Category: Goals

2013 Goals – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle19 Comments

Happy New Year

READING

2013EbookChallengeA couple of months ago, I read a great post with a great title, The Best Ever Top 50 List in the World Ever by Michael J. Holley.  How could resist a great title like that?

Anyway, in the post, Michael includes the list of the top 50 most popular books and the top 50 most popular films.    I have a full length post planned for this topic, but needless to say, I need to read more.  So, in 2013, that is what I am going to do. I have signed up for the 2013 Ebook Challenge.  My plan is the read the following books over the course of 2013:

  1. The Hobbit
  2. A Tale of Two Cities
  3. Kane & Abel
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird
  5. The Lord of the Rings
  6. Anna Karenina
  7. The Great Gatsby
  8. The Sportswriter
  9. Tropic of Cancer
  10. Wuthering Heights
  11. To the Lighthouse
  12. The Eagle has Landed

I will be keeping track of my reads on the 2013 Reading Challenge tab. And you can see the current book I am reading in the side bar.  I figure once I finish my book each month, then I can return to reading my chick lit, horror and crime thrillers.

Have you read any of these books? Let me know, which one you enjoyed the most?  

WRITING

Blog – The blog schedule will change to 3 times a week at least. Now, this coming week, I will be posting 5 days a weeks, hence the, at least.

Sunday Post – My Weekly Update – Review of my week, Posts to Share, Recognition of New Followers and Special Features coming up such has blog hops or book tours for the following week.
Tuesday Post/Wednesday Post – I will alternate Tattoo Tuesday and Sydney Quotes the Movies (SQM) every other week.
Friday Post – Random Blog Post

Short Stories – I love a good, well written short story and have read many last year. Sevastian Winters has some amazing stories for sale on his site and they inspired me to give it a try.  I am committing to writing a short story a month. And, to add an extra incentive, I have joined, 2 short story contest. I figured why not.  They offer feedback whether you win or not. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?

WriMo – I will participate in JuNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo this year for the novel length fans in my life.  The ideas keep coming and it worked for me in the past. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Editing – I really enjoyed my WriMo Diaries (how is that for a great title, Uhmmm). My goal is to create a Editing Diary to correspond with the editing process of my three novels.  I will begin editing in  January and will continue, I guess, until . . . who knows. But, that’s ok.

Publishing – WriMo Diaries, Editing Diaries, Short Story Anthology, Novel #1, #2, #3 – I would be pleased with anyone of these happening this year. But, definitely, all three and more in my life time.

What are your writing goals this year? Do yo have a word count goal, books written goal or a just a goal to get published this year? 

ARITHMETIC

Ok, had the finish the saying with Arithmetic. This might be a stretch, but I need a goal relating to numbers.  Maybe I could work on sticking to my Amazon/iBook monthly budget.  Kind of disregarded that more times then I should in the past. Well, if my blog idols would stop publishing, I wouldn’t buy so many book; Emily, A.E., Becca, D.C., Karen,      Donna, and Chris. Yes, I’m talking to you.

I could focus on increasing my Social Media presence, but I my pleased with those numbers growing as they are.

There is always the views/clicks stats, but you can’t really control that, can you?

Ok, I have a good one, I will meet/connect/friend/read/follow/support more people on the web this year.

Also, a million dollar advance check would be nice. It could happen.

What numbers will you be focusing on this year? 

I wish everyone a Happy and Productive New Year. 

Related Post:

 

 

My Weekly Update – My Life is About to Change

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle21 Comments
Bigger then this climb.

I know that it a bit cryptic considering I am not going to go into to much detail. At least not yet.  All I will say is that my life is about to change dramatically. I have a climb ahead of me and I am excited and scared, but it all for the best.

I wanted to just take this time to say thank you to all the people online who have been so supportive since I started this blog.  Everyone has been overwhelmingly kind and I appreciate it more then you know.  It is because of this support I have decided to make this change.  Don’t worry, I am not going anywhere, just feeling the urge to show some love.

How’s that for a cliff hanger?  On to the update . . .

The Healthy Writers Club

Shallee McArthur started The Healthy Writers Club; How to Push Your Writing (and Exercise) to the Next Level. I am sure my butt has expanded since I’ve been spending so much additional time sitting in front of a computer this year.  And, given the option of writing early in the morning or exercising early in the morning, I have been picking sleep every time.  (Yeah, you knew that was coming)  I thought I was a great idea to  record my workouts and find some like minded bloggers as well.

October 1 – 7, 2012:

Cardio:  3x – 60 min sessions
Strength Training:  2x – 20 min sessions
Stretching:  3x – 15 min sessions
Not a bad week.  

 

Posts to View

Two weeks ago I wrote a post about using character profiles as a marketing tool.  Dan O’Brien takes this concept a step further with his guest post on  Armand Rosamilia’s site.   He conducts an interview of his characters and the exchange between the author and the characters in this setting is fascinating.  Now I can’t wait to read The Path of the Fallen.
I, along with 300,000 other people are in the midst of pre Nanowrimo anxiety and I hope everyone is preparing and ready to go on November 1st.  I have been back and forth about whether or not I was going to do Nano.  I love the concept, but not as happy with the quality of work I put out during these challenges.  I will write more about this later, but it was one of my goals at the beginning of the year to participate in Junowrimo, August Campnano and Nanowrimio.  So, I am going to do it because it has been a pretty awesome goal achieving year for me and I don’t want to stop now.
To assist my fellow writer, here are a few post that might help with your prep:
From one of my new followers, Kim Cox provided help on  Outlining: The beginning, middle and end.
Felicia at The Peasant Revolt shared how she is Armed for Wrimo by introducing @wrimo: A 30 day Survival Guide for Writers by Kevin S. Kaiser. I bought it and am reading it now.
And, Amanda Fanger penned a motivational post on how to maintain Writer’s Momentum.    It’s about pushing on towards your dreams.
New Followers
Brenden Dunne
Julie at Julieschicklit
CDworks
Javedbabar at A Story a Day
KC Storm
Citizen Plain
Chris Humpherys at My Mind on a Plate
Editor Etc LLC
J Spencer Goff
 
 Next Weeks Schedule
Tuesday – Tattoo Tuesday (I promise not to miss it this week)
Wednesday – Sydney Quotes the Movies – Ridley Scott Goes All In
Friday – Write Practice – “Kaboom” Onomonopedia 
Sunday – My Weekly Update

My Weekly Update – September is Almost Here

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle18 Comments

September means a break for the hot temperatures in China.  Even though the weather is perfect to be outside exploring Shanghai, I have a busy month in front of the computer as well.  Here are a few items that are on my to do list for September:

  1. Finish the first draft on my second novel.  Campnano will only get me about two-thirds done.  I will have another 25,000 – 30,000 words to go before it is completed.  Happy dance will have to wait a few more weeks.
  2. Start edits on, I’m Coming Home, my first novel.  Can anyone recommend a good book on editing?  I am a ‘step by step’ kind of person, so I am looking for something that gives good instructions to follow on the editing process.
  3. Edit my short story for the Burrst Writing Contest.  The only prompt given was ‘Blue’.
  4. Pick one out of the three ideas I have for Nanowrimo.  I want to start outlining in October.
  5. Find more Tattoo Tuesday stories.  If I have to crawl over mountains and wade through lakes, I will find them.  Highest views of the week for me for those looking for exposure (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
  6. Participate in a few Blogfest.  Click on the badges for more information and to join me.

Blog Love 
I love this poem by The Invitation By Oriah Mountain Dreamer posted on Glitter, Bliss and Perfect Chaso.  It is what my MC is looking for. To be honest, so am I. 
 
Paul Dorset did a guest post at Karen’s Different Corner that was brilliant.  What do Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll have to do with being an Indie Author.  You can’t go wrong with a title like that and I assure you the post doesn’t disappoint.  
 
New Followers
Things to Bitch About
Cowboy Cowden
Debbie at Moon in Gemini
Roomaomao – my new source for shanghai
 
*Thanks also to all the comments, likes, RT’s, clicks, views, stumbled upon and favorites I received last week. I appreciate the love more then you know. 
 
Next Weeks Schedule
Tuesday – Tattoo Tuesday
Thursday – Sydney Quotes the Movies
Saturday – Blog Post 
Sunday – My Weekly Update 

Would you give up a year of your life to . . .

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle10 Comments

I recently read an article in the July 2012 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine.  The title of of the article was Would you give up a Year of Your Life to Sleep With Ryan Gosling?

The article proceed to pose several opposing scenarios and it got me thinking how would I answer these questions?  I decided to give myself a little quiz.

Would I give up a year of my life to sleep with Ryan Gosling?

Maybe, but for Johnny Depp, Ben Foster, Troy Aikman, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chef Michael Votaggio, or Orlando Bloom – absolutely.  Just as long as I got to tell people and I got to leverage the encounter in order to gain either tabloid magazine money, a book deal or become the host of my own talk show.

MAYBE
DEFINITELY

WITHOUT HESITATION

But, if there was potential for a long lasting relationship with any of the above, disregard the previous sentence.  For the sake of love and all that.

Would you adopt Rosey Perez’s speaking voice if it meant you could sing like Adele?

No, but if I was given the ability to create a unique and distinct voice that produced the amount of accolades and recognition that Adele received, then I would.  There will never be another Adele.

I would just sing everything.  You ever see Whitney Houston’s reality show, she sang all the time.

Would you sleep with a rat in your bed every night for a month to have the ability to fly?

No, I don’t do rats under any circumstance.  And, who would want the ability to fly?  Do you realize how dangerous it would be?  You would have to compete with planes and birds and the occasional pterodactyl.  It could happen.  If humans can fly, dinosaurs can return.  Having an effective communication system would be your biggest concern.  You don’t want the Air Force thinking you are an enemy bogey and shooting you down every day.  That could get annoying.

See How Much Trouble Ironman Had

Would you vajazzle your frenemy’s hoo-ha to have anything you want from Tiffany? 

This one was hard for me.  I can’t think of any circumstance where I would want to be near anyone’s hoo-ha except my own, but I do love Tiffany.  Now if we are talk sterling silver infinity charm, no.  If we are talking white gold channel set 4 carat diamond ring, I won’t lie, I would consider it.  I love diamonds.

Pretty, but . . .
Diamonds – Enough Said.

Would you give up sex to be able to eat everything you wanted yet magically be thin?

No way in hell. And, why the hell would you want to?

Would you give up your sense of taste for the ability to read peoples minds?

This one is easy for me.  Like all of the super power questions, I don’t want that kind of pressure, or responsibility.  Just think of the all the crazy stuff that goes on in your own mind.  Then, compare that to the stuff you actually put out in the word.  Yeah, there are some things I just don’ t need to know.

And, if I slept with Chef Voltaggio and gave up a year of my life, I would at least want to taste the breakfast he would prepare for me the next day.

Would you get a face tattoo for five million?

I would get a face tattoo for 100,000 dollars.  Anyone want to start a collection?

Maybe I need to rethink this one.

Would you give up your memory of the last five years if you knew the next five would rock?

This questions was the most interesting to me because I have been in China for 5 years.  While I have had some good experiences, it hasn’t been the best time of my life.  It hasn’t been the life I wanted to live.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to give up the lessons I have learned over the last 5 years.  The biggest lesson is that I will never put myself in a situation where I would even consider this type of choice.

The goal going forward is to create a life that I want to live.

So, would you give up a year of your life to sleep with Ryan Gosling or Jennifer Aniston?  Is there any time in your life you would consider giving up?  

Photos courtesy of Tiffany.com, Food & Wine Magazine.com & IMDb.com.

Distracted, Again

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle28 Comments
I bet this guy never gets distracted.

I was excited to get home from work today to write a post for the Insecure Writers Support Group and it happened.  I got distracted.

I have been pretty focused lately.  I survived the A to Z challenge with confidence and the accomplishment really motived me to get going this week on outlining my novel.  It is May 2 and I got distracted.

I only have a few hours per day to write.  If I enjoy sleeping, which I do, I can get in about 2-4  hour per day. Maybe another 1 or 2 at work if my boss is away from the office (don’t tell her).

I get home and I am all set to write a quick post and then tackle my outline.  I turn on the t.v. for background noise. And, there is a Woody Allen Movie.  Manhattan Murder Mystery.  Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Alan Alda and Manhattan.

NYC can distract me, too!

I love this movie.  In fact, I love all Woody Allen movies.  Especially the ones that take place in Manhattan. Something about the way he shoots Manhattan.

Then, it got me thinking.  What excuses, if any, are good excuses to interrupt the pursuit of my dream.

Sure there are the easy ones; death and injury – to myself or a loved one.  Work obligation – But, not really.  I run a golf Academy.  Not to many golf instruction emergencies that I can think of.

I have compiled a list of things that I will allow to distract me from my scheduled writing for the day?

  1. Woody Allen Movies – They inspire me, so that is a good thing.
  2. The opportunity to have a great steak with cream corn, broccoli au gratin, and a green salad with red onions and homemade ranch dressing – I am specific about my food.
  3. A phone call from my mother or my cousin – I miss them.
  4. A Stephen King Book – but, this inspires me,too.  I have put off starting 11/22/63 until after June.
  5. A quick read of my favorite blogs – again, that inspiration thing.

And, with that, I think I better close down this list because it could go on forever.  If I stick to this list, then I should have plenty of time left over to get my writing done.

So, my fellow writer out there, how do you handle distractions?  What do you do to stay on schedule?

And, what would you put on your good excuse list?