Introduction:
I got out of a bad marriage in the middle of the pandemic while becoming sober. Someday, I’m sure I’ll be proud and amazed; for now, I still don’t think I believe it all! So that got me thinking…what else can I accomplish that I previously thought impossible? Can I call upon these superpowers elsewhere in my life? I’ll use this question as a springboard as I plan my 2022 writing year.
You’ve probably heard of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). I’m not going to make “getting an agent” a goal, because it’s not Achievable; I can’t make this happen–it’s not completely up to me. But there are plenty of other, Measurable goals that I have. Here’s my favorite part: organzing my goals to make them Achievable over the Time of one year. (I know, I’m kind of nuts….)
I want to start strong with the coming of 2022. (Let’s face it: over a year-and-a-half of contentious divorce doesn’t leave much time for writing, let alone bandwidth for thinking about much else!) Here is my four-fold plan of attack:
1. Write more rough drafts of new picture book stories (let’s say ONE new manuscript per month).
2. Submit something. (I actually went through 2021 submitting next to nothing. I only submitted one poem to two magazines, and just for practice.)
3. Generate more magazine articles. In particular, I’ll use what kids’ magazines (Crickets, Highlights, A Boy’s Life, Stepping Stones) are looking for to practice writing poetry (let’s say ONE new magazine article per month).
4. Participate in all twenty-four of my local critique group meetings if I can, as well as keep in touch with all of my friends in the writing community.
Now I’ll break down those goals even further:
January through March, 2022:
Tara Lazar’s Storystorm is something I look forward to every year. I get so many ideas in that powerful month of January; I usually don’t have time to use all of them in the year ahead. (I also tend to get ideas throughout the year, usually while driving or just before falling asleep–I still have many ‘leftovers’ from 2021 to write about.)
And I’ll join Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 and actually participate in 2022.
Finally, I intend to enter the Valentiny contest in February (Susanna Leonard Hill), the #50PreciousWords contest in March (Vivian Kirkfield), and Madness Poetry in March (Ed DeCaria).
Oh, and I aim to compose one new blog post every month… and give my website a makeover.
April through June, 2022:
I want to use spring to expand the ideas I will generate in January into complete manuscripts–from scrawled notes in one of my plethora of notebooks to polished stories. As of now, I have twelve manuscripts that give me energy when I think about them and that my fingers are itching to write.
A few other things I want to explore next spring are researching the market, reading as many newer picture books as I can get my hands on, and compiling a list of good-fit agents and editors to whom I should submit.
And I’ll blog….
July through September, 2022:
The summer will be for submitting. I’ll do research and refresh my memory on how to write a good cover letter and get as many reasonable submissions out as possible.
I find querying to be a bit tedious, so it’ll be good to do it in the summer. I’ll spend some time submitting and then go outside in the sunshine for a walk or a jog.
Oh yes, and I’ll blog.
October through December, 2022:
NaNoWriMo is a must–I’ve been doing it for the past four years, and I don’t want to stop now. Even though I haven’t reread most of the novels I’ve created in November, I know I’ll get to them, just like I know the practice of writing is worth it in and of itself. Plus, I enjoy it!
This might also be a good time to resume editing my super special secret NaNoWriMo story from a couple of years ago. I’ve got a gut feeling about this one. Without giving the plot away, I’ll say that I relied heavily on my knowledge and experience as an optometrist to create it. I haven’t stopped feeling certain (since I wrote it in…2019?) that this story will go places!
As for contests, I’ll participate in Susanna Hill’s Haloweensie contest, as well as her Holiday Writing Contest.
And…I will continue to blog, Blog, BLOG!
Conclusion:
I am so excited and happy…this is the first blog I’ve written in a looooooong time. I am reentering the literary world; get ready everybody, here I come!
What are your goals for 2022.