Wednesday, January 6, 2016

#IWSG: 2016 Goals

IWSG was created by the Captain Ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh. To visit the IWSG participants, please click here. The co-hosts for January are L.G. Keltner, Denise Covey, Sheri Larsen, J.Q. Rose, Chemist Ken, and Michelle Wallace.
Wow. 2016. We made it! I hope everyone had a good holiday and end of the year.

Today, I have my 2016 goals post. Of course, any goals are subject to change, but it's always nice to plan big to start out with and be full of optimism that I might actually accomplish what I set out to do. *laughs*

READING GOALS
I'd like to read at least twenty-four books in 2016.

WRITING GOALS
I want to continue writing thirty minutes a day in a primary project and fifteen minutes a day in a secondary project. So far I've kept up with writing every single day since July 1, 2015.

Some of the projects I'd like to write, although not necessarily finish this year, include Destined (The Fate Challenges #3), A Soul to Kill (Soul Reaper #0), a Soul Reaper short story for Untethered Realms anthology #4, A Soul to Reap (Soul Reaper #1), and either Fall of Gravity series or To the Future series or something else in that secondary spot once I finished Destined and move Soul Reaper series to my primary spot.

HEALTH GOALS
Since I've been exercising every single day since May 24, 2015, I would like to continue exercising. Right now I'm at thirty minutes a day and am slowly increasing the intensity. I'm also hoping to learn how to cook. Yes, yes, I know. I'm thirty-three. I should know how to cook by now, but beyond frozen pizza, I'm rather hopeless, but I can learn and will learn.

What are your goals for this new year?

In December, I finished the bonus woodwose section for the boxed set of The Fate Challenges as well as the second novel in that series, Forged. The first draft of Forged, which I wrote from August 31-December 31 came in at 74,006 words. According to the handy minute tracker in Microsoft Word, Forged took me 68.6 hours to complete. I've been writing A Soul to Kill and have edited "On Day 168."

My 2015 total stats were 172,920 words written and 1775 pages edited.

My January goals include:
Write thirty minutes a day in a main project. This project is Destined.
Write fifteen minutes a day in a secondary project. I'm still working on A Soul to Kill.
Continue outlining the Soul Reaper series.
Continue outlining Destined.
Edit a friend's novelette.
Edit a friend's novel.
Edit Marked.

55 comments:

Nicola said...

Happy New Year Cherie! I hope you had a lovely festive season. I am incredibly impressed with your 2015 stats. Well done!! Mine look pitiful in comparison :( Wishing you a year filled with words and success in all that you do. Lovely to see you back and look forward to hearing about your progress throughout the year.

Sarah Foster said...

I'm in awe of how long you've been exercising. I really need to be that disciplined. Good luck with your goals!

Hart Johnson said...

Well done with your writing and exercise persistence! And congrats on your story being chosen for the IWSG Anthology! I was excited to see your name there!

I like your idea of tracking words and pages over the course of the year. I may adopt that.

Crystal Collier said...

Sounds like a challenging year. I'm trying to finish 2 books, record an audio book, publish an anthology, and read at least 50 books (I know I'll smoke that, but you have set the bar somewhere, eh?). That's probably enough for one calendar year, eh?

L.G. Keltner said...

I'm a decent cook, but I'm terrible when it comes to exercising. I need to do better. I'm sure you will learn, though. Determination is key.

Congrats on your 2015 stats, and good luck with your goals!

Julie Flanders said...

I'm older than you and a terrible cook so I admire that goal! I keep thinking I want to do that myself but I really am kind of hopeless with it LOL.

Good luck with all your goals and way to continue that daily writing streak. Yay!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Writing and exercising every day is good! Keep it up.

Trisha said...

Those are great goals! I don't doubt you can achieve them all. I hope I can say something similar to what you said up there, next year - that I have been doing well at taking care of my health, my creative goals, and other things, for a sustained period of time. :)

M.J. Fifield said...

I'm older than 33, and have yet to learn how to cook something that doesn't come out of a box with "just add water" instructions.

But, I applaud that goal—and all your others. Exercising every day is really great. Something I need to get back to.

Best of luck to you!

Christine Rains said...

I'm ten years old and I can still mess up frozen pizza! *LOL* Fantastic goals. One of them should be to survive the barrage of Totem books coming your way this year. Heh. ;) You've done so well sticking to your writing and exercising. I'm so immensely impressed. Here's to a great year!

Christine Rains said...

Ack! Ten years OLDER! Clearly I'm not ten years old. =P

Chemist Ken said...

Sounds like you're doing pretty darn well on your goals. Congratulations! All I really want to do this year is finish my story. That would make me very happy. Have a happy 2016.

Jennifer Hawes said...

It feels so good to write down your goals! Good luck to you this year.

Tamara Narayan said...

I've been exercising almost every day thirty minutes (elliptical) to two hours (bike ride) just to help me sleep through the night. It's not working anymore, so I'm not sure what to do next. Melatonin? Higher intensity and/or longer workout? Not sure yet, but I hate the days I don't get to do something physical--not to mention the days I don't get to write!

Congrats on getting into the anthology.

Debra Renée Byrd said...

Good luck, and congratulations on making the anthology!

Natalie Aguirre said...

You have some great goals. Good luck on the cooking. I've been trying out some new recipes these past few months.

Sandra Cox said...

Congrats, anthology buddy:) So pleased to be included in an anthology with you.
Good goals. Sounds like you're keeping on track.

Chrys Fey said...

Congrats on making it in the anthology!

You have great goals for yourself. Wish you all the best for 2016. :)

Yolanda Renée said...

Best of luck with all those goals! I've no doubt you'll achieve them!
Congratulations on placing in the Anthology!
Makes for an exciting beginning to the New Year!

F. Stone said...

Congratulations on your anthology winning. All the best to you in the new year.

Juneta key said...

Happy New Year and Much Success! Wow, you accomplished a lot I think and have a lot to accomplish for 2016. I know you will succeed. Congrats on the WIN.

Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Sherry Ellis said...

Wanted to stop by and congratulate you on having your story accepted in the anthology. That is awesome! Way to go!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Good luck! I want to edit every day and eat healthier, especially since I splurged over the holidays.

Congrats on the anthology. Loved your story.

Erika Beebe said...

Hi Cheri. Your post made me smile. Thank you. I have a few goals this year. Writing, I would like to finish my manuacript work on editing it with my beta writing friend and in turn, also help her. I also hope to begin my second manuscript and complete it if possible, but that might be a bit too hefty. Health wise,I hope to maintain 5 days of physical activity. And personally, I wish to say what I really want and need to say for me.

C.D. Gallant-King said...

I'm no only impressed by all you accomplished last year, but how detailed you are in keeping track of all your accomplishments. Thumbs up!

The time counter in Word wouldn't give me a good indication of how long I've taken. I fall asleep at the keyboard too often. :-/

IWSG January

cleemckenzie said...

May you reach each and every goal in 2016!

Olga Godim said...

Lovely goals, Cherie, worth adopting.
Congrats on your story in the IWSG anthology.

Loni Townsend said...

You've got a pretty good plan and approach. I'm guessing you'll pull it off well. Happy 2016!

Liza said...

Congratulations on your IWSG win. How wonderful for you. Good goals! Wishing you the best in 2016.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your goals, Cherie!

Nas said...

Happy New Year Cherie! You have great goals. I'm afraid I have slacked off on health and exercise goals.

EEGiorgi said...

Those are awesome and ambitious goals, best of luck with them. Happy New Year and congratulation on getting your story in the anthology, way to go! :-)

Denise Covey said...

Hi Cherie. I came by to congratulate you on being included in the Anthology! Awesome! Can't wait to read all the stories!

Angela Brown said...

Wonderful goals, Cherie.

No goals for me. I have my vision and a new planner that I'm keeping up with daily to make notes about anything that I really need to do. Otherwise, I am taking baby steps with my writing and all the various facets of my crazy life :-)

alexia said...

Finally someone who has a normal reading goal!! I've been seeing lots of 75 and 100 books in the year, and I never have that much time so I get jealous :) Mine is always about 2 dozen as well. Awesome on your fitness goals! I remember us talking about that a while back - you rock!! I've been trying a new thing of doing an 8 minute ab shred as soon as I get home from work. Four whole days in so far :)

alexia said...

Oh, and where is this Word minute counter thing?

Cynthia said...

Good luck with your goals! There are so many cooking shows out there and Youtube videos on cooking so you don't have to go far to learn how to cook.

Adrienne Reiter said...

Congratulations on your anthology win! Exercising everyday is the only way I stay somewhat sane. It takes a lot of work for it to get comfortable. You're awesome! Happy New Year! Cheers!

Adrienne

Cathy Keaton said...

I think I'm mostly impressed by how you've been exercising every day since last May?! I can't even fathom doing that. Good job! Of course, congrats on all of writing you did last year, too. Good to see someone else accomplishing some word count goals for the year. It seems like hardly anyone actually does that but you and me. ;)

dolorah said...

Good luck with your goals Cherie. Seems like you have a good start, and having so many accomplishments last year will be good incentive to keep it up this year :)

Tricia Schneider said...

Excellent goals! It's great that you've been keeping up with last year's goals, too. Happy New Year!

TBM said...

Happy New Year!

Love your goals. And you have a good track record to start the year. And don't feel bad, I'm in my 40s and still haven't really learned how to cook. Pretty much my loved ones prefer I stay out of the kitchen. I can make a few meals and stick with those.

H. R. Sinclair said...

I really like how you split the time for two projects so neither gets ignored.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Such smart goals. I always shoot too high and burn out- like I'll finish a book in a week. Not smart.

Romance Reader said...

Happy New Year Cherie! Congratulations on placing in the Anthology!

Diane Burton said...

I'm impressed at your goals for this year. Very concise. You seem to know where you're going. Best wishes for a fabulous 2016.

Tyrean Martinson said...

I love your goals!
And, I'm not a great cook, but I started with one recipe and then I kept building up my recipe list. I think I make about 7 meals well, and the rest . . . well, they are variations on the ones that work, or they are survivable experiments. :) I haven't lit the stove or anything else on fire in my kitchen for about six years now, so I'm on a roll. :)

DMS said...

Congrats on writing every day and exercising every day too! Both are very impressive. I like the idea of writing for 30 minutes or more a day. That seems doable with my busy schedule. I haven't been doing that so far, but I think it is something I am going to strive for as well. :)

Wishing you the best of luck with all your 2016 goals.
~Jess

Heather R. Holden said...

Best of luck with all your goals for the year! That's great how you've been able to write daily since July. With all the projects you have on your plate right now, I have no doubt that you'll continue to find reasons to write this frequently!

And wow, your 2015 stats are so impressive. Congrats on all the progress you've made! :)

Sharon Himsl said...

Your goals seem very reasonable to me. I get discouraged if the goals are too big. Hey, I'm thinking, writing forty five minutes a day is doable, and I love your 2 projects idea. The exercise goal is good too, something I tried awhile back. I aimed for 30 min a day, but I'm down to 3-4 times a week right now. I need to increase that again. I used to record my writing time and exercise, which I might do again to get back in the groove. I feel healthy when I exercise and at peace when I write. So good luck with the goals. I think you're definitely on track!!

Anonymous said...

Great goals and I'm sure you'll achieve them. I've been exercising most days and it makes me feel better and stronger. I'd like to cook. I can only make simple things.

M Pax said...

You're doing fantastic. My goals seem to keep declining. Siiigh.

Jack said...

Sounds like some great goals. (I'm like you with cooking. Since I live alone I found I don't give it enough thought and throw something in to warm up last minute. Whatever happens to be lying on top of my freezer or fridge.)

Stephen Tremp said...

Goals are a must and need to be written down with a few bullet points on how to achieve them. Best wishes for 2016!

Ninja Girl said...

Very nice goals! I would really like to start exercising just to feel more healthy, and on the writing front, I'd like to get everything together that I need in order to publish my debut. There is so much to do, and I always feel like I'm behind/have missed something. Trying to take it one step at a time, but man...there are A LOT of steps toward publication! Hope you are well, and good luck with all of your goals.
Ninja Girl