actually sure what's happening with them.
c. This goal could be rather doable depending on the 2908 other people.
7. twelve blog posts.
a. Now's a good time to say that the results from the poll in my LAST post turned out like this:
- Saturday: six votes.
- Friday: five votes.
- Tuesday: five votes.
b. So my new posting schedule will be every Saturday, and if I have an extra post in there, it will be posted on a Tuesday.
c. Twelve blog posts will average four a month, but I desperately hope to do more than twelve.
8. 100 GFC (Google Friend Connect) followers would be pretty cool.
a. I just got 85. (!!)
b. I might hold a giveaway if I reach 100 by January, so all the more incentive to pass on the word, right? ;)
c. You guys are all awesome -- don't forget that.
b. I might hold a giveaway if I reach 100 by January, so all the more incentive to pass on the word, right? ;)
c. You guys are all awesome -- don't forget that.
*ends post with awkward silence*
- Katie Grace
What are three (or more) goals you have for the remainder of this year?
Are you doing NaNoWriMo? 50,000 words? Trying for more? Less?
Oooh, this is neat! I might try a post for my blog too :))
ReplyDeleteI guess my #1 goal will be to finish the first draft of my current WIP this December. I also want to start plotting out my next project, and have the rough one-sentence per chapter outline by December too.
I don't think I have any other goals.... Yeah. More or less that's it!
You should! And if you do, make sure to drop the link over here. :)
DeleteOoh, awesome. How far are you in your WIP? Maybe NaNoWriMo could help with that?
Thanks for commenting!
I love the idea of this post? I may just have to borrow it for my blog... :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with all your awesome high goals! You have done amazing feats of writing before and you can do it again!!!
One of my goals is to finish the second draft of my novel, finish line edits, send it to beta readers, and write 50,000 words of the next novel I am going to write in November for NaNoWriMo...I am going to try to do 50k this year!
Good luck!!! You can do it, my crazy awesome writing buddy!
Go ahead! :)
DeletePhew, that's a lot of crazy goals! You can definitely do it. I'll be here to Word War you anytime you need it. :)
Pretty awesome goals you have here! (And ambitious as well . . .) I wish you well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. Just have to keep plugging away on them. (Just keep writing . . . Just keep writing . . .)
DeleteI am totally with you on loving to make lists. I have at least three lists sitting on my desk today. I love your goals! Especially 5...
ReplyDeleteSome of my goals before the end of the year are to 1. finish the first draft of "Just your Ordinary Messenger", a contemporary fiction I'm writing. 2. complete NaNoWriMo 3. Get my writing blog back up and running. That's about all I've got for now.
Thank you for the awesome post!
-Mikayla-
(I had to go back and look at what number five was. I totally forgot that I had pizza on there. xD)
DeleteWill you do NaNoWriMo to complete Just Your Ordinary Messenger or will you be starting a new novel? I love the title, by the way. :)
Oh, and you have a different writing blog? I don't think I knew about this. . .
Thank you for stopping by! :D
I'll be starting a new book and finishing Just your Ordinary Messenger. I never write long books, so I usually get in two every NaNo. Thank you so much!
DeleteYes, I do, but its closed down right now until I can get it re-done.
-Mikayla-
Listception is a thing! I'm obsessed with lists, it's ridiculous. There's a giant cork board hanging over my desk covered with lists. I list literally everything ever.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing NaNo, trying to make 50,000 words. It's been a little while since I've done it, but I'm super motivated to do it. Best of luck to you!
(and save me some pizza ;))
Cork boards and lists? Dude, that sounds awesome.
DeleteEep! Go you! Are we friends on the NaNo website yet? We should be friends. *nods* Link to your profile, perhaps?
(Definitely. ;)
I'm on both sites! The adult one: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/a-m-schlueter (A.M. Schlueter) and the YWP one: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/user/707042 (schluetera656).
DeleteHuzzah! I added you. :D
DeleteI did both programs (Adult and YWP) last year, but I think I'm just going to stick to the "official" website. It got a little distracting updating both websites, so I want to keep it to one. :p
This is a great list -- good luck with all of your goals! I'd secretly like to read 40 books total this year (my Goodreads goal was 35, which I've completed), and I'd really like to get my to-read shelf (which has overflowed onto a second shelf) down to one shelf. Or less. Less is good. But there's a huge library book sale this weekend... And I've just realized that even without that book sale, I'm going to have to read more than five books to get it all to fit on one shelf. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :D
DeleteOoh, you should totally go for 40. There's still three months left... Library books sales sound awesome. *cries because her library never has a book sale* What are some of the books you got?
Oh, it hasn't happened yet. It starts Friday. I'm super excited, though.
DeleteAhh. Take me with you! ;)
DeleteYou'll have to tell me what books you get (if any, haha), then! Have lots of fun. :D
It fulfilled my expectations (yay!), and I bought 8 books. There will be a book haul post on my blog in the next week or so if you're interested in which ones -- I'm not sure I could remember all 8 titles and authors off the top of my head right now!
DeleteLists and goals are fun! I have fifteen goals to complete by the time I turn 16 in December so far I think I've completed one :/ Oh well, anyways... I did naNoWriMo last year (and won) but I also fell really behind in schoolwork. I won't be doing NaNoWriMo this year. I th7nk the best thing I can do for my writing career at thus point in my life is (Oooh, here comes a list lol):
ReplyDelete1. Stay on track with schoolwork so I can graduate Spring 2018 (not so secret anymore goal, December 2017)
2. Write in my spare time but don't attempt to write a full draft because as I said before schoolwork needs to be my focus (Do I even have spare time right now?)
3. Read lots of books and blog posts on writing ;)
4. Read lots of good books
5. Keep writing down my story ideas so they don't disappear into thin air
6. Continue editing and perfecting my WIP
Btw, what is your NaNoWriMo username? I'd love to add you as a friend on there. Mine is Eliza Noel (Surprise, right?)
Ooh, when's your birthday?
Delete(And I love your new peanutized character. xD)
1. Staying on track with school is hard. And I'll be graduating the same year! (I think?) Not in December, though. That's a big goal. :p
2. Gah, spare time is so hard to come by! And then when there IS spare time it's hard to decide what to do with it. (Read? Write? Blog?)
3. Yay for books and blog posts! I loooove writerly blog posts. ;)
4. Do you have any books in mind that would qualify as "good books?"
5. My main problem is that I usually don't GET many ideas for stories. So when I finally get one I'm so quick to write it down because I can never have enough ideas. :p
6. Ick. Editing. :p Good luck with that. *hands cookies*
Here's my NaNo profile -- http://nanowrimo.org/participants/katie-grace-1948359 (Someone already took the username "Katie Grace" so I had to do "Katie - Grace")
Sorry it took me so long to reply. I was at choir practice all day. My birthday is December 27. Thanks about the peanutized character. I got the idea for it from a friend on the Christian Teen writers thread on NaNoWriMo ( which you should totally join!). Hmmm... good books. Just books that are well written with good morals. Ones that will positively influence MY writing. I have a bunch of classics on my bookshelf that I need to read soon. I would also like to read more Contemporary books since that's what I usually write. Right now I am reading Family Reunion by Kelsey Bryant, so far it's really good! I get ideas for books almost all the time *seriously hopes it doesn't sound like I'm bragging or anything, just stating a fact* I just try to work on one bookk at a time. The main thing in editing right now is having my dad read my book so it's not as terrible as it sounds. I added you on Na No WriMo :)
DeleteHere's the link to the Christian teens thread:http://nanowrimo.org/forums/age-group-teens/threads/250969?page=9#forum_thread_comment_5315613
DeleteHope you join! It's quite a nice little community of writers :)
Ooh, you take choir! Awesome! How long have you been doing that for?
Delete*takes note of your birthday*
Hm. I don't read much contemporary... But some of my favorites are Bruiser, Challenger Deep, and The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet. Have you read any of them?
Nah, it doesn't sound like you're bragging. Just a fact, like you said. I think everyone excels at different things with writing, and maybe you're better at coming up with ideas than other people! Me... not so much. :p But I write fast, so that's a plus.
I added you back! *goes to stalk the forum*
I did choir when I was 8 until I was 11 and then we moved to a different town, I just started doing choir again a year ago. I'm not a great singer but it's fun to see lots of people at least once a week and make new friends. It's especially fun since they're all homeschoolers.
DeleteI think I looked at bruiser on Good reads when I saw that you were reading it. It looks interesting. I'll have to look up Challenger deep. And i would like to read the Ellie Sweet books sometime. Although, I'm not sure it would fit my parents standards for books since I heard Ellie has a crush in it. It's very hard to find Contemporary books that were written with homeschooled high schoolers like me, in mind. Most of them are written about public schoolers and I have a hard time relating to them.
And... I don't write very fast, so you are definitely blessed with that ability! :D
A homeschool choir? Even better! Sounds like lots of fun. :p
DeleteAh, I guess there's a bit of a romance, but it's by one of the co-bloggers of Go Teen Writer's, and she writes Christian contemporary, so it's all very clean. But all three of the books have a small amount of romance as the side plot, so, yeah. :p It seems very hard to come across a contemporary book without some of that. *sigh*
Cool post! I don't have too many end-of-the-year goals though I do hope to finish my Goodreads Book Challenge. I'm more of a daily goals person, taking it one step at a time.
ReplyDeleteAnd wow! I wish you good luck and lots of pizza during NaNo! :D
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
verbositybookreviews.wordpress.com
A Goodreads Book Challenge can be hard enough depending on what your goal is. :p How many books are you trying for?
DeleteThanks! Hoping that the pizza goal will come true.... ;)
A Hundred. I think I'm at 60-something right now.
Delete:)
A hundred. O.O Whoah... That's... wow. SOMEDAY I will read 100 books in a year (as well as one book each day in a month) but I'm sooo busy with writing so this year wasn't the greatest for it. Maybe next year, or some other year. Maybe when I'm retired, haha. xD
DeleteWhat have been some of your favorite books so far this year?
Oh, that would be so awesome! If you had time to read a whole book everyday. *sighs* The life.
DeleteWell, I really loved Hacker by Ted Dekker. It's a sort of complicated, spiritual contemporary fantasy? Lol, hard to explain, but SUPER AMAZING. Also the Paladin Prophecy, a sci-fi thriller, and the Revised Life of Ellie Sweet, a contemporary about a young writer. I think those are my favorites of the year. :D
What are some of yours?
I know. :p
DeleteOoh, is Hacker the one with the super cool/kind of creepy cover? I think I saw that in a Lifeway bookstore this year and the cover caught my eye.
OH THE REVISED LIFE OF ELLIE SWEET! I read that this year! Did you get it free on Kindle, too? It's weird how much I liked it since I'm not usually too much of a contemporary person, but I think that it was because Ellie was a writer. :D
Hmm. Favorites? Tales of Goldstone Woods by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. Bruiser + Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, The King Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight, and the Leviathan trilogy by *blanks on name* Uhhhh. Someone. :p
have you read any of them?
Kind of? It's the one that has a bald girl on it, and there are little wires streaming out of her head.
DeleteCool! No, I bought it almost a year ago actually, but just never got around to reading until this summer. I don't dislike most contemporaries, but the genre generally doesn't hold the same appeal for me as, say, fantasy or sci-fi. Still, Ellie Sweet, I LOVED.
I'VE READ THE LEVIATHAN TRILOGY!!! Scott Westerfield's the author for that one (I think), and yeah, it's AMAZING.
Ah, yeah. That's the one.
DeleteExactly the same for me! It makes me want to venture into more contemporaries, but then most of them are just romance or have a lot of language. Ah, the struggles. :p
Yes! That's it. Have you read any other books by him?
Yeah, I know. That's the struggle with contemporary. *sighs* But i guess it makes it all the better when you find a really good one. :)
DeleteAnd, no, I haven't. But I want to try some eventually.
O.o 67 books? So envious...I think this might be the first year I meet my goal of 40. :D
ReplyDeleteI have so many goals for the end of this year, I don't think I can list them all. Ha! But I will say a couple:
1. Finish edits on book 3
2. READ! November will be my "take-a-break-and-become-a-human-again" month that I shall spend reading...and working, of course. :P
Love this post, great idea, Katie! And I'll be rooting for you with all your goals!
Well, you ARE a published author with deadlines and a freelance editor with deadlines, so I can't blame you for the amount of books you have read. You've probably read enough manuscripts (including your own) to almost equal 67!
DeleteHaha. xD I'll make sure to do LOTS of wars with you. I'll always need them .:p
Thank you! *hugs*
That's a crazy (but amazing) list! I might have to steal that as a post idea. My goals would be:
ReplyDelete30,000 words for my new WIP during NaNo (50,000 is my "dream goal"; 30,000 is my "hard-line goal")
Send out my old WIP to beta readers.
Incorporate new edit suggestions from critique partner into newish WIP.
Not all that ambitious, but college definitely puts a damper on the writing life sometimes.
Thanks for the great post!
I know... It is crazy. (and scary.) You should totally steal the post idea! I would love to see it. :)
DeletePlenty ambitious! Just sending it to beta readers (and other people) is terrifying. How many beta readers are you planning to send it off to?
You're welcome! Thanks for reading, and good luck with your goals!
That's part of my dilemma...I've had several people offer to read and I'm not sure who I should send to. (I've already sent it to my critique partner and parents--parents are definitely the more terrifying of that pairing). Probably 4-6 readers, including at least one of my former English teachers; I'm thinking of self-publishing, so I definitely want a very polished manuscript by the time I'm done with beta readers.
DeleteYess I totally agree with you on the parent part. My parents would disagree... but I got you. ;)
Delete*nods* I've heard that it's best to have an odd number of beta readers, so then you always have one option outweigh each other... (I don't know if that made sense. :p)
Self publishing? Awesome! What genre do you write?
That totally makes sense! Will make mental note to make sure I have an odd bunch of beta readers (pun intended).
DeleteMy current, most polished work is a Christian Dystopian series. I also have a rough, allegorical high fantasy sitting around (first novel I ever wrote) and another high fantasy in the works to be written during NaNo. I pretty much write speculative fiction, though I don't write hardcore sci-fi and I haven't attempted a space opera yet.
I talk a little bit about my writing over at my blog, thebookhoundchristianspecfic.blogspot.com and do Christian speculative fiction book reviews, if you're interested.
Haha. ;)
Delete*nods* Same. I'm actually writing a space/sci-fi novel about stars (I'm not sure what genre of sci-fi it'd qualify as yet.), so that's more sci-fi than I thought I'd ever get. I also have a plan for a contemporary fairy-tale retelling, so that'll be interesting.
Are you doing NaNoWriMo?
Yes! I probably won't write all 50,000, though. If I recall correctly, my user name is R. Lutz.
Delete50,000 is a daunting goal... Especially when you're busy with school/work.
DeleteI'll look you up!
Congrats on all the progress you've been making with your novels! Wow, I can't believe there's only three months left this year. XD
ReplyDeleteI really want to read the top ten books on my TBR before the year is up, write ten more chapters of my novel, make a blogging schedule, and possibly get started on a Booktube channel. I don't know if all of these things will happen with the craziness of senior year, but I'm definitely going to go for it!
Thank you!
DeleteI KNOW IT'S TIME TO FREAK OUT. O.O
Ooh, what are some of your top ten books? *is curious*
Ahh, you should totally make a BookTube channel! It's always been something I've wanted to do but am too chicken to actually try and keep up with it. Maybe someday. :p
Good luck! <3
I actually posted my TBR list on my blog last week! I really want to read Six of Crows and Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo! And yeah, you should definitely start a Booktube channel when you get around to it! I've been meaning to but haven't because I've been so busy!
Delete*goes to look at the post* I've heard sooo much about Six of Crows -- I want to read it! Tell me how you like it in case you finish it before I get to it. :D
Deletethis is a wonderful idea! i usually try holding goals and then forget about them, but you'll have a blast with this list :) i agree with you, other bloggers are de bomb.
ReplyDeleteAND PIZZA FOREVER <333
Isn't it? All credit goes to Ava, though. ;)
DeleteYessss. I love all my blogger friends. *hugs*
YAY ANOTHER PIZZA LOVER AWW YEAH.
YOU'VE GOT THIS KATIE.
ReplyDeleteI will join you in eating pizza. xD
WELL THANKS AIMEE GOOD LUCK WITH THE PARIAH PONIES. xD
DeleteGood. *nods* :p
These are some great goals! I wish you the best in accomplishing them. ^ ^ I have year end goals, but I haven't mentioned them in a post. I mostly mention my monthly goals in my monthly summary. ^ ^
ReplyDeletestoritorigrace.blogspot.com
Thanks, Victoria! You always have some pretty impressive goals, too. Good luck with all your writing! ^.^
DeleteKatie! This is so great—what wonderful goals! I wish you all the best! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you much, Ava! ^.^
DeleteWow! You're goal is to write 90-100k for NaNoWriMo? I have no words...Good luck! I actually think I'm going to go for a very small word count goal this year just because school is really hitting me hard right now. My Goodreads goal isn't actually going very well either since I haven't had much time to read lately, but maybe I'll revise it to something more doable. Good luck with your goals, Katie!
ReplyDeleteYeah... We'll see how it goes. o.o
DeleteAnd you're still here! I hadn't seen you around the blogosphere lately and was just thinking this morning of you. Good to see your face--er--face behind a book... Again. :)
I applaud you on your goals. I've been super lazy with writing and blog reading lately, so maybe I should make some goals for myself, like, 1. Don't be so lazy. Also, I love your plan to eat more pizza--it is an admirable goal.
ReplyDeleteHa! If there was one way to sum up all these goals, it would be "don't be lazy." :p
DeleteYes, yes. Pizza is a very admirable goal. Join me. *nods*
You make me feel so unproductive - but your ambitions are great, as is your rather inspiring love of pizza (it's mutual, might I add!).
ReplyDeleteKate x
www.theteenaspect.blogspot.co.uk
Ha. These are goals -- haven't accomplished them yet. :p
DeleteAND YAY FOR PIZZA LOVERS YAS
Wow, these are impressive goals, Katie! I really ought to shape up on some of my own blogging and writing business, though to be honest I'm still in a transition phase so I probably shouldn't be holding myself to the same standards I always do. Work hard on all your goals! Achieve them! :D You'll do great.
ReplyDelete