2016: Show Up For It

Ah the annual ritual of goals and resolutions! I’ve reached the stage in which I pull out the previous year’s list, give it a good whack and take stock of my life. They are, after all, life goals. I call the resolutions “basic disciplines.”

Life, being short, requires that we a) stay awake for it and b) dive in and live it to the fullest. I’m one of those folks who hopes to slide in at the end shouting “Woo, what a ride!”  Of course I’m also someone who expects to have to give an accounting for how I’ve used my time.

I won’t burden blog followers with all my life goals and resolutions (Listen Don’t Talk features prominently among them as does Don’t Waste Time), but I will share a bit about writing. My long term goal is to continue to tell stories, primarily family-centered romance, for a good long time. The basic discipline is simple. As with many parts of life you just have to show up for it. If you want to write you have to sit down and, well, write. I measure it at 2000 words a day OR 3 hours spent on plot outlines or research OR 3 hours editing as a minimum.

For 2016 my primary goal is to work out the kinks in a new series. I hope to finish two interrelated novels and put a third one in first draft. It is day four on the first one and the plot has thickened. Unfortunately that means it has congealed, coagulated or otherwise turned to muck.  All is not lost. I know where the story ends, but I’m brainstorming more disasters and upheavals to keep it marching in that direction along more interesting paths.  I have the whats and most of the whys.  If I do it right books two and three should be easier.

It will be another great ride. I hope you can join me. Watch for snippets and previews.