2011 goals

I generally don't set New Year's goals or resolutions down on paper, so to speak, opting mostly to keep expectations quietly in my head. Whether I accomplish them or not isn't anyone else's business so I usually don't say what they are. But not this coming year. I'm putting them out there for everyone to see. (Or at least everyone who reads my blog.)

That's not to say that these goals are that ambitious. Frankly, they're not. But I wanted something obtainable to focus on and to shoot for, and I don't care if you know about them.

So, without further delay or possibly increasing your boredom, here they are:

1. I will attend two conferences this year. I already have one planned for early August, and perhaps the other will be in October. The reason for this goal is to expand networking. I don't do that well enough and attending a couple of conferences should help.

2. Write and try to publish four short stories. I tend to write long fiction -- novel-length fiction. It takes longer to do and just as long to make suitable (or what I consider suitable). Writing a few short stories should help focus my storytelling, character development and dialogue. Plus I should be able to start and finish it faster, and feel the gratification of completion quicker.

3. Enter at least one contest, either with a short story or with a novel-length work. First, I will consider ABNA in January if it is happening again. That will be for a novel. Then I will look for suitable short story contests.

So there you have it. I know it looks like I am reaching for the low-hanging fruit. And perhaps I am but I don't care. I am doing it in 2011. Check with me at this time next year to see how I did. I probably won't bring it up again before then.

Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing. I'm not.