Words in 2011

Happy New Year! :-)

2010 was a wonderful year. So many things happened I can hardly remember them. Pant, pant...

And now there's 2011. How weird that sounds... I have a lot of goals, and I want to focus on my writing/reading ones here. Hopefully this will help me check back to them and see how I'm doing. You all can pester me about them too. :-)

1. Finish non-fiction book. (March 2011)

This is a big one and I'd like to have the rough draft completed by February and the it off to the printer's by March. We'll see... I need some wisdom to pull this off well. The time part should be greatly helped by the Mexican work cruise Mama reserved last minute.

Thank you to the business! I will (hopefully) not disappoint and finally get this poor thing in some sort of intelligible state.

2. Finish fiction book. (August 2011)

It might sound crazy to finish this too but after 5 years I think it's about time. I'm currently on chapter 62, and of course having huge doubts about the POV, plot, style, format...you get the idea. Some self-confidence issues here. I'd like to at least have the 2nd draft done before the OCW conference. We'll see. I know there's going to be some pain involved in this one.

3. Write Articles

I have places to send these and I even have people who have said they would publish them.. What am I doing?
This is really something I need to buckle down and accomplish. I know it will really help me in my writing and it will certainly look better on a proposal to be published somewhere, even if it's only a magazine.

4. Go to the OCW Conference

The dates for this conference conflict with a sheep event, but I'm going to try hard to balance them and make it to both...somehow.

I'd kind of like to explore some other conferences too.

I was ecstatic when I received the info on Three Days in the Wordsmithy: A Writer's Workshop with Doug and N.D. Wilson and Aaron Rench. I'm sure this is going to be amazing!

Unfortunately there are some unmovable scheduling difficulties...as in it's during the only two weeks that I absolutely can not reschedule...because, Lord willing, I am going to be in Poland! Yup! I'm going on a two week mission trip to Poland!!!!!!

5. Read up on and learn how to write Screenplays

LOL...

Sound a little to basic?

While I at least need to dig into them. Everything has to start somewhere even if it's bad at the beginning (as I am sure I shall be).

6. Continue tutoring writing students

I almost wrote "torturing"...

Maybe get a few more, but still make sure it doesn't take away from my writing time.

7. Finish my biblical studies Ligonier Academy Course. (September 2011)

Maybe look into some other online courses there or elsewhere.

8. Read!

There are a lot of books I want to get my hands on and a ton of subjects I want to learn more about.

Most importantly-

a) The Bible. Yeah!

b) Biblical studies/theology/living

c) Fiction and non-fiction writing

d) Screenplays

e) Biographies and history

f) More Shakespeare and older classic sort of things.

g) Fiction!

I'm having to make sure I leave time for just fiction reading recently because I have so many non-fiction books I want to read. If I want to be a fiction writer I think it's important to read it! I'd also like to read some more historical fiction since that's something I haven't really looked into specifically for several years.

9. Enter something in at least 3 writing contests

Something I've said I was going to try for years...

10. Submit short stories

I only have a couple that are remotely presentable, but I want to work on them and to try a few more. I have a very hard time writing a descent short story and it's something I need to work on. It's also something that would be easier to get published... comparatively...

Believe me...I don't have any high hopes of getting published anytime particularly soon, but you have to start trying sometime.

11. And of course, if all these get accomplished and if Where Loyalties Lie doesn't consume my life in rewrites- Start a new novel! Yeah!

So I guess I have a lot of goals... Especially considering I do have a life that isn't only comprised of books and things pertaining there unto.

I'm going to need a good schedule and a serious commitment to keeping myself locked in this chair.

I considered annihilating this blog, but I think for now it's helping me think through things and not take myself to seriously. So...I guess at least it's a tool for me. I'd like to write more intelligent book reviews, too...btw.

Hope you have a wonderful New Years and New Year!

And...

That this is a year we are all spurred on to greater devotion and greater productivity for the Kingdom of Christ!

May all that we do be for the glory of God!

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian