Personal Writing Goals-

I promised you early on that I would share my own writing goals for two reasons:

1. To help me to find my writing focus.

2. To encourage you to set goals and find your own writing niche.

I am finding that if I don't set goals, it is like driving into an unknown area without the map. I set smaller goals on a weekly list which are helping me to work towards the larger and long term goals. This is what I have so far:

A. I want to write easy readers with a health or first aid focus. I have several ideas twirling in my head, one focusing on an eccentric nurse and her mascot who go around teaching elementary kids lessons on health, safety, and first aid but with a quirky and funny type twist. This idea could be a series of several books lending itself to worksheets, healthy eating kits, school programs, and any number of ideas to promote the topics. It would compliment the current health curriculum and state standards assisting teachers in a fun and active way.

B. I want to create a series of fictional characters that are based on realistic emotional and physical characteristics that show how kids react and deal with a serious illness. I vision my character as an elementary aged student who battles a disease and must also battle how the peers and family members handle what is happening. I want to introduce the character in a picture book and then offer easy readers or chapter books growing with the reader as the character grows. The purpose of this series is for the reader to empathize or for a child dealing with the same thing to have a vehicle where they can say Yeah, that is exactly how I feel... fear, pain, worry, whatever...

C. I want to write articles and informational products related to pediatric health, special needs kids, pediatric nursing, and how to products in the pediatric arena... just not sure where to go with it just yet. In the mean time I continue to write health articles and educational material from a nursing focus just for the payment and to acquire writing clips.

So, those are three goals I would like to focus on. Of course, I have other dreams as well, to write chick lit, romantic or suspense romance with medicine weaved throughout in a series of books created around common characters. And I would love to do more nonfiction children's books like biographies on people in history who have impacted our medicine today, so I am always making notes on a vast list of ideas.

I try to work on A,B, or C at least three times a week. The blog at http://heartfeltwords4kids.blogspot.com/ offers resources and items for parents and kids who are dealing with an illness or special need, grief, or cancer. This new blog at http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com will focus on writing information and tips for new writers offering links to all kinds of children's writers and courses.

From here, I will continue to be part of the Children's Writers Coaching Club under the direction of Suzanne Lieurance, http://www.suzannelieurance.com/ . You can join me there by clicking on the icon on the right. It is a great place to get started when trying to find your focus.

Let me know how your goals are coming along. Send along any helpful tips on writing that you may have found useful so the rest of us can learn too. Assisting each other is part of writing to the heart of the matter. Together we will succeed.