WRITING GOALS: 2025 RECAP & 2026 GOALS

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was uneventful and quiet. I was Sick over Thanksgiving, and my son’s family was sick throughout December and through New Years. So, we finally celebrated Christmas on Saturday. WooHoo!

On to goals—

Some people don’t like setting goals because they feel it to be too confining and too much pressure. For me, they help me focus, and I have something to aim for. Like the old saying goes, Shoot for the stars (or moon). You might not make it there, but you will soar higher than if you had never tried. (I couldn’t find a specific author for this variation, but it’s close to Norman Vincent Peale’s quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” So, I guess this version is mine, Mary Davis.)

Each goal should have the caveat attached to the end . . . “Stated goal” or something better.

So, how did I do on my 2025 goals? I’m partially pleased. Here is a quick recap.

2025 GOALS
~~Complete time travel proposal. 
            I did get this goal completed and my agent is shopping it around.
~~Edit Deep Breath (Time Travel book 2).
            Nope. I can’t edit what isn’t written.
~~Write 50,000-ish plus words.
            I didn’t reach this one either.
~~Participate in NaNoWriMo & Camp NaNoWriMo, as usual. 
            I did participate in CampNaNoWriMo, but the organization closed their doors be the November event, so I didn’t participate in the NaNoWriMo. Hence the reason I didn’t reach the previous goal.
~~Plot Flash Forward (Time Travel book 3).
            Since I didn’t get to Book 2, I haven’t plotted Book 3 yet.
~~Write rough draft of Flash Forward.
            No plotting, no writing, so this was a bust.
~~Re-release 3+ backlist books.
            I re-released a collection with three other authors, but that was all.
~~Complete HHH Posts by the 10th of each month.
            I did complete this goal and even got ahead.
~~Complete one or more additional proposals.
            Nope. This one didn’t happen

Non-writing goals:
~~I will Do a Bible study on Prayer. 
        I did do this and hope to have a better prayer life.

So I reached 1 + 1 + 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 = 3.83 of my 10 goals. I was having a hard time focusing this first full year without my husband. So, I’m pleased with what I was actually able to accomplish. I’m calling it a win

My word for 2025 was Recover.
        I think I did do some recovering.

On to 2026 GOALS
~~Write 50,000-ish plus words. I need at least this amount to reach some of my other goals.
~~Complete The Other Side of Yesterday (Time Travel book 1). My agent asked me to up the word count on this one, so I’ve been working on it. I’m hoping to finish that by the end of January or middle of February.
~~Expand Deep Breath (Time Travel book 2) to the final word count of book 1.
~~Edit Deep Breath.
~~Plot Flash Forward (Time Travel book 3).
~~Rerelease 3+ backlist books. I want to reach for this goal again. I have the rights back to many of my books and want to re-release them. First, I need to figure out how to create covers using AI or something else.
~~Complete HHH Posts by the 10th of each month. I’m going to try to get a few months ahead again.
~~~Finish rough draft of The Shopkeeper’s Dilemma. This is in my Quilting Circle series. There are a few other characters that I want to tell their stories. This is one of them

Non-writing goals:
~~This year I’m going to do a study on the will of God. I bought a book on it and plan to see how it goes.

~~I will trying to get regular exercise by walking my dog

And finally, I will Continue to go through boxes. 

. . . OR SOMETHING BETTER

My word for 2026 is Clarity.

Do you have a word for 2026?

I hope you all are successful in meeting your goals in 2026. =0)

And I pray this year is happy and healthy, and may you find joy in the little things. =0)

For more information on how to set achievable, measurable, and controllable goals, you can reference my blog post on it HERE.
[[[ https://marydavisbooks.blogspot.com/2019/12/tuesday-tidbits-2020-goal-setting.html ]]]