Friday, January 11, 2013

Happenings In The Outhouse 11-Jan-2013 / Goals vs. Resolutions

I don't set New Year's resolutions.

I set goals.

What's the difference, you may ask?  They sound so much like the same thing.  In a way, they are but there's so much more to a goal that resolutions lack.

Resolutions have the feel that "oh I'm going to lose some weight" or "I'm going to make more money."

Goals are more concrete: specific and timely (i.e. I will lose 50 pounds by Christmas 2013).  Then, goals are broken down into how you're going to do it.

So, instead of setting resolutions that'll disappear by Valentine's Day, set goals.  You don't need a holiday to tell you to do so.  Just do it.  Set a goal (or many) today.

Then, plan on how you're going to do it.

What else have I been up to?  Writing, of course.  Blogging less, which is weird, but I find that I'm getting more of my other projects done--blogging less is one sacrifice (short-term, maybe?) I need to make at this point.

My goal for this month is to finish 10 short stories.  These are 10 short stories that have been written and are now being cleaned up (fancy term for editing the crap out of them).  Oddly enough, one is a short story that appeared in a regional publication in October 2007 AND appeared a few months before on the back page of the local newspaper.  Comparing the two now, there is very little salvaged from the original.

My literary agent search is still commencing.  No responses yet on several, which can be expected as they're just coming off of a holiday break and I'm sure their inbox is overflowing.  You just need patience for times like this.  Patience and an unrelentless pursuit to keep working on something new.

Here are some YouTube videos I found, from Stacey Cochran, a writer doing an agent search.  Now, keep in mind, these are timely and agent searches nowadays are more electronic, but I do remember the days of sitting at the dining room table and opening one rejection after another.

Enjoy!



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