Writing Goals for 2011

Well I may as well put them out there, create a little accountability. I know from experience that without a goal/deadline I am prone to cronic procrastination - cronic to the point of being terminal, as far as my writing goes - that doing the washing or vacuuming the floor become tasks I want to spend my time doing, and as I now have an iPad, well...you can imagine how easy it will be to time-waste in '11.

So here they are, in no particular order... by this time next year I hope to have...

6 published poems, 3 published short stories, 2 blog posts per month (which shouldn't be all that hard seeing as I already have a couple of dozen writers signed up for my interview series) and one completed first draft of 'a' novel. I will have to chose which of the three to concentrate on in 2011 and stick to it - pushing through the hard times rather than switching projects as I tend to do.

I also want to participate in NaNoWriMo again and, depending on where I'm at with the goal novel come November, I'll either use it to push through to a completed draft or use it to work on novel 2 or 3.

I've recently formed a writing/critique group with some of the writers I was at TAFE with, so with monthly deadlines and face to face feed back, I'm looking forward to a productive and creative year of writing.

How about you? What are your writing goals for 2011?

2010 - the year that was...

Ok, so it's not quite over yet but to give me the chance to start fresh in 2011 (and to ensure I don't forget) I thought I'd get this one over with now...

When I look back on the past twelve months I could quite easily be disappointed with myself. I feel like I've made very little progress this year as a writer. I haven't sent out many pieces for publication. I'm still yet to complete a first draft of a novel (I say 'a' as opposed to 'my' because I now have three on the go - which could be part of the problem really), and I've failed (though not for want of trying) to have my short story collection Reflections reviewed...anywhere... There you go - failure with a big fat F!

However, when I looked to see what I've actually had published in 2010 (including blogs other than this one) I was surprised. For a year full of writerly-slacking-off I acheived more than I thought - 10 pieces published including 3 poems, 2 pieces in Victorian Writer, a guest review and a handful of interviews. Oh!! And oops, I forgot - a poem in the next Moving Galleries Exhibition...that's a big one, don't know how I forgot that! Not bad, considering the dismal effort I put in to getting anything published this year.

And of course there was NaNoWriMo - churning out just over 50,000 words in 24 days (6 days before deadline) was also a pretty mighty effort. Sure, many of those words wont deserve to ever see the light of day, but there's some good dialogue in there at least and enough 'story/plot/character' to build at the very least a longish short story...

And as usual I read & read & read - around 60 books in total but I won't be boring and list them. Thirteen of them were by Kate Forsyth. If you love fantasy and you haven't read anything by Kate - shame on you - she is an Aussie treasure. A few of my favourites for the year include Bereft by Chris Womersley, The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett, Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Fall Girl by Toni Jordan.

As for 2011, as I said in the previous post I have a series of interviews lined up, so I hope you'll stay tuned for those. I hope to keep them coming all year. As for other 'writerly' goals for 2011, I'll save them for another post as this is already becoming a bit of a book...

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays etc...

Coming in 2011...

...I have a star-studded line up of writers ready to be interviewed.

This is a project I've been thinking about for the last six months and I'm thrilled that it is about to happen.

So - watch this space!

What I will be reading in 2011

Working in a library has its many advantages, as the ever changing tower of fiction next to my bed throughout this year will attest, but these advantages can become disadvantages. I have realised that many wonderful books on my own shelves have been overlooked and let's face it - there are only so many books you can read in a lifetime.

With this in mind I have made a pledge with myself for 2011 that I will not borrow any fiction from the library no matter how interesting said fiction is. I will resist temptation.

Here are some of the titles from my own well-stocked shelves that I will be delving into in the coming year.

What will you be reading in 2011?