Monday 2 January 2012

ROW 80 2012 Round One goals!

I am so excited for this first round of 2012! I feel like I know what I want to achieve and am all ready to go!

Here are my goals:

 1) Do 30 minutes of something writing related each day.
I was toying with the idea of an hour a day but half an hour seems a good baseline....if I do more then great but hopefully this is achievable! As always I want 30 minutes equivalent a day so if I miss a day I will try my best to make it up on another day. In a week I want 3 and a half hours of writing related work. I will mainly be outlining and writing.

My old chick-lit WIP is being resurrected and I want to have a careful look at the outline and also re-write alot of what I have written. I know the tone is not quite right....it is too serious and I want to make it more upbeat in places. I also had a shiny new idea seduTestce me the other day. It just popped up and wouldn't go away so I will make notes on that and let it brew while I write my other piece. I don't think I can write two things at once....I might try it but I think I would get muddled. My NaNo murder mystery is going to stay on the backburner for a while as I am really excited about both my chick-lit ideas and want to get my teeth sunk into them.

2) Test mile - 250 words
I had my post about goals all written and ready but after reading Kait's post over at the ROW HQ I decided to include a test mile. A tiny test mile mind but I will aim to write 250 words every day even if my focus is planning or outlining. I have set this at such a small amount as I know lots of outlining etc. needs to be done but I should still manage 250 words. If I manage it everyday then in a week I will have 1,750. Not too shabby.

3) Read two books a week for 100+ reading challenge.
I have signed up for the 100+ book in a year challenge over at bookchickcity and it breaks down to 2 books a week which will be a challenge but one I am really looking forward to! I have made a page which you can see at the top of my blog where I will record the books I have read. I have already read one I started in the early hours of the 1st of January so have got off to a good start.

4) Review one book a month.
newtowritinggirl asked me if I would be reviewing any of the 100 (hopefully) books I would be reading and I like the idea of this. It is not something I have ever done before but I will look at the reviews some of my fellow ROW80ers have written for tips and feel one a month is do-able amongst all the reading and writing I will be doing! Watch this space!

5) Exercise twice a week.
I included this once before on my ROW goals and then removed it as I wasn't doing it. I know if I declare things here then they happen. I hate telling you all I have failed! Please please please hold me accountable on this one! With the events of the end of last year and Christmas I have had a great time eating and curling up by the fire with books so at the moment I am feeling sloth like. Twice a week seems do-able and I am going to watch what I eat too. Writing does not necessarily need to be accompanied with biscuits! I need to write this on a sign above my desk!

So there we have them. Five lovely goals and a fresh start. I hope everyone has settled on goals they are happy with and I look forward to seeing everyones progress over the coming weeks!

Happy New Year everyone!

Ps. I managed to reach my goal of reading 70 books before the year was out! :)

13 comments:

  1. Reading your goals was - worked out yet today?!
    =D

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  2. Hi, Em! Great to see you for this new Round. Your chick-lit project sounds like a fun endeavor - lightening something up is always a pleasure as opposed to making it more serious...at least for me.
    Best of luck with all your goals! We've got a big round ahead of us. Talk to you soon.
    Happy New Year!

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  3. It's interesting how many people are including exercise goals in with their writing! I did too this time, although I had to make sure my exercise goal was minuscule in order to make sure I could actually do it.

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  4. Hi,

    some words are far better than no words so I hope your test mile proves fruitful.

    I particularly love your book reading goal. I've set myself a 'one book a week' goal which should be easy enough for me as I work nights. I'll certainly check out the link you left for the 100 books though.

    Best of luck!

    Kelly.
    http://www.blog.co.uk/user/koldham/

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  5. Haha, I think I need that sign as well: "Writing does not necessarily need to be accompanied by biscuits"!

    These all sound like fantastic goals, Em, and really doable. I'm right there with you when it comes to exercise, so hopefully we can push each other on. And I'm excited that you'll be picking up your chick-lit again - I love being able to revisit old projects and dig back into them again.

    Have a great week, and happy new year!

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  6. Good luck with your goals. Reading is the first step to writing. I like to answer, when people ask me for writerly advice, "Read, read, read, write, write, write." Both are very important!

    Melanie

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  7. good goals - I havent been so ambitious with reading challenges but still will read more - exercise seems to be coming up and although I dislike it I do know it helps the creative juices if one is healthy - just wish there was an easier way:)
    all the best for this week

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  8. Hi Em! I'm glad you're back!
    I loved the post about the Test Mile from the ROW blog. So nice. I'm glad you're gonna try it.
    Last year, I read 60 books. I just set my GoodReads reading challenge for 48 books this year (4 per month) ... I wish I could read 100, but if I want to get some writing done, I have to step away from reading a little. Hopefully, I'll hit 60 again.
    Great goals, dear, good luck!

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  9. Awesome goals, Em. One hundred books in a year, ambitious but I know you can do it. Kudo's on adding in exercise as well, the sedentary lifestyle of writers does not have to be a widening experience *grin*.

    Have a great week :)

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  10. Great goals. Way to start off 2012, and so glad you are participating again! I, too, loved Kait's test mile post. It was exactly the kick in the butt I needed.

    Happy New Year. Wishing you the best with your goals, and I look forward to following your progress.

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  11. Lovely goals indeed. You know you can do it. After two days of using word counts, I'm thinking about going back to minutes. Good luck!

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  12. Great goals. Good luck with your test mile. Isn't that an awesome idea. Have fun reading. It can only lead to good things and new ideas.

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