I'm thinking about goals and achievements at the moment. It's a New Year thing to do. Most writers will say their main goal is to write more and I'm no different. That's my aim. But I'd like to write without fear. Or more correctly, I'd like to write out the fear. I don't think I'll ever be a person without fear, but finding some way to integrate it into my life so it doesn't dominate would be ideal.

One of my biggest fears is getting a third of a way into a manuscript and realising I don't know what comes next. It happens when I don't plan and start writing before I know what I'm doing. But if I don't start writing I can't get a grip on the action and the characters. So I freeze. Instead of using this third of the mss as a weaving into the tale, I become too committed to it and can't let it go. And it often needs to be discarded. I find that painful. But if that's the process, then that's the process.

This year I want to learn more about, and play around with, plot and structure. These are my two anxieties so I need to do something about them. I'm doing some online courses, (one over at Kiss of Death, the mystery and suspense chapter of RWAm) and read some more. Both craft books and analytical reading. I'm going to sit down with a highlighter and note book and go through some of my favourite writers to find out how they structure.

My biggest goal which seems so pathetic when I consider it, is to get up every morning at 5.15am and write for two hours without first checking my email. I can't tell you how hard I find this. Any suggestions?