Goals 2018 // Reading a Page Turner

After reading Nicole’s goals for Feed Your Fiction Addiction, I thought I would give a goal post (yep :)) a try. Normally, I don’t do these form of posts, but thought listing my intentions for the year in an effort to keep track would keep me on track.

Reading Goals

Stay on track. Using the Goodreads Reading Challenge (far right column), I am pushing myself to read at least 26 books this year. The goal is completely obtainable and using other themed reading challenges should easily allow me to reach this goal. I’m not off to a great start yet, but I am actually reading three books right now and hope to have those three crossed of the list any day!

Read more reviews & comment. I want to push myself to read more bookish blogs – and comment! So for every discussion post I publish, I have to comment on a discussion post AND include two review posts with one of those review comments to a review outside of my comfort genre. I really need to support the community that I am part of and this is my accountability.

Create a post schedule. This is not specifically a reading goal, but I’m placing here since it falls mainly into the RAPT site. I want to create a schedule of themed posts in order to build the reading here on the site. It would fit along the following lines:

  • Mondays = Author Interviews
  • Tuesdays = Discussion posts
  • Wednesdays = Book Reviews
  • Thursdays = Guests posts (if available)
  • Fridays = No clue yet

This is a rough outline, and of course I would have other posts throughout as needed, I just think having a base to work with will allow me schedule out posts in advance to free up time.

Writing Goals

Finish at least ONE draft. I currently have two books that I have been working on and neither are close to a finished first draft for anyone to give feedback on. This year is the year! I want to complete my middle school novel that is hopefully the beginning of a state series featuring a bit of supernatural and two teen sleuths. This doesn’t sound too exciting, I know, but the first story really is compelling once I can get into the bare bones of it! ๐Ÿ™‚ The hardest thing with this potential series is the research of real supernatural ghost stories within each state.

Attend a writing class. While reading Nicole’s post, she mentioned a writing workshop. I’ve never attended a writing workshop, but have attended a writing class. The class I attended didn’t seem to give me the fulfillment I was looking for when it came to expectation, so I’m thinking about attending a more in-depth class at my local community college, They offer extension class, so this might be a way to expand my view. Now I just need to make the dates work.

Coding & Business Goals

Coding, Coding, and Coding! I really need to finish my coding courses and receive my Full Stack Developer certificate. Along with this will come my boutique services up for indie authors. This is going to take purposeful planning on my part to use every second I have with a purpose. Much like every dollar you make! That means scheduling my courses for at least two hours per night as the morning is devoted to writing.

Daughter & Hubby’s Business Growth. In addition to all the above, and some extras not listed, both my husband and daughter have businesses. I have a variety of roles in both and that means this year helping both build a marketing plan to help grow their business. Last year was growth in services, so this year is a customer base to utilize those services. The expectation for 2018 is 35% growth in customers for both companies.

And a general goal is better planning!

I have several projects that I will be working on for 2018 and with that comes disorganization. In order to create a calm chaos, I need to make sure I am planning smart and utilizing my time wisely. Multi-tasking is a must and delegating is help (not a fail!). In addition to using my Google calendar, I need to use my planner – yes, the kind you write in – for details and notes that I need to refer back to. I find that if I write it down, it tends to happen!


Thanks for reading! What are your goals for the year?