Ring-Master's Law of Deadlines

When you are on deadline:

1. You will always get sick—usually with something that affects your brain power and/or your ability to speak.
2. At least one child will also get sick, miserable and clingy.
3. None of your sources will be available to talk to you in the few hours that all of your children are at school.
4. Your child will not be able to amuse himself, remain quiet or keep himself out of trouble for the two minutes it takes to double-check something by phone, no matter how content, quiet or out of trouble he was before you picked up the phone.
5. Because of the above, you will be plagued with self-doubt about your writing, editing and time management skills.
6. You will get the assignment done on time anyway and move on to the next one. There are no excuses.

Honest or Nice?

When friends ask me to edit or review their writing, I worry that they are really asking me to tell them what great writers they are. After all, I’m their friend and I’m supposed to be nice to them...right?

My dilemma is that my idea of being nice might not be the same as theirs. I don’t think it’s nice to tell them that their novels/stories/essays/articles are great when there are problems with them. To me, helping them make their writing as strong as possible to give them the best possible chance of publication, is being nice...even if that means telling them that a character is not real enough or a storyline sags.

If you don’t buy that, take a look at these posts by a couple of literary agents:

Janet Reid, aka Query Shark (that blog alone should prove my point) posted some statistics to torture yourself with in 2010. Publishing is a tough business.

Rachelle Gardner tells you what your friends might be afraid to and suggests you Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. For a (in Ms. Gardner’s words) “kinder, gentler, and much more informative” take on the same topic, she refers you to Michael Hyatt’s post.

Quick Tip: Team Up to Reach Your Goals

The beauty of NaNoWriMo is that it not only challenges you to reach a difficult writing goal (1667 words per day), but it helps you be accountable for that goal with its forums, word counters and support. But November is over all too quickly (especially if you're behind on that word count!) and then all that great stuff is NaNo more.

The solution? Find a new support team.

InkyGirl invites you to join her in The 1000 Words/Day Challenge in 2010, or one of the lesser-word count challenges (500 or 250 words a day). Her goal is simple: to inspire writers to write.

Heather Wright at The Wright Words wants to Fill the NaNo Void too.  She has a simple way to help keep you motivated in sticking to your personal writing goal.

Links Tents: Goals and Resolutions

I'm taking back what I said about not making resolutions this year after reading a few great blog posts about them. Here are some "must make" resolutions:

• Blogalicious offers this list of 13 New Year's Writing Resolutions every writer should make.
• Freelance Folder chimes in with their own list of 10 New Year's Resolutions Every Freelancer Should Have. 
• Heather Wright suggests a resolution all of us should make, whether we are writers or not, with A Resolution for All Occasions. 

If you have set, or are trying to set, more concrete goals, here are a few blog posts that will help you with that:

• Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent, suggests Setting Goals and Finding Joy, and includes a few more links to help you in your goal. (Apologies to both you and Ms. Gardner for the pun--I really can't help myself.)
• Quips & Tips for Successful Writers helps you set your Blogging Goals--7 Types of Goals to Set for Your Blog. (I have an addition to that list for bloggers like me--posting regularly.)
• We all know how quickly well-intentioned goals and resolutions can fall by the wayside, so QueryTracker.net offers suggestions for Setting, Keeping, and Achieving Your Writing Goals This Year.
• Men With Pens has a series of posts about project management, which involves SMART goals and SMART freelancing. The last installment, Keep the Freelance Clock Ticking, includes links to the other parts of the series.
  

New Year's Goals

My apologies for being MIA for so long. The holidays, a deadline and family took precedence and my usual “plan ahead” philosophy fell by the wayside. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and rang in the New Year with family and friends.

Now that the festivities are over, it’s time to take stock, reflect on last year’s accomplishments, and think about what 2010 will bring.

I don’t make resolutions, but I do set goals for myself. This year, I’ve focused on business/writing goals. I’ve set goals that challenge me but aren’t so high that I don’t believe I can reach them . . . although I did set one in November that seemed impossibly high and managed to hit it. (Remember NaNo?)

What about you? Do you make New Year’s resolutions or set goals for the coming year?