Deborah L. Diesen's 2008 Writing Goals

Deborah Diesen
Children's Author

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Debbie Diesen's 2008 Writing Goals

Progress Reports: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

I may live to regret it, but I'm going public with my 2008 writing resolutions. At the end of each month, I'll add comments (on a separate page for each month) about how I'm doing. Here are the original goals:

Have a set schedule for my writing time. Put on my calendar the time slot(s) for each project and each area of effort, and then follow through with this schedule, rather than allowing my writing time to be an optional, as-the-mood-strikes effort.

Get organized about the arrival of The Pout-Pout Fish.

Develop a storytime session for preschool/bookstore visits.
Continue to work on the school visit programs I've developed for elementary school visits.
Go through my tub (not the bathtub -- it's a file tub) of publicity ideas. Make a schedule for what to do when.

Put myself on a regular schedule for updating my web site, so that the site is neither outdated/stale nor a time-sink for me. Add more actual content (curriculum ideas, word games for kids) and less newsy stuff.

Go through my pile of notebooks and sort/organize what’s in them (assorted story drafts, ideas on random pages, lost revisions, etc.). Get rid of the notebook stack and have a folder stack instead. This paves the way for next year’s resolution of going through my folder stack and sorting/organizing the contents.

Work on a regular basis on the following writing projects:

Revise Grand Canyon, my young adult novel manuscript. Goal date for revisions = spring. This is my primary project for the first part of the year.
With April, complete first draft of Face It. Goal date for first draft = early summer.
Work on one picture book manuscript per month. At least three will be revisions of old manuscripts, three will be new manuscripts for old characters, and three will be brand new (either from inspiration or from my neglected File of Ideas).
Finish all the half-done Moms Rock lyric parodies and add them to the completed lyrics collection, so that this weird diversionary project is done and I can take on some other weird diversionary project.

Do a crossword puzzle daily.

Try to stay on top of my email.

Make it to 80% of critique group sessions. (My critique group pointed out that this comes to 9.6 sessions. I pointed out that I might want to leave early some day. Especially if they keep badgering me about my math.) Go on a writing retreat with my critique group. Attend at least two SCBWI-Michigan activities (e.g. Networks Day and conferences). NB: The resolutions under this bullet point are the writing equivalent of “Eat more chocolate.”

Back to the Grab-Bag for more nonsense!