2 posts tagged “new year”
In an earlier post, Moving the goal posts, while trying to complete my NaNo novel, I decided from now on I'm going to set myself realistic targets and ACTUALLY ACHIEVE THEM! With this key point in mind here is my list of resolutions for 2008 that I'm really going to keep. Please feel free to prod me about them throughout the year.
- Get at least 1 rejection letter from a publisher for a short story (acceptance letter counts too!)
- Finish the last six chapters of Technomancer, my 2005 NaNo
- Edit 1 novel of choice and actually let someone read it
- Write new text for projectmonkey.me.uk
- Continue learning to draw manga and put at least 3 original pieces of artwork on my deviantART page
- Enter 1 Seventh Sanctum Art Contest (why the hell not, sounds like a laugh!)
- Write and workshop 3 short stories, not counting the one I wrote yesterday. That was last year.
- Read at least 1 fiction novel a month, with the exception of November when I'll be a bit busy
- Actually read all the course books the OU are going to send me in a couple of weeks
And finally, the one that's going to make the rest of the list just that much more challenging...
10. Have a baby
Ah, 2008 is going to be an interesting year :o)
Happy New Year everyone!
Usually this is considered a bad thing, but I'm talking about moving the goal posts in your favour. Fearing that you're going to fail to achieve your targets, so just changing them and hoping no one will notice.
Basically, I set myself the goal of finishing my novel by Christmas, but with a little over 13K estimated to go, 5 days and a weekend family visit between me and the 25th, it's looking increasing unlikely. So I'm tempted to shift my goal to, say, finishing by the end of the year, thus cunningly sparing myself the trauma of actually failing at something.
However, I do wonder if it's OK to declare my personal challenge a success when I moved the goal posts half way through. Sure, either way I'll have a finished novel at the end of the year, and I'll be happy about that no matter what. Beats the pants off the 7 years it took to finish my first book. On the one hand, it's just a personal goal for motivation. What's the harm? But there a danger that the goal will just keep shifting and you'll never get that success you were hoping for. Case in point, since 2004 my New Years Resolution has been to submit something for publication and get at least 1 rejection letter. It will probably be my New Years Resolution again this year. *sigh*. Still haven't got round to that.
Maybe this year I'll have a different resolution. Next year I will not move my goal posts. I will set realistic targets and I will stick to them, by George! And to start with, I will finish my book by Christmas!
