Goals
I'm a goal-oriented person. I believe people become what they envision themselves to be. I work hard at planning the best future for myself.

I don't always reach my goals. I had planned to finish a draft of my novel before the baby arrived. Right now I'm halfway through. Half a manuscript is better than none (the perpetual "I've got this great idea for a book ...").

I've been thinking about what my goals for the Clarion West workshop are. My primary goal is to have a three-year writing plan. I find three years is a "workable" time frame for planning daily tasks against lifetime goals.

Also, three years from now all my kids will be in school, at which point I'll no longer be a full-time parent. Then I have to decide to what degree I'll focus my energies on writing and whether I'll "get a job" (one that actually pays money).

I'm looking for avenues to explore: subject matter, genre, technique, long vs. short form, etc. What are you doing and why are you doing it?

I'm glad I missed my last fiction class. Since we're coming to the end, students are starting to get touchy about their progress. They wonder why their writing hasn't gotten better. They're lashing out at the critiques, questioning their usefulness. Such displays make me cringe--like witnessing adult temper tantrums.

All of this is the unhappy realization that no one can tell you how to write. You have to figure it out for yourself.