This may sound a little odd, but one of my favorite times of the year is the week AFTER Christmas! No, I’m not a scrooge. I really do love the holidays, but by the time I’ve sung my last Fa, La, La, La, La I’m worn out. My family is in vacation mode so I take a few days off to recover. (gotta love that holiday cheer!) Since I’m no longer running around attacking my holiday to-do list I actually have some free time on my hands. The kids are entertained playing with their new toys, which leaves me time to play with mine. (like my new flat panel monitor from my husband-thanks honey ) This is also the perfect time to set my goals for the upcoming year. In doing so, I first reflect on the past year. I didn’t accomplish as much as I would have liked in my writing career, but I definitely accomplished more than ever before. I made a list of what worked (reading The Renegade Writer Blog of course!) and what didn’t (planning on working after the house was all picked up-yeeaahh, that’ll happen). Here are some other things I’m doing this week to gear up for 2007: 

• Getting organized! I’m applying all of Donna Smallin’s great advice. (thanks again, Donna!) My office is coming along nicely and systems are in place…bring on the assignments.    
• Compiling a wish list of elective expenses. I’ve put together a list of items I’d like to purchase as I start making more $$$. None of it I HAVE to have, but it can all help me work more efficiently (and of course some of the electronics are just fun to have).  
• Looking into online writing courses. I’ve taken two writing-related online (or e-mail) courses so far and I LOVED them. I think these courses are worth every penny. You receive excellent advice and the assignments you work on for the course can end up being profitable if you sell them. 
• Brainstorming article ideas like crazy! I’ve made a list of markets I’d like to break into. For each publication I want a hefty list of appropriate article ideas spread out evenly over the course of the year. I’m then scheduling a certain number of topics to work on each week and assigning these in my planner (taking into consideration editorial lead time, etc.). I’m planning on constantly pitching. Maybe I’ll reach the point this year that I won’t need to, but if I plan on pitching then I always have something to work on (especially when I find those precious 20-minute blocks of time when the kids are occupied). I also want to have plenty of ideas ready to go for the times when an editor says no to a certain query but would like more, or when I want to pitch another idea when I turn in an assignment.     
• Updating my writing goals and budget. I really feel like this past year was my time to learn and this year will be my time to earn.

So what are you are doing to gear up for 2007? [ja]

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