Day: January 4, 2008

Goals, resolutions, and peeking at 2008


You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained


The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you’re left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you’re right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Jill over at The Wet Noodle Posse has a great post on matching goal setting to your brain/learning type. It’s worth a read, especially if you’ve tried goal setting and it hasn’t worked for you.

But what do I do with that 50/50 split? It probably explains why I do write a lot of things down. I like to get stuff on paper, but what I actually write looks a little chaotic.

For instance, when Darcy and I were brainstorming revisions for Geek Girl’s Guide, I made some “outline” notes that looked like this:

  • More parents
  • Scene between tryouts and results?
  • Or maybe? It is a truth boy–athlete talent want of morning oatmeal
    Geek stuff, lay of the land
    • tryouts
    • game store scene
    • results
    • home with parents
  • Test good pen?

Oddly, Test good pen has nothing to do with the outline or story. I was trying out a pen to see if I liked writing with it. But there it is, in all its glory, as part of the outline (it really does have its own bullet point). I’m not even sure these notes would make sense to Darcy, never mind anyone else.

I looked at my 2007 writing goals/resolutions. I didn’t keep a single one! But! That’s not necessarily a bad thing. At the start of 2007, I wasn’t planning on doing anything with Geek Girl’s Guide. I had a (small) start on MacKenna’s story, I hadn’t partnered up with Darcy, hadn’t even thought about taking that terrific children’s book writing class.

And so on.

What’s a goal setting girl to do? I did accomplish a lot, I think. Much more than what I wrote down at the start of the year.

Well, I ended up writing down some goals, more coherently than my outline above (sort of). I won’t bore you with all of them, but in summary:

  • Finish MacKenna (as in final draft finish)
  • Work on another book with Darcy (assuming she wants to–D, we should talk about this, no?)
  • Research for possible historical novel.

The rest? The rest I’m keeping flexible.