Discussion: What Are Your Goals for the Rest of 2017?

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So! Originally I had a fixing the first page critique scheduled for today, but the winner never sent me their excerpt and I didn't have enough time to draw a new winner, so instead let's discuss! Because discussions are fun.

There are 37 days of 2017 left (I know, right?). And with the new year approaching, I thought it might be fun to talk about what you'd like to accomplish before 2018 dawns. Mine include:

• I already talked about my book goals so I won't reiterate them, but in short: read a ton of books for fun. 
• Finish THE RISING GOLD revisions. 
• Build the end table that's been sitting in my room for too long. 
• Get at least one bookshelf situated (yay!).
• Finish playing Final Fantasy XV.
• R E L A X

It's been a very intense Fall for me, but with things soon winding down, I'm very much looking forward to some much-needed Me time. And with that comes (hopefully) completing some goals that I've been wanting to accomplish for a while. 

What about you? What are your goals for the rest of 2017?

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What are you goals for the rest of 2017? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Discussion: Halfway Through 2017 Check-In

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We're officially more than halfway through 2017, which is a super bizarre thing to think about. And I figured it might be fun to take stock of what we've done so far this year and look at our goals for the rest of the year, as a sort of progression check-in and/or way to adjust goals.

I'll start. So far I've had a pretty hectic six months for various life reasons, but on the writing side of things, it's been pretty good. I've made some progress on revisions for one manuscript, finished a proposal for a thing (fully plotted a project, plus wrote the first chapter) that I'll be using to write my eighteenth (!!) manuscript sometime later this year, a YA Historical Fantasy I'm super super excited about.

I also finished revisions on Into the Black, turned them in to my editor, did some more revisions back and forth with her, and am now working on proofs (which means hopefully there should be ARCs soonish!). I've also fully plotted and started first drafting The Rising Gold (manuscript seventeen). I'm currently a little over 30k in and am...pretty concerned this manuscript is going to be way too long, but that's a worry for revisions.

My goals for the rest of the year include finishing first drafting The Rising Gold as well as revising it with CPs and sensitivity readers, then getting it to my agent sometime this fall. I also want to first draft the aforementioned fantasy (maybe a NaNo book? I'd like to get to it sooner but we'll see) and would like to hopefully finish revising that other manuscript...but that's a lot on my plate especially given my schedule is going to be busy as hell come Fall, so we'll see.

I'm juggling a lot and working on two books simultaneously with two external deadlines has been a challenge. But ultimately I've been making progress, and that's what matters.

What have you accomplished so far in 2017? And what writing goals do you have for the rest of the year?

Twitter-sized bite: 

What've you done so far this year? What are your goals for the rest of 2017? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: My 2017 Resolutions

Last vlog of 2016 means it's time for resolutions! What are you resolving to do next year? I share my resolutions for 2017.

RELATED LINKS: 

• On Writer Resolutions (vlog)
• New Year, New Resolutions
• End of Year Goals
• Writing Plans for 2017

What are you resolving to do in 2017?

Twitter-sized bite: 

What are your 2017 resolutions? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. #vlog (Click to tweet)

Taking Stock of 2016 Reading/Writing Goals

So we're officially halfway through the year (!!), which means I decided to take stock of what I've done this year so far, and look forward to the next six months with some new goals and milestones. My resolutions for 2016 were:

1. Read 70 books
2. Write one new manuscript
3. Finish revising current manuscript
4. Prioritize taking care of myself throughout the year

So far I'm making good progress. I've read 36 books so far, drafted one and a half manuscripts, finished revising the manuscript I was working on at the beginning of the year (or at least, finished revising it enough that I would have considered it finished in January), and I established a weekly day off for myself to make sure I don't forget the self-care thing. Also I started strength training with free weights for the first time ever this year and the (now visible) results have made me very happy. So far so good. 

I decided to take a closer look at the books I've read so far, however, because back last November I did a diversity reading analysis and I wanted to see how I'm stacking up so far. 

So of the 36 books I've read so far, 21 have included some sort of marginalized representation, while 15 have not. 

Of the diverse narratives, 3 included neuroatypical or mental illness representation, 14 had QUILTBAG characters, 9 had major characters of marginalized races/ethnicities, and only 3 had characters with physical disabilities.

Bright side, I suppose, is I've read a grand total of one more book with physical disability rep in the first six months of the year than I did all of last year. I'd like to read more books with POC characters for sure, so that's something I'll focus on the next six months, along with looking for books with some neuroatypical characters because apparently I've been severely lacking in that department this year. 

Looking at the authors, I've read books from 24 cis women authors, 9 cis men authors, and 2 trans/nonbinary authors. 

And based off what I know/can find easily online, 17 of the books I've read so far were by marginalized authors and 19 weren't. 

So all in all, I think I'm doing okay. I'd like to continue to prioritize marginalized authors in my reading list whenever I can. Looking at what's left of my owned TBR shelf, a lot of what I have already isn't written by marginalized authors, but there are a couple books I've wanted to read anyway that are, and plus the library is a thing, and also I have some pre-orders coming in that will help with that too. 

As for my writing goals, I'm definitely aiming to both finish drafting and revise the manuscript I'm currently working on, plus I'd like to make it a goal to first draft the WIP I've already plotted, but I'll have to make that a flexible goal because some other projects may take priority. Still! I'll set it as a bonus goal. 

All in all I've met many goals this year already and look forward to more progress. Yay. :)

What reading and writing goals have you been working toward this year?

Twitter-sized bite: 

How have you been progressing with your 2016 goals? @Ava_Jae takes a look at her progress so far. (Click to tweet)

End of Year Goals

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So we have a little less than fifteen weeks of 2015 (those of you who were enjoying bliss ignorance, I apologize), so I thought it might be fun to start thinking about things I’d like to do before 2016. Call them resolutions or goals or just things to look forward to, but here are my goals for the rest of the year.

• Finalize the #YAFantasyWIP. This is my NaNo manuscript from 2013 (yes, the one I wrote stupidly fast), so it’s been a long time coming, but I’ll very shortly be embarking of the last couple rounds of revision for this manuscript. Seeing how much this WIP has developed from first draft to pre-final revision draft has already been totally amazing, so I look forward giving it the final shine it needs.


• Start working on a new project after #YAFantasyWIP revisions are 100% complete. Because I’m going to need a distraction when that project is done to keep me sane. Heh.


• Finish (and beat) GR reading challenge (only four books to go!). My Goodreads reading challenge goal was fifty books this year, and it looks like at the rate I’m going I’ll very easily surpass that. My goal is to hit fifty and keep going—just to see how many I can squeeze in before the end of the year. :)


• Finish second to last semester at college. Considering I just started school again three weeks ago, this feels like a weird goal. But it is, crazily, something that will happen before the end of the year! 


• Write 800th blog post (21 to go). Pretty self-explanatory, so…yep. 


• Post 80th vlog (ten to go). It’s kind of incredible to me that this is even a plausible goal, and yet! Boy, does time fly…


• Make five diet-friendly meals/desserts I’ve never made before. Due to my medical stuff, I have a ridiculously strict diet. But! It means I’ve learned to cook, and though I’ve been lazy lately with the stuff I’ve been making, I think this is a good goal to have. Because most of the time I really like the new recipes I try out. So. Food.


• Get Beyond the Red ARCs. I guess this is unfair to set as a goal since it’s mostly out of my hands, but this is a thing that will happen before 2016! And that’s exciting. And I can’t wait. :D

What end of year goals do you have?

Twitter-sized bite:

Writer @Ava_Jae shares some goals she has before 2016 arrives. What end of year goals do you have? (Click to tweet)

New Year, New Resolutions

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So it’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m writing Friday’s post, and in less than 24 hours it’ll be 2015. 

Well. By the time this is posted, it will be 2015. On one hand, it's kind of hard to believe because it seems like yesterday when Snowpocalypse and the Polar Vortex was happening, and yet we’re in January again. I feel like I’m lapping myself.

On the other hand, I’m actually really excited for this year. For one, I can now officially say that my book will be published next year (eeep!), and maybe I’m just giddy from the really excellent 2014 I had, but I just feel like 2015 is going to be even more exciting. 

Because it’s the new year, I have writerly resolutions, which are really more goals than resolutions, but anyway. Here’s what I’m aiming to do this year: 

1. Read 50 books. A few years ago, I would have laughed at this goal, but last year I read 44 (published) books, so this seems like a reasonable goal. Also, required reading for school totally counts. 


2. Revise 2 WIPs. In 2014, I did this thing where I fast-drafting two manuscripts back to back even though I already had a manuscript I needed to revise. Now I have three manuscripts in need of revisions, one of which is in it’s final revision stages (until it goes to my agent, anyway), the other two which I haven’t even started. Those are the ones I’m aiming to revise this year, but if another manuscript takes priority, that’s okay, too. I just want to revise at least two. 


3. Write a new MS. I’ve written at least one manuscript a year every year since 2006. I have zero idea what new (as in, not yet drafted) WIP I’ll work on this year, but I’m aiming to write at least one new one and keep the momentum going. 


4. Sell another book. They say not to make goals that are out of your control, and this sort of is, because writing a book and working really hard on it and revising it until my agent loves it is wonderful, but there are still no guarantees it’ll sell. That being said, I’m making it a goal anyway. Because I’m stubborn like that. 


5. Do something new. This is super vague because I’m not really sure what it’ll be. But I want to do something I’ve never done before, and maybe it’ll be writing related and maybe not, but either way, it’s a goal. 

Now I want to hear from you: what are you resolving (or aiming) to do this year? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

Writer @Ava_Jae shares her writerly 2015 resolutions. What are you aiming to do this year? (Click to tweet)

Writer Bucket List Challenge

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So the super sweet Tammara Webber tagged me in a writer bucket list challenge thingie, and I actually really love her take on it—she wrote her bucket list as it would have been a couple years ago so she could check stuff off she’s already done. Which I think is awesome and that’s the way I’m going to handle it.

So if I’d written a writer bucket list a couple years ago (or any time before a year ago, really) this is what it would have looked like:

1. Get an awesome agent. (Yay!) 
2. Go to a writer’s conference. (More yay!) 
3. Get a publishing contract. 
4. See my book selling at Barnes & Nobles. 
5. Make a living off my writing. 
6. Becomes a NYT bestselling author (what, I can dream, right?). 
7. Become someone’s favorite author. 
8. Write someone’s favorite character. 
9. Participate in a book signing. 
10. Go on a book tour. 
11. Be on a panel at a writing conference. 
12. See one of my books adapted to film. 
13. Live somewhere outside of the States. (Not really writing-related, but still). 

So those are the ones I can think of at the moment! Next up, I’m going to challenge my CP Vicki Leigh (whose book is coming out in A MONTH. What?) and NA author of adorableness Megan Erickson.

But I also want to hear from you—what items are on your writer bucket list? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

.@Ava_Jae shares her writer bucket list. What's on yours? (Click to tweet)