Goals Check:End of January

Well, January's fading into the background as February approaches. I'm happy to see one more month of winter behind us.

I finished major revisions to A Lady's Revenge and sent it off to beta readers. I have to say I'm really excited about the changes. It's amazing what one learns about writing craft and technique over the course of three years. Anyhoo, since this is supposed to be a goals check, I'd better get to it.

As I mentioned, I finished edits to ALR before Jan 31. Yay! I began the GIAM 100 words in 100 days challenge on Jan 1 and haven't missed a day. Yet. I have two more months to go so keep your fingers crossed. The only other task I needed to accomplish this month, and haven't, was to post once a week on this blog. Gotta correct that.

As a side note, Romance University's doing awesome. We have our calendar pretty well booked until May. How cool is that? I still can't believe the generosity of our guest bloggers. RU was a mere blip on the Internet scene eight months ago, and now folks are contacting us to blog.

I'm so proud to be part of RU's incredibly supportive community.

Hello, 2010!

Happy New Year!

Can you believe it's 2010? I can't. While in high school, I was certain this crazy world would implode by 2000. But here we are, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to the next 12 months.

So what's a girl to do with so much optimism? She lists out her 2010 goals.

1. Land an agent
2. Finish editing A Lady’s Revenge by January 31
3. Seek Beta reads for ALR from CPs by February
4. Resubmit ALR to interested agents by March
5. Participate in the GIAM 100 x 100 program, beginning January 1
6. Participate in the February GIAM Tour de Force
7. Develop 2011 RWA workshop with RU blogmates by August
8. Finish Book 1 of Victorian-set series by April 30; finish edits by June 30; Begin querying by July 15; Enter in Golden Heart
9. Attend Margie Lawson’s Immersion class (May)
10. Attend Spring Fling conference (April)
11. Attend RWA National conference (July)
12. Post one entry a week on personal blog
13. Read one book a month for pleasure
14. Read one craft book a month for development

Now, I know my #1 goal is not completely within my control. But I can work hard to achieve it. Having the goal on paper keeps me motivated and focused.

The "G" in GMC

Yep, I'm talking goals again. Not the annual kind, though. Nope, I'm interested in one of the three building blocks of good story.

Debra Dixon in her book, GMC Goal, Motivation & Conflict, states that readers expect a book to answer four simple questions:

1. Who = character


2. What = goal


3. Why = motivation


4. Why not = conflict

Sounds easy, right? Not for every writer.

Let's break it down a bit more. A character's goal is what she wants above all else in the story. A husband. Independence. To find her brother's murderer. A good goal will be something she doesn't have yet.

Debra Dixon says the best goals are the ones that are important and urgent. Ones that drives a character to act against her own best interest and endure hardship to obtain it. Something unpleasant will happen if she doesn't reach her goal. Amp up the volume of your story by making the goal urgent. Something that needs action NOW.

A character is much more interesting to a reader if she has both external and internal goals. Having both, creates an intriguing, multi-layered character. And it forces your character to make lots of decisions. Some will be good and some will be bad. The bad decisions create conflict. Readers love conflict.

Stay tuned for more on GMC!

Goals for 2009

Today's topic is near and dear to me, being a Human Resources Manager. Every year, I strong arm my agency's department heads into setting annual goals not only for themselves, but for all their employees, too. Just three goals. That's all I ask for them to complete in 12 months time.

Like all humans, my organization's employees operate at different gears. Some accomplish all their goals and then some. Others are lucky if they accomplish one. Of course, there are many factors that arise in a year's time that can prevent us from meeting our established goals. When obstacles are thrown our way, changing our priorities, we either magically adapt to the new situation and move forward, or we sit idle in our misery. Those who do not adjust to change are invariably the ones whose performance ratings are lower, which affects their merit percentage. Those are the employees that break my heart. The ones that resist the inevitable, the logical, the progressive. I simply want to shake them into action, but alas, I do not. I shake my head instead and hope they'll eventually come around.

Oddly enough, as a writer, I've never sat down and written out a list of goals I'd like to accomplish for the year. Granted, I've only been at this a few years, and during my short stint as a writer, I've been mostly interested in seeing if I could complete an entire manuscript. Well, I've done that. Twice. And, although I thought I was serious about writing, I realize now that I stepped into this career only halfheartedly. I didn't have a PLAN.

Not so this year. I'm still focused on completing a manuscript, but this year, I'm determined to knock out a brilliant piece of writing. Plus, I'm going to begin building my career--step by little step.

So, without further ado, here are my 2009 goals. Wish me luck in accomplishing all of them.

1. Land an agent
2. Finish writing/editing Turn Back Time (short story) by February 2009; Submit to Publisher XYZ by April 2009
3. Enter Dangerous Expectations into 2-3 contests based on agent/editor participation
4. Wait to hear back on agent submissions for Dangerous Expectations—if no takers, submit to a few select editors before shelving
5. Finish research on Warrior series by February 2009
6. Write a rough outline for each book in the series by March 2009
7. Begin writing first book in the Warrior series by February 2009; Finish first draft by July 2009; Begin querying by October 2009; Enter in Golden Heart
8. Finish brainstorming and decide on group blog
9. Attend Lori Foster’s Get Together in June 2009; introduce myself to at least one agent and one editor
10. Attend RWA National in DC—hang out with my wonderful CPs (A&K); introduce myself to at least one agent and one editor
11. Support my CPs in any way the need
12. Participate in Writing GiamX4 weekly
13. Post 2 entries a month on my personal blog
14. Critique 3 chapters a month for HHCritters
15. Read one book a month for pleasure (Working full-time, writing part-time and spending quality time with my husband makes this an incredibly difficult goal to accomplish, but I shall persevere!)
16. Develop a 5-year career plan

Have you set your 2009 writing goals yet?

GMC

I'm not referring to one of those gas-guzzling, muscle-man, can't see around SUVs tooteling down the highway (can you tell I drive a standard transmission car?). Nope, I'm talking about Goal, Motivation and Conflict aka the backbone of an awesome story.

My local RWA chapter has a wonderful reference library that I recently tapped into. The book I selected? Debra Dixon's Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction. Now, I admit not being very far along, but what I've read so far has really resonated with me.

Here's just a few notes I've written down.

• Conflict creates worry (Simple statement but to the point and meaningful)
• A writer should aim to take the reader on a journey of uncertainty (Ooo, I like that)
• Your story must answer 4 questions: Who (character), what (goal), why (motivation), and why not (conflict)

It seems to me that the last bullet can be used to build a high concept or short query paragraph about your story. I have to read on to be sure, but it looks good right now.

Sorry for the short post. I'll talk a little more about this once I've finished the book.