Where am I now?

Much like the reality shows I love so much, I must ask myself "where am I now"? With the end of March fast approaching and a quarter of the year almost over, I thought it appropriate to see how I'm doing on my writerly New Year's resolutions.

First up, my goal to publish 5 freelance jobs this year. Status report. I've only submitted one query to one magazine for one article. Ummmm. Status update. Not good. I haven't heard back from the editor yet but I sent it less than a month ago and it takes 2 months for a reply. I'll keep you posted.

Goals 2 and 3. I wanted to edit my MS, have it critiqued and then submit it to a few agents. Status report. I haven't even finished the first draft. I have 10K more words to pen. Oy Vey. And that brings me to my next resolution.

I wanted to start and finish a rough draft of my next novel. But (in my best Sopranos impression) forget about it. I haven't even finished the first draft of my first novel.

Lastly, I want to add 100 followers to this blog. Status update. I've only added two but hey I have to start somewhere. I absolutely love the 17 followers I've got.

Some people may wonder why I'm writing about this but a status report is the perfect way to find out where you are and where you need to go. For me, where I need to go is off to write. See you later. Happy reading and happy writing.

By the way, how are you coming along with your New Year's Resolutions? Or have you completely pushed any thought of them to the back of your mind? Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know.

My Writerly New Year's Resolutions

Here comes the time of year when I sit and think and think AND THINK about what I'd like to accomplish in the coming year--along with the rest of the world. This year, however, I choose to focus my goals clearly on writing instead of some weight loss goal or my third attempt at learning to swim before the end of the year. After a lot of time and consideration, my New Year's writer resolutions entail the following:

1. I want to publish five freelance jobs. I don't care if the jobs are local, online, or print. I just want publication and a little compensation wouldn't hurt. I'm starting with Cat Misener's guest post on freelance writing at http://inkyfreshpress.com. I hope to use her posts to find out how to achieve this goal.

2. I plan to edit my MS. I'm jump starting the editing process with The Forest for the Trees (Revised and Updated): An Editor's Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner.

3. After I beta/edit that MS & put it aside, I plan to query a few agents. I turn to Twitter for this one. If I tweet my genre and beta reader or critique partner with the hashtag 'betamatch', I hope to match up with a beta reader and/or critique partner. Twitter also comes in handy when I submit to agents. It gives me information about when they are closed to queries, what they are looking for, where to find their guidelines, etc.

4. I plan to write another terrible first draft. I have several story ideas. I just need to pick one and nurture it.

5. I want to add 100 followers to this blog, for which I have no starting point whatsoever.

I welcome any suggestions on making one or all of these things happen. Better yet, what are your New Year's Resolutions? Are any of the writing related?