Writers Reveal 7 Top Goals for 2012

What’s your #1 goal this year? Last year, I asked this questionto some of my favorite writers, and they answered. This year’s no different. I went to writing colleagues I trust and admire.  What’s your top goal, I asked them. And as I anticipated, it’s a solid bunch of pros: they’re ready for 2012, and more focused than ever.

 So, what are writers about this year?  

No fear. “Something tells me I’m into something good…”

courtesy of Freephotobank.com

Cut and print.  No surprise here, but many writers shared their main goal: to finish and publish.

Author Kelly James-Enger, whose book Six Figure Freelancing and blog are musts, says while she grows her ghostwriting and coauthoring business, she wants to finish and publish her latest novel and to work on developing more passive income, primarily through e-books.  “If I had to choose my top goal, it would be to develop a series of e-books for readers.”

Freelance writer Steve Sears aims to finish the first draft of a personal memoir by mid-year. Author Debbie Alferio says she plans to “finish and hopefully publish  the manuscript for the third book in my Forever Love series. I’ve kept my readers in suspense long enough!”

Diversify. We’re all about kicking it up a notch, and author and writing coach Christina Katz says she wants to “take my writing career to a whole new level, exactly what I teach others to do, and ignore critics, champion my students and other people I respect, and basically  mind my own business so it can continue to grow my career skills.” Katz is excited about rolling out her best tools for writers and still keeping up with her free stuff, such as The Prosperous Writers newsletter, the Writer Mama Every Day in May Book Giveaway, and class scholarships. “Folks should watch my blog for less blah-blah and more informative posts that are quicker to read and easier to digest,” she adds.

Be a better writer. “A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist told me one time, ‘Get rid of the good stuff--keep only the best stuff,’ and that was really about the best writing advice I ever received. So, I guess my goal is to be more substantive and creative when I write,” says writer-blogger Dave Meyer.

Be selective and strategic, so you can wage the war on the elusive work-life balance. Freelance journalist and teacher Susan Johnston--whose site is another must for writers (and one I did a 2011 guest post on accountability partners) --says: “I have a tendency to over-commit and wind-up stressing myself out to meet all of my deadlines. Then something else comes up and instead of resting, I jump head-first into the next project. My goal is to think more strategically about the projects I accept and negotiate longer deadlines or higher rates where possible so if things come up, it’s not as stressful.”

“Rather than whipping out quick filler fluff articles,” says blogger and publicity pro Kim Urig, “I’m going to focus on spending more time sending out queries for better paying publications. I’d rather say that my efforts netted me more than coffee at a fancy coffee shop. No more penny ante writing.”

Watch the clock. The battle of procrastination was often cited, even by NYT bestselling author Taylor Stevens. As her novel The Informationist soared to the top of the charts in 2011, she knew her weak spots. “Surfing randomly through news articles is my favorite procrastination device, and I waste far too much time doing it. My top writing goal is to spend less time online, and more time writing.”

The art of promotion.  C. Hope Clark, the editor of FundsforWriters.com, looks forward to her series of mystery novels being published. “The top goal for 2012? Promoting the mystery novels: that means marketing the first, editing the second, and completing the third. Since I have a publisher, I darn well better make the novels a priority,” she says.

Nurture not nature. Writer, blogger and young adult writing teacher Mary Jo Campbell named 2012 the “year of nurturing.” She commits to nurturing her mind, creativity, dreams, and setting clear and realistic goals to nurture her writing: “Writing.Every.Single.Day.”

As I head into my third year of fulltime freelancing, I'm still enjoying it, though I have experienced frustrations with some clients paying very late (who hasn't dealt with this?) But overall, I'm moving forward, though, and gaining momentum, as I am still doing what I love: award-winning work on feature articles for magazines. I also "won" Nanowrimo this year and had my 50,000 word manuscript certified. I also signed on to be a humor columnist for www.Sharewik.com this year, and it's been great fun, as I was even able to dodge an earthquake, and live to tell about it! In 2012, I plan to work more strategically, writing for national consumer and trade magazines, and I hope to cultivate my index card file full of story ideas, which beg to come out of the box and come to fruition. What about you? 

May you have a productive new year, my writer friends. May you write well, listen, learn, cull, discover, nurture, teach, and... enjoy. All my best wishes!