Some Unrealistic Goals for 2014

As you all may have noticed about a month ago, probably due to the proliferation of fireworks and people setting themselves unrealistic goals, a new year has begun. As usual I am late to the party (I moved house, and that's my excuse), but I want to add my own set of Sysiphean Labours to the throng. Last year was probably my best as a writer thus far: I finished a novel and self-published it, but I still have problems with self-motivation. Keeping said lack of will in mind, I present to you my list of goals for the year 2014 AD:

1. SPREAD SOME MANLEY AROUND: At present Jack Manley and the Warlord of Infinity is exclusive to Amazon. I intend to get it out there on a bunch of other digital platforms, Smashwords at the very least.  I also intend to scrape some cash and willpower together to promote the damn thing.  Book ain't selling itself, ya know?

2. FINISH THE LIGHTLESS LABYRINTH: Yes, I want to complete a novel by the end of the year. Yes, I'm aware that the last one took me over six years. Shut up.

3. START JACK MANLEY AND THE INTERCHRONAL DEATHMATCH TOURNAMENT: I have plans afoot for running a Jack Manley serial, with sections to be released for free every fortnight and eventually collected as a novel. I have the first story arc planned out, and it's going to be a corker.

4. RELEASE VOLUME 1 OF A MARVEL GUIDEBOOK: I'm still working on a multi-volume guidebook for Marvel's superhero comics that will incorporate a whole year's output and integrate it with the previous volume. So the first book will cover 1961, and act as a test-bed for the format and style. Book two will cover 1961-1962, the third 1961-1963, and so on, hopefully giving an unfolding overview of possibly the largest collaborative fictional work in history. The first volume won't take much writing, but I think the formatting and design is going to be tough.

5. WRITE EVERY DAY: Yeah, this is the tough one. I can already write off the month of January, due to the house move from Hell.  But I've got the rest of the year to make up for it.  I'm not gonna miss a single day.  Not one.

Is this a manageable list? For any normal, dedicated writer it probably would be. For me, it is perhaps a little pie-in-the-sky, but what's the point of setting goals for myself if I'm not going to go big? If I'm going to fail in 2014, I'll do it by setting my sights too high. Or perhaps by being too lazy. Which reminds me, I have a 6th goal...

6. STOP TALKING ABOUT BEING LAZY: It's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm hoping that by the end of 2014, any mention I make of myself being a worthless procrastinator will be purely for dramatic effect, and not at all true. We'll see.

OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:

What I've Been Reading:
About Time Vol. 6 by Tat Wood

What I've Been Watching:
Doctor Who: The Daleks
Doctor Who: Time of the Doctor
Walking Dead season 4

What I've Been Listening To:
A Night at the Hip-Hopera by The Kleptones

What I've Been Playing:
Super Mario Galaxy on Nintendo Wii
Forza 5 on X-Box One (Yeah, my son bought one. It's totally going to help me get more writing done.)