Jessie: I ordered the Plot Your work planner for 2018. I have loaded some projects into it and am pleased with the way it takes so many parts of the job into consideration. There is a lot to it and it can feel a bit daunting but for planner enthusiasts who are writers I would highly recommend giving it a look.
Liz: I ordered it too, Jessie! I’m diving in now. So actually using it is one of my goals…aside from that, I have three books to write and a non-contracted book that I’m desperately trying to revise and move forward with.
Sherry: Turning in three Sarah books in the last twelve months (okay one hasn’t been turned in yet but is due on February 1st) has kept me from writing much else. I started a light romance in June and it’s about halfway done. I’m looking forward to finishing it. I’m also writing a short story that’s due in June. Short stories are a huge challenge for me. And then my head is overflowing with ideas — everything from Sarah to new series ideas.
Edith: I have three and a half books to write from now until January, so my writing goal beyond finishing those on time is modest: write one new short story, my best yet. I’ve had a few glimmers of inspiration dancing around for a suspense novel, and if they make themselves more clear I’ll try to arrange some time for looking at that, too.
Barb: This year I want to write something really funny. Not only with the gentle humor that I hope readers find in the Maine Clambake Mysteries, but laugh-out-loud funny. I want to write a novel-length book in the third person. I want the eighth, as yet untitled, Maine Clambake Mystery to be the best book in the series to date. I’m daunted by each of these, but I think that’s good with goals.
Julie: Thanks to Jessie’s recommendation, I have the Plot Your Work Planner as well, and have been using it to do that, and to figure out how I am going to get it all done this year. I have two books on contract. I also have a suspense novel that is tapping on my brain. Like Barb, my goal is to stretch myself as a writer. Push to make these my best work, stretch to test new genres, and to dream about other goals. My other big writing goal is to give everything a chance to sit and marinate for a bit before I edit-that is a question of managing time.
Writer friends, what are your goals for 2018? Readers, work goals? Craft goals? Reading goals?