My goals for 2014 keep me company at work Each January I try to set goals for myself for the coming year. Writing down my goals helps me visualize the smaller steps I need to take to meet those targets. As suggested by countless other writers, I try to keep my goals focused on actions […]
Category Archives: Goals
Staying Sane
Two weeks ago life came to a full stop. For two days during the weekend, I was by myself with no means of transportation. I hadn’t planned to take that kind of break from life. I was going to distract myself with movies at the theater and family, but my family was busy, bad weather […]
Australian Women Writers Challenge
This year I’m challenging myself to read more books by Australian women authors as part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge. My specific self-challenge is to read six books by Australian women authors in 2013. Here are two of the books I’m planning to read this year: The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo LanaganSelkies […]
Goals for 2013: Looking Back and Moving Forward
I recently looked at the goals that I set for myself for 2012, and I’m really pleased at how many of them I’ve met. Here were my goals for 2012 and my assessment of whether I met them: Finish my MFA thesis – Check! My MFA thesis is completed, turned in, defended, I graduated!, and […]
Big Ideas and Permissions
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” – E. L. Doctorow I’m slowly growing more comfortable with the idea of stepping into a novel without a detailed outline. I’ve tried making an outline using […]
Novel Buddies & Goal Charts
Novel BuddiesMy MFA friend, Ashley Cowger, and I have decided to become novel writing buddies this year. She’s written a few novels before, and this is my first one. We’re going to set word goals and hold each other accountable. Not in a threatening way, just in an “I know what your goals are – […]
Organization: Submission Board
When I have writer’s block, I organize. Sometimes it’s furniture, sometimes wall decorations, but often my organizing has to do with my writing. Organizing helps me stay up to date on my projects, reminds me of goals I’ve set, and unearths old stories I once thought were rubbish but now think are quite ok. My […]
Write-a-thon Goals and Moving Forward
I got an envelope from Clarion West in the mail today, which always makes me happy. Inside were two pieces of paper: a flyer for the instructor reading series and an invitation to the Friday night parties. This year’s Clarion West Readings and Parties I can’t show you the second piece of paper in detail […]
To Teach, or Not to Teach
“Don’t feel like you have to be in a rush to prove yourself now that you’ve graduated,” my sister told me over the phone last night. But I do feel like I need to start accumulating more publications, and fast. Not only so that I avoid the post-MFA writing slump, but also so that I […]
Resistance Manifesto
As I prepare for my thesis defense, I’m going back through my materials from the classes I took at UAF. In particular, I’m reading through my binder from Forms of Fiction, taught by the amazing David Crouse. David assigned a writing project during this course that I particularly loved. We each had to write a […]
