Tongue firmly in cheek, here’s our list of events that MIGHT happen in 2010.  Naw, probably not.

In preparation for shutting down her show, Oprah Winfrey discontinues her book club.  Amazon sales plummet 15%.  Books on Board teeters on bankruptcy.

Alien robots land in Maryland to pick up prolific writer Nora Roberts, claiming they accidentally left her behind in 1979.

A certain romance author association continues to bury its collective head in the sand regarding ebook publishing by issuing a contract on the life of internet founder, Al Gore.

The sequel to Sarah Palin’s “Rogue Warrior”, “Rogue Maverick” tops Amazon’s charts.  Books on Board emerges from Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Five hundred copies mis-titled “Rouge Maverick” provoke bidding wars on Ebay.

Johnny Depp signs on for the lead in the cinematic epic, “Book Pirates of the Internet.”

April 1 – New York publishers issue a united press release, vowing to end book returns for store credit, and promising sweeping bookkeeping practices that will provide accurate, timely sales figures to authors as well as quarterly issuance of royalty checks.  Oh, and the slush pile is replaced by a fair, electronic filtering device.

April 2 – New York publishers claim the previous day’s press release as a viral internet hoax.  They will continue business as usual because, really, there’s nothing wrong with it.

Apple rolls out its ebook reader, the Tablet.  Wait, that one might be true.

Seriously, have a great 2010. May all your writing dreams come true.

Share.  Evolve.  Inspire.  Write.

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when we look back at the past year and vow to start over on January 1st.  We’ll be better, smarter, healthier, thinner, richer.  Damn, we’ll sparkle.

It’s one thing to say “I want to be published,” or “I’ll finish the book,” but these are vague goals and are almost guaranteed to fall apart by February.  Here are five steps to follow to bring you closer to your writing goals:

Set realistic, achievable goals.

Can you write one page a day?  Can you query one agent or editor a month?  What’s realistic in your hectic world?  Push yourself but don’t make it so hard you’ll give up.

Be specific.

“I’ll finish the book this year.”  How many pages have you written?  How many do you have to go?  Do you spend a lot of time in rewrites, or is your first draft fairly clean?  Change your goal to the date you’ll have the first draft done, the exact agent you’ll query, the online class you’ll sign up for.

Break the goal into manageable steps.

Is the thought of writing 400 pages too much to contemplate?  How about one chapter in the next two weeks, or a page a day?  Can you visit Preditors and Editors at  http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/ and make a list of agents who handle your genre?  That’s one step.  Can you look up their submission guidelines?  That’s another step.  Can you craft or perfect your query letter?  That’s step three.  Can you put it all together and mail it by next Friday?  Congratulations, you’ve made one of your goals.

Find an alternative to bad habits.

Do you spend too much time surfing the internet instead of writing?  Write longhand.  Can’t find the time to write?  Set a timer for ten minutes and don’t stop until it goes off.  Spend too much time searching for the perfect word, the right fact, the correct sentence structure?  Give yourself permission to gag your inner writer and free write.  Type with your eyes closed.  Turn the resolution down on your monitor to hide your words.

Choose a goal important to you instead of what’s popular.

Lose debt, lose weight, drink less, smoke less, travel more, spend more time with family – these are some of the most popular resolutions each year.  But writing is important to you, so choose a goal that will advance your dream.  Attend that conference, read that blog, query that agent, finish that book.

What realistic, achievable, manageable, important goals will you reach in 2010?

18-1/2 Step Plotting Worksheet

If you have an idea, but don’t know where to go with it, or are facing a big wall of writer’s block, use this worksheet to narrow down your choices.

1. Pick a genre (more than two can be combined)
a. Romance
b. Suspense
c. Mystery
d. SciFi/Paranormal
e. Historical
f. Action/Adventure
g. Any other genre

2. Choose a main character, your protagonist
a. Lawyer/cop/detective
b. Artist
c. Homemaker
d. Sheikh/Tycoon/Billionaire/International Man of Mystery
e. Orphan/Virgin/Bride/Virgin Bride/Mistress
f. Any other character Read the rest of this entry