Well, hasn’t it been a horrible week? The deaths of two beloved stars of the arts have profoundly affected everyone I know, both on and offline. I’ve also had some shocking news in my private life (not, I hasten to add, anything to do with my last post – in that situation all is well), plus a couple of a couple of minor health niggles, which probably wouldn’t have got me down too badly individually, but when combined with everything else that’s happened this week, well…Last night, I pretty much wanted to curl up and cry and wait for Monday.

But that would be to ignore one thing that has gone well this week: writing. A few weeks ago I was struggling to fit in ten minutes’ writing a day. These days it’s unusual for me to spend less than twenty minutes a day on writing. It’s become that elusive thing: a habit, and one I’m very thankful for.

So without further ado, next week’s goals:

1. Work on the YA novel on six days.
2. Write 3,000 words on the YA novel over the week.
3. Work on SWMF on seven days.
4. Enter a writing competition of some kind.

(I’ve given myself a day off the YA novel because I think it’s helpful to have a day away from my laptop once a week. SWMF is still all on paper.)

No. 4 was a bit of a surprise entry on my list of goals for the year. I have far too much writing lying fallow on my hard drive, and I didn’t enter a single competition or submit a single story anywhere last year. It’s time to change that – even if I don’t get anywhere, at least I can give myself the opportunity to succeed!

Those of you reading along, do you have any goals you want to add? I hope your writing year has started well!