I’m usually really good about keeping my resolutions (aside from the biting nails one that makes it onto the list every year and always fails). This year I’m putting some items that are kind of can’t control, but they are goals, so I hope to accomplish them.

1. Sell a book or two or…well, you know. Though this one is technically out of my hands and in the hands of my capable agent, I can do some things to help this along. I can think positively, I can nail any revisions that may arise during the submission process, I can learn from any rejections and not let them get me down (though hopefully there won’t be any!) And just in case, I can make sure I write, revise, and polish my next manuscripts so they rise about the slush pile, not fall into it, and make editors fight to acquire them. Hopefully I’ve already succeeded on this with The Art of Selling my Sister and it will inspire the fighting in 2009!

2. Get engaged. Again, another one that relies on external sources, but I can easily give my boyfriend ultimatums until he gives in. Or I’ll just keep nagging him by waving my left hand in front of his face and saying, "Empty!" Or maybe I’ll just keep playing Beyonce’s "Single Ladies (Put a ring on it)" until the lyrics become a subliminal message that seeps into his brain. (I am kidding with this, I will continue to be the girl he loves and let him know I am there for him when he needs me).

3. I want to continue improving my writing craft with each book I write. I want to turn my flaws into strengths. I want to take my strengths and make them stronger. If I encounter problems with a manuscript, I want to look those problems in the eye and not be intimidated. I want to eradicate them and triumph over any obstacles. Don’t we all want to do this? Let’s all strive to succeed.

4. I would like to clean my apartment more often. I usually choose writing over cleaning, but I think I should sacrifice some of that time and devote it here.

5. I got a treadmill yesterday from my aunt/neighbor who moved out of my building. It would be nice if I actually used this as something other than an extremely large coat rack.

6. Buy a house or at least move to a bigger apartment with enough closets to hold all my clothes so I don’t have to keep most of them on the floor in the same spot I took them off.

7. I will be better at responding to emails as soon as I receive them. I often wait to reply because I don’t want to look too eager, but then I forget that I read the email and it slips through the cracks. So I will stop stressing about this and start being more diligent about replying in a timely fashion.

8. Read more classics and beat my 66 books from 2008 and 70 books from 2007 by at least 10 more.

9. See my friends more and spend more time interacting with my new live journal friends. These are kind of contradictory, but both important!

10. I might come back and edit this later if I think of others, but they are letting us out of work early. Huzzah!

What are your resolutions for the year? What are your plans for tonight? My boyfriend is "on call" because they have a lot of end of the year files to transfer and he needs to be around to make sure they deliver properly. He can do this remotely, so we’re staying in, cooking an extravagant dinner (have I mentioned he’s an excellent cook?) and drinking the FOUR bottles of champagne he bought. We obviously won’t finish those all, I’m not sure what he was thinking, but whatever! I’m most looking forward to doing my favorite activity: writing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tags: goals

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.