Setting Goals for 2024
It’s crunch time for me with holiday prep and goalsetting for 2024. Who came up with the idea to have Christmas so close to the end of the year???
The one thing I have going for me is I’m all done w/the things of Christmas – shopping, wrapping, stocking stuffing, meal prep and planning on who is staying where in my house. It’s a fairly new chapter for me – being a BnB host of sorts to all the big kids who are coming home to the roost with or without their significant others. Figuring out where they’re going to stay is like playing Jenga.
So with that done, I am putting most of my focus on what I want to accomplish next year, writing related and otherwise. Usually between now and the end of the first week of January, I have all my goals set and posted up in my office. I list my yearly goals and then I break down the steps to achieve those goals by each quarter. Maybe it sounds a little obsessive, but this system has worked well for me for a few years now.
The key to my success when it comes to goalsetting is to keep the list very, very short – no more than five goals. Adherence to this rule helps me set a laser focus on priorities. So, what are my writerly goals for 2024?
1. Prepare to market my second book.
2. Prepare my third book for publication.
3. Think about what my fourth book will be and start working on it over Summer 2024.
4. Create writing-based classes and experiences.
Prepare to market my second book. I must admit that I haven’t been doing much in this realm. It doesn’t help that I don’t actually have a mock-up of a cover at the ready. However, I know it’s important to create excitement about this book and to do that, I need to build up my community. I’ve started very small by posting more on a new social media platform that seems to be more writer-friendly – Threads. I’m still trying to figure out how it works. For context, I’ve never been on X aka Twitter, which is what Threads resembles, so the learning curve has been a bit steep. One thing in my favor is I have a growing audience for my grief podcast, so I don’t think promoting a book about grief on here will be a problem.
Prepare my third book for publication. This is the book I completed last summer and have let marinate for a few months. Well, the time for that is done and it’s ready to be worked on again. I will be editing and getting outside feedback during the first two quarters of 2024. Hopefully it’ll be ready to pitch by Fall 2024.
Think about what my fourth book will be. For the last several months, I’ve tossed around ideas. Should it be a memoir? Or should it be a novel? Both are new genres for me, which has caused me to procrastinate on this decision. I’m not sure I’m ready to stir up the emotions nest that awaits me for a memoir. And I have no clue what my novel would be about. But I’m yearning to do something new and fun. I hope I’ll be closer to an answer by summer.
Create writing-based classes and experiences. In a previous post, I mentioned that I joined a wellness-oriented platform so I can offer online classes. I have a few classes in mind and am hoping I can develop them by the end of January to offer in February.
What are your writing goals for 2024? I’d love to hear from you on this, so email me at lori@starfishcounseling.biz.
Write & Rise, my friends!
