2015 Writing Goals

[kennyc]

Well here we are, 1/1/2015. Anyone have goals set?

I've actually simplified mine in that I'm not going to get down to the level of XX articles - XX stories etc. but will reserve that possibility. I've been at this full time writing gig for three years now after walking out of my computer engineering job. Still chasing the dream, some minor success but certainly not making a living at it. I am however writing and doing what I want to do and hope to continue it. At this point I've spent all my savings, I do have some retirement money and am eligible to file for early social security if that should be needed. I'd like to hold off on that for a bit yet if possible. We'll see.

For 2015:

Publish 2 new Poetry Collections (possibly one traditional and one prose poetry)
1 or 2 new Flash Fiction Collections
1 or 2 new Flash Nonfiction Collections

this will/may include writing:
100 new poems
100 new flash fiction/nonfiction pieces

As an alternative -- and something I'm actually seriously considering at the moment -- is to forego the categorization above of Poetry, Flash Fiction, Flash Nonfiction and publish the collections including all of the above types of work. I'll continue to evaluate that as I go, but I believe I currently have enough completed work to put together one or two collections at the moment. I'll re-evaluate that as I begin to look as the specifics of what might be included and the presentation (ordering, themes, etc) of such a collection.

What are your goals for 2015?

[Marseille]

I'm still working out the details. I feel good about a lot of the work I've done recently even though none of it has borne fruit yet. One concern is that my stable of projects in early development actually shrank over the past two years as I focused on bringing a certain number of projects to completion.

I'm trying to tweak my goals to ensure I keep my ideas 'binder' healthy so I've got a nice farm team in the wings. Instead of only tracking word counts, I'm going to try tracking writing events more broadly, and I'm still defining what an event is. So x words, y ideas, z units of outlining, etc, would all count as an event. Progress tracking has always helped me stay motivated.

I still aim to prioritize finishing projects above all else, and if I could go back to when I was a kid, that's the biggest piece of advice I'd give myself: finish everything, no matter how crappy it turns out. If I'd done that I'd have been at the skill level I am now 10 years ago. But I also don't ever want to sit down with time and inclination to write without an exciting project ready to be written in.

[cromag]

In all honesty (and with much embarrasment) I could just cut-and-paste most of my 2014 goals.

[Pulpmeister]

Five or six years ago I started researching and writing on a new non-fiction book, an encyclopedia type book and a follow-up to a previously published book. It became so big, and so complicated, that I ended up shelving it about two thirds through, and taking a break. After all, it was an extension of a hobby, and when it became hard work and no fun any more, it was better to put to to one side for a while.

Now I'm going to dig it all out, and rethink the presentation, and how comprehensive it really has to be, and see if it can be finished to my satisfaction after all.

Not exactly a new year's resolution, just feeling that if I don't get cracking soon it'll never be finished, and some years' work will be lost.

[gmw]

This time last year I said:

All too soon for me yet, the last few months have left me ... I don't know how to describe it, maybe this time next year I'll work it out.

I haven't worked it out yet , but I'm hopeful that I might be moving past it. I've spent the last 6 months writing software, with the wee hours of the morning stolen away from my fiction writing to get a particular project implemented. That's now done, so I'm hoping I will get some more time to myself.

I have been been thinking about ("planning" would be too strong a word) a new major project for more than 2 years, so my goal for 2015 is to get the first novel of that project, if not finished, at least well on the way.

I'd like to get another few short stories done, another four or six and I'll have enough for a collection. Last year I thought I might try and publish what I had done so far as individual books, but now thinking it may be worth holding off to create something more substantial. It would be really good if that happened in the coming year, but I'm not holding my breath.

As you can tell, and as I've said before, I'm not really into "goals" for this stuff - so I have the wish-list above, but that's as far as it goes. I write because I enjoy it, and if I start placing deadlines on things it will start to seem too much like work.

One of the things I like about writing is that it is a creation you can actually finish, and the result doesn't have its obsolescence built-in (or not so definitely and obviously as software). That gives a type of satisfaction that I don't get from my software development work.

[Dngrsone]

I would like to get back into the groove and do some productive writing again.

I have a class this semester, so obviously I won't be able to avoid doing some writing, but I'd like to compose some actual literature outside of that.

I doubt I'm going to start writing articles again, though... my field is pretty much dead and what little is left of it is outside of my experience these days.

[Graham]

I'm off to Sydney for a month of intense IT work, and then I'll be back home with some free time to write. I want to get a handful more of short stories to send around, and then I can move onto the first draft of the novel I outlined last year. That needs to be out my head and down on paper to make room for something else!

Graham

[Nancy Fulda]

Just one. Finish A New Kind of Sunrise.

[pegasi&prefects]

Not to spend two years editing and rewriting per book ever again.

[kennyc]

Yep, Git 'er dun! Move on!
Iddn't that one of Heinlein's rules.

[James_Wilde]

My list is so long it'll take years to finish. Here it is, with some explanations:

My first novel:
Shorten it by dropping virtually everything before chapter 22 (of 69).
Translate into Swedish or reset it in England (It's written in English but the names, locations, etc are Swedish so it sells like a rainy day).

My second novel:
Translate into Swedish or reset it in England (same as above)
Transform to Swedish screenplay (I think it would make a good one)

My current (third) novel:
Reset it in England and continue, hopefully finish it.

My planned (fourth) novel:
Reset it in England and continue, hopefully finish it.

My 'Village' short stories:
Write some more
(These are shorts intended for women's magazines, with a common theme of the location, a fictitious village, and characters.

And then there's the garden!

[gmw]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

My list is so long it'll take years to finish. Here it is, with some explanations:
[...]
And then there's the garden!

You going to write about that too?

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by gmw

You going to write about that too?

Gotta blog for that!

[Rizla]

Deleted.

[kennyc]

It's been a very slow February here, only a handful of new work. January was good though.

I did complete and publish a new collection of prose/poems/flash/ etc. this month (Prosthetic Amalgams) so that's a significant culmination of work done over the last year or so. Am working on marketing it a bit as I search for the muse....