My Writing Goals for 2017

by Kasey Tross

A couple weeks ago I posted this video on the MMW Facebook page about How to Gain Control of Your Free Time. In the video, the speaker, Laura Vanderkam, discussed how we so often feel like there's not enough time to do things, but that the real issue is that we don't make those things a priority.

Later on in the talk she suggested that in order to discover what your true priorities are, try imagining that it's the end of the year and you have just received your year-end evaluations from work, or that you're working on your Christmas letter to friends and family. What would you like to be able to see about your year in those documents? What accomplishments would you like to see listed? What improvements in your life would you like to see acknowledged?

Sometimes I struggle with narrowing down my goals, so I decided that would be a great way to envision where I want to be at the end of 2017 and then be able to plan out the habits I must develop and the steps I need to take to get there, in order to Set Goals Like I Mean It.

I noticed as I started working on my writing goals that they're quite different from what they were in 2016. In 2016 my main focus was on writing and publishing articles for magazines. This year I'd like my end-of-year report to say:

1. 2016 NaNoWriMo book is ready to submit to publishers. (It's an LDS book so I'll be submitting directly to publishers rather than going through agents.)

2. Had 5 stories accepted for publication in the Friend Magazine. (I've already submitted 2- go me!)

3. Had 2 articles accepted for publication on Power of Moms.

4. Worked on at least 1 other inspired writing project. (I'm leaving this open for now, but I'm feeling impressed that this project will involve taking Mormon Mommy Writers to another level and utilizing this platform to create more of a writing community, so stay tuned...)

These goals are fairly small and simple compared to years past, but part of that is because I have some pretty big personal and spiritual goals this year. For example, this year in place of NaNoWriMo I have decided that in November I would like to try to read the entire Book of Mormon in 30 days. I feel like it's a way to show my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for helping me successfully complete NaNoWriMo last year, and I've also heard from others that reading the Book of Mormon in a very short period of time changes the reading experience, and so it's something I've always wanted to try.

I'm also going to be focusing more on my physical health. I've gotten away from running this past year and I miss the energy and fitness I had while doing it, so I'm going to work on that. I'm also going to focus more on my church callings and my relationships with my husband and children.

So now my writing goals are out here for all the world to see, and I guess that means I'm accountable! I would love to help you stay accountable to yourself for your 2017 goals too, so please comment below and tell me about them so we can work on them together!

And because today is Martin Luther King Day, I will close out this post on goals with some words of inspiration from the great Dr. King:

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." 

-Martin Luther King