In my last post I said it was a bit late for New Year's Resolutions. It still is. However, I do have my writing goals for the year. I had the thought this morning that, since I failed to tell you about them at the very beginning of the year, why not start off the next month with them?
I'm pretty excited about what I'm going to be doing this year. So click the button to see the rest of the post!
I'm pretty excited about what I'm going to be doing this year. So click the button to see the rest of the post!
I have always been the kind of person who likes a plan. When I have a bunch of chores to do around home, or I have groceries to get, I tend to make a list just so I don't forget anything. In writing, this translates to having an outline.
Oh outlining, I've talked about you so much! But that is because you are important to me. Because I need to have an outline. You keep me from starting and stopping, like I'm stuck in rush hour traffic. I want to drive down that road, straight and fast with only the occasional stop at a traffic light or stop sign.
So, to keep driving and not get stuck in the heavy traffic, I have decided to make 2014 the year of outlining.
I recently made up a list of the books I know I want to write. There are almost 2 dozen individual novels! Some are in series, some are single novels that I have the ideas for their story, and other ideas for possible sequels that, right not, are too undefined to count.
If I can outline some of these novels this year, make full and complete outlines of them, then my hope is that I can use those outlines later on to propel me through the first draft. To write fast and straight, stopping only for the occasional traffic light or stop sign.
So what are my goals this year? I'm glad you asked. They are:
Can I do it? Can I complete all those goals? I think so. I've got 11 months left to do it and, so far, I'm doing pretty well. Yes, only 1 blog post in January rather than 2, but baby steps folks! Baby steps!
I have a lot of things I want to do this year--including working on making my blog posts shorter and easier to read--but I think I can do them! And, of course, I want to do a lot more than what I've just told you about.
At the next New Years, I want to be able to look back and see all that I've done and be proud of it. I want to have an established habit of writing one novel while, at the same time, outlining another in a completely different series. I have a lot of ideas and the quicker I get them out, the quicker I get to share them with you.
Oh outlining, I've talked about you so much! But that is because you are important to me. Because I need to have an outline. You keep me from starting and stopping, like I'm stuck in rush hour traffic. I want to drive down that road, straight and fast with only the occasional stop at a traffic light or stop sign.
So, to keep driving and not get stuck in the heavy traffic, I have decided to make 2014 the year of outlining.
I recently made up a list of the books I know I want to write. There are almost 2 dozen individual novels! Some are in series, some are single novels that I have the ideas for their story, and other ideas for possible sequels that, right not, are too undefined to count.
If I can outline some of these novels this year, make full and complete outlines of them, then my hope is that I can use those outlines later on to propel me through the first draft. To write fast and straight, stopping only for the occasional traffic light or stop sign.
So what are my goals this year? I'm glad you asked. They are:
- Blog at least twice a month. I made a hash of this January and, while I intended to write a post at some point in the last week, and posted at SFFWorld about doing it last night before bed, I never did do it. I don't want to make this mistake again.
- Finish outlines on 4 novels. I have 2 novels now that are quite far along in the outline process. For the last few years I have claimed that another novel's outline is 2/3 or 3/4 complete. It is time to actually complete that thing! And then I have a fourth novel, the third in one of my series, that I would like to have an outline for so I can write it sometime next year. I've made a couple of lists of the novels I want to outline and write at some point this year and, of course, each list has different novels on it.
- Write the first drafts of at least 2 novels. Both of the novels I am thinking of here are quite far along already. The first, I already have half of its first draft written and I'm steadily working through the outline on the second half--it is complete to the end but still has some holes that I need to fill and other places to strengthen and shore up. The other novel I want to write, well, I will probably be blogging on that quite a bit at a later date. I'm getting very close to starting the actual writing and I am currently working on organizing the scenes into their chapters.
- Prepare my completed novel for traditional publishing. This is still out with some readers, and I'll tell you lots more about it later. I have a lot to learn about the next step after writing the book--the publishing side. I want to do another edit on the book when my readers are finished with it, and I imagine I won't be ready to start shopping it around until November or December.
- Lastly, I want to read 6 books this year! I'm already halfway through one book I started in January, I've read 2 stories in an anthology and I liked both so far. I've also got my huge To Be Read pile. And one of the books in there I had thought I would skip work when it came out just so I could read it! That didn't happen though...
Can I do it? Can I complete all those goals? I think so. I've got 11 months left to do it and, so far, I'm doing pretty well. Yes, only 1 blog post in January rather than 2, but baby steps folks! Baby steps!
I have a lot of things I want to do this year--including working on making my blog posts shorter and easier to read--but I think I can do them! And, of course, I want to do a lot more than what I've just told you about.
At the next New Years, I want to be able to look back and see all that I've done and be proud of it. I want to have an established habit of writing one novel while, at the same time, outlining another in a completely different series. I have a lot of ideas and the quicker I get them out, the quicker I get to share them with you.