Your 2014 Writing Goals

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by cromag

I'm sorry, but I've decided that if I want to be a writer I'm going to have to act like a writer. Therefore, I do not intend to acknowledge the end of one year until (at least) June of the following year.

I'll have to get back to you about my plans.

I didn't know the writer's year ended in June (or later). I could imagine some people thinking that it ends on November 30, but for them it also began on November 1, which makes for a short year...

Still, we'll reserve a slot for you in July, Cromag.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by gmw

I do know that, other than publishing the books I completed this year (ie. finishing the main goals I had for 2013), 2014 is going to be a quieter year for me in terms of new output. I have plans for a fantasy work that I've been fiddling with for 12 months already, at this point I don't expect the first book to appear until at least 2015. It's possible I may try to publish a few of my short stories - that have surprised me by arriving at all - and if I'm lucky a few more might arrive and let me publish a collection.

Good luck with it all, GM. When I was young I used to write short stories. I enjoyed writing them, but of late it seems like I get more satisfaction out of being able to develop the characters the way a novel allows. I think I'm too wordy for shorts.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Good luck with it all, GM. When I was young I used to write short stories. I enjoyed writing them, but of late it seems like I get more satisfaction out of being able to develop the characters the way a novel allows. I think I'm too wordy for shorts.

Thanks James. I'm definitely verbose, it's something I'm trying to improve on. I like the comfort of a novel, for reading and for writing. I like to be able to settle in and wriggle around and get comfortable. Too often with shorts I'm only just starting to enjoy myself and they're done.

The few shorts I've written this year quite surprised me, it's been many years since anything came to me that actually wanted to be a self-contained short. These few ideas were ones that I knew were short as soon as I started writing them. (Although the latest is turning out to be rather long for a short, I'm guessing it will come out around 25k words - but then I've had single chapters almost that long. )

[VydorScope]

I suggest everyone make writing a short story for the Charity Anthology a goal. The dead line will be Feb 28th - 1,000 words.

I can not share the details yet, but we have lined up a couple famous authors that will donate a story each so not only would you be helping the children's hospital, you could get some exposure by rubbing shoulders with some bigger names.

I plan to write one, but planned it before I knew about the authors.

[Marseille]

I've actually got one last (new) 2013 goal, but that thread's locked, so hopefully I can post it here. I'm pursuing a non-traditional publisher for a project I completed last month, and though I didn't think a normal agent would be either easier to hook than the company I'm after or particularly useful because the context wouldn't make great use of traditional connections, I've recently discovered someone with the right personality, background and connections to do this job. A potential non-traditional agent seems like a good fit to help me woo my potential non-traditional publisher.

My final 2013 goal? To convince this person to read my manuscript. I feel like I'm aiming too high and not high enough at the same time. I finished 2 projects in 2013 and it was crazy fun and finishing each was extremely satisfying. Post writing activities are killing me. I've gotten to be a little creative at times because of the odd path I'm pursuing, but oye, most of it is grueling and some of it is terrifying. My 2014 goal may be to find a cure for ulcers.

Wish me luck if you have any to spare.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by David Marseilles

I've actually got one last (new) 2013 goal, but that thread's locked, so hopefully I can post it here. ...

Wish me luck if you have any to spare.

Fine by me, and good luck to you! The closure surprised me as well and I'm just today compiling my final 2013 accomplishments I'll summarize quickly:

The big accomplishment is that I published 3 books in three genres:
A book of poetry,
A book of memoirs of growing up, and
A book of science essays.

all in all I wrote 62 essays, 44 poems and half a dozen short stories
estimating and averaging over the year this looks to be about 300 words/day.

I did not complete the novel I had on my goals and may or may not do it in 2014....I'm not yet convinced I can write novels though I've written about 3 really bad ones some time ago. I have a couple of ideas that I think would make great mainstream novels, but we'll see when I do my formal goals, which I'll post here.

I am in the process of hopefully finishing before the end of the month my only pencil drawing of the year.

In non-writing areas I was able to stay out of debt and keep at it without having to go groveling back to the Corporate world and if I can make it through 2014 and if my early SS retirement is enough I may be able to continue chasing the dream (and hopefully begin to make some money at writing)

I'll post my 'official' 2014 goals by this time next week.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I suggest everyone make writing a short story for the Charity Anthology a goal. The dead line will be Feb 28th - 1,000 words.

I can not share the details yet, but we have lined up a couple famous authors that will donate a story each so not only would you be helping the children's hospital, you could get some exposure by rubbing shoulders with some bigger names.

I plan to write one, but planned it before I knew about the authors.

1000 words? Some of my titles are longer than that!

Actually, when it comes to shorts, I am beginning to find that more recent shorts are more in the nature of scenes from a novel.

However, I'll give it some thought. It's in a good cause.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by David Marseilles

Wish me luck if you have any to spare.

Good luck, David, and lots of it.

[James_Wilde]

Yeah, sorry, Kenny, that the Doc closed your thread a little early. We'll have to make sure we ask him to keep this one open a bit after the 2015 one starts, so people can round up what they actually did in 2014.

Sounds like you got a long way with your goals. I take it the shorts were for the book of memoirs? I'm trying to persuade my wife to write one of those. Sometimes when there are a few minutes of time over at the end of a class, she apparently tells the children a story from her youth. They are always well-received although I suspect some of the children think she's stretching it a bit with some of them.

Like the one about how the whole school went on a pine-cone hunt one fine day in autumn each year. Each child had a pillow-case with him or her, and the object was to fill the pillow-cases with pine cones. Why? The pine cones were fuel for the school heating system during the winter, and just as they now have a monitor for each week in junior school classes, in those days they had one child whose duty was to keep the boiler stoked for that week.

Anyway, well done with your output. What's SS retirement BTW?

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I suggest everyone make writing a short story for the Charity Anthology a goal. The dead line will be Feb 28th - 1,000 words.

I can not share the details yet, but we have lined up a couple famous authors that will donate a story each so not only would you be helping the children's hospital, you could get some exposure by rubbing shoulders with some bigger names.

I plan to write one, but planned it before I knew about the authors.

Are you sure about that Feb 28th date, VydorScope? I looked at your thread in here about this, and the closing date there is December 13th.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Yeah, sorry, Kenny, that the Doc closed your thread a little early. We'll have to make sure we ask him to keep this one open a bit after the 2015 one starts, so people can round up what they actually did in 2014.

Sounds like you got a long way with your goals. I take it the shorts were for the book of memoirs? I'm trying to persuade my wife to write one of those. Sometimes when there are a few minutes of time over at the end of a class, she apparently tells the children a story from her youth. They are always well-received although I suspect some of the children think she's stretching it a bit with some of them.

Like the one about how the whole school went on a pine-cone hunt one fine day in autumn each year. Each child had a pillow-case with him or her, and the object was to fill the pillow-cases with pine cones. Why? The pine cones were fuel for the school heating system during the winter, and just as they now have a monitor for each week in junior school classes, in those days they had one child whose duty was to keep the boiler stoked for that week.

Anyway, well done with your output. What's SS retirement BTW?

Yes, she should write them down. And yes many of the essays were for the two non-poetry books + others that are not published and for blog stuff. The stories are being marketed and possibly for a future collection.

SS is Social Security -- the government retirement program everyone pays into. The amount paid in determines the monthly retirement benefit....I have a idea what it will be but need to find out definitively....otherwise could still have to return to the evil corporate world.

[Lemurion]

I am going to try and get Price of Imperium out, and finish a publishable draft of Doc Vandal.

But all fiction writing comes after the stuff that pays the bills.

[Rizla]

In 2013 I finished a rough second draught of the novel. My goal for 2014 is to get it suitable for consumption and to try to get it published. Also, I want to have the next two books outlined to some extent.

Good luck everyone.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I am going to try and get Price of Imperium out, and finish a publishable draft of Doc Vandal.

But all fiction writing comes after the stuff that pays the bills.

Good luck!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Rizla

In 2013 I finished a rough second draught of the novel. My goal for 2014 is to get it suitable for consumption and to try to get it published. Also, I want to have the next two books outlined to some extent.

Good luck everyone.

Excellent!