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Looking over the past year, and my accomplishments reminds me of a few things. One, to set goals realistically. My original plan had been far too aggressive. My followup plan had been much more reasonable. Yet life threw enough more challenges my way so that I'd had to step back my goals one further time. I think if I were in business, this might be what was called the Forecast 3.
Those goals, I met, if a touch iffy.
What I accomplished in writing: Six new short stories drafted. Three stories that made submissions rounds. One sold. One got a rewrite request. A fair number of rejections. I also completed in November a "winning" NaNoWriMo work that came in a bit over 50,000 words. Total new words written 80,300. So I technically achieved my goals which had been six new short stories, completing NaNo, and getting three stories out for submission. However, two of the stories that got out the door, were older works. Out of the six stories I wrote, only one was actually written and completed to submission quality. That would be the one that sold. I've got five stories in various draft stages (not to mention other older ones) and I need to be revising and submitting more.
Beyond the basics, I've also become an officer for my local writers group, the Garden State Horror Writers (which despite the name supports writers of more than just that single genre) as well as taking on a position as a slush reader for a print publication. I took on both responsibilities with some trepidation about expectations and concern about how much time each task would take away from my own work. I hope each opportunity will have rewards that help further my writing goals in the long run.
I also tracked just how much I read for the first time. Twenty nine books. I was a bit surprised by that, a few more than I thought, and that's with two months where I read nothing at all!
Looking towards the coming year, I've yet to determine my goals for the year. I think my initial forecast will be to complete a project every month. (I'm using the word project here so that should I choose to do another NaNo, it will count, as would finishing up one of my unfinished manuscripts.) In addition to that, I'd like to have at least six completed drafts, ready to send out, and at least six manuscripts making the rounds in 2008. I think that is a good starting point. We'll see what I think midway through the year.
One last thing, will be to maintain my reading as well as my writing. I'm hoping that I can up that number to three books a month. So thirty six on the plate. I think I can meet that goal with a little more diligence. Now its time to buckle down and get some work done.
Beyond the basics, I've also become an officer for my local writers group, the Garden State Horror Writers (which despite the name supports writers of more than just that single genre) as well as taking on a position as a slush reader for a print publication. I took on both responsibilities with some trepidation about expectations and concern about how much time each task would take away from my own work. I hope each opportunity will have rewards that help further my writing goals in the long run.
I also tracked just how much I read for the first time. Twenty nine books. I was a bit surprised by that, a few more than I thought, and that's with two months where I read nothing at all!
Looking towards the coming year, I've yet to determine my goals for the year. I think my initial forecast will be to complete a project every month. (I'm using the word project here so that should I choose to do another NaNo, it will count, as would finishing up one of my unfinished manuscripts.) In addition to that, I'd like to have at least six completed drafts, ready to send out, and at least six manuscripts making the rounds in 2008. I think that is a good starting point. We'll see what I think midway through the year.
One last thing, will be to maintain my reading as well as my writing. I'm hoping that I can up that number to three books a month. So thirty six on the plate. I think I can meet that goal with a little more diligence. Now its time to buckle down and get some work done.
