"These go to 11."

[xerinmichellex]

I made three resolutions for this year. In no particular order (other than how impossible it will be to stick to them, from top to bottom):

1. Get an agent.

Yeah, I know, your resolutions shouldn't be for things you cannot control. But this has been my number one resolution going on three years now. Maybe four. I think of it less as a resolution and more as a goal...and goals help you do things. So, yeah.

2. Be a better planner/manage my time better.

Basically, I want to start a manuscript and stay with it. All told, I started six last year, one of which got finished and five that I stopped working on after a few chapters. (Not to mention the skeletal remains of other manuscripts that I tried working on too.) I'd also like to get back into my normal routine of writing at least 2K words a day, Monday through Friday. Something--a mental block of sorts--derailed me this summer, where I'd get a substantial amount written one day and then nothing the rest of the week. I really want 2011 to be a good year--a better year than suck-tacular 2010. The only way I can make it better is to keep working, and have that work pay off.

3. Read 61 books for 2011.

61? What an odd little number. Well, eleven of those books are for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge, while 50 is just for fun. Or "research." *does shifty eyes* I think I read 50 books last year--or close to it--so this resolution might be the most achievable on the scale of achievability.

Comments

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Good luck! The agent thing is a constant To Do for me too, as well as time management. I have no trouble getting words down, it's the other stuff that tends to screw me up. Like, getting a query out there for other eyes to see. You can't play the game if you don't roll for initiative, know what I mean? (Oh god. That was a terrible D&D metaphor. Please ignore...)

61 books sounds like a cool challenge! I've never kept track of the number of books I read in a year. All I know is I'm a slower reader than I once was, so I have to renew my library books more often than not, but there's always something on the nighttable, waiting.

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

I think what screws me up sometimes is over-plotting. Part of what made me so successful in the past years what not knowing everything in my plot, so I'd want to write to find out what happened next. I used to stay up late writing; I haven't done that in a while and I want that feeling back.

I'm a moderate reader who prefers reading in one sitting. The problem I have is finding time to read because I cannot read another book while writing a manuscript.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

I know this is a little but--How do you do that? I've seen some folks on AW say that too--they can read a book in one sitting--and how? Am I that slow? I don't have that many hours in my day anymore. I fill most of them with reading and/or writing, but goddamn. I feel so behind the curve whenever that comes up.

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

I don't have that many hours in my day anymore.

That's part of it. I read mostly on weekends. And when I say "one sitting" I don't mean I pick up a book and read literally read it cover-to-cover without stopping, but that I can finish a book in a 24-hour span.

I'm also a fast reader, about one page per minute. So, a 300-word book would then take me 300 minutes, give or a take a minute. It also depends what I'm reading. More "literary bent" novels take me longer. Most of the YA books take a day. *shrugs*

I wouldn't worry about how fast you read. Just like writing a manuscript, everyone does it at their own speed and however it works for them. Doesn't mean someone's doing it better if they're quicker. :)