Why Wait Until January 1st?

I don't know what it was—the realization that it's already December (!!!) or the fact that I just watched Bridget Jones' Diary for the umpteenth time, but when I flipped the calendar page yesterday, I decided I wasn't waiting a whole month to start setting some goals (by the way, I've never been a fan of the word "resolutions," it's always sounded far too ominous).

Truth be told, I was ready for a new start—pronto. And there's just something about putting everything off until January 1st that's never quite worked for me. After all, if you've got more than one thing on your list, that's a whole lot of change to start implementing all in one day.

Cue David Bowie's "Under Pressure."

So I immediately went to work and started writing down some tangible goals yesterday, and for the record, those aren't mine at the left. Although, I certainly wouldn't mind accomplishing #1, 2,3 and 5, how about you?

As far as my writing goes, I have several goals that I'm ready to get going on right away. I'll be honest, I'm a little bummed that I haven't made more progress on my next novel this year. I had extremely, extremely high hopes, mind you. Since it's my been two years since my last one, Blessed Are the Meddlers, hit store shelves, I thought this year would be perfect year to wrap up the next.

But for whatever reason, it took me a lot longer than usual to actually settle on a really superb idea. See, I had three that I was toying around with, and they all equally competed for my attention, which is never a good thing. Now I'm happy to say that after much deliberation (and the helpful input of those I trust must), I've decided on one. But even if I was a writing Superwoman for the next of the month, it certainly isn't getting wrapped up this year.

With a full plate of freelance writing, my novel writing has often taken the backseat. And while I'm certainly not complaining about my surplus of regular paying gigs (I'm very thankful, especially in a tough economy/job market like ours), I really have to fight for time to get my manuscript done. And so far, I haven't fought quite hard enough because I'm only a few thousand words in. However, thanks to all that goal setting yesterday, I've got a plan.

Now I just need to stick to it, which is another matter altogether. But I can do it, right?

Ok, now that I've shared a little about my writing goals for the immediate future, I'd love to hear from you. What are some of yours? What do you hope to accomplish next year that you can go ahead and start now?