Last year I made a list of goals that was, dare I say it, a little ambitious. I was fresh off of self-publishing my first novel, full if vim and vigour and ready to take on everything life could throw at me. Unfortunately, the one thing I wasn't ready to take on was myself, and my own tendencies toward laziness and defeatism. As you can see, I didn't to so hot.
So this year I'm setting my sights a bit lower. Basically, I just want to finish up all of the things I'm already working on. Which means I get to make a list! I do love a good list.
Goal 1: Finish The Lightless Labyrinth: I'm already a good two-thirds of the way through the first draft, so I have a much more realistic shot at this than I did in 2014. At the very least I'll be able to get the first draft done; whether I can publish it or not depends on how much rewriting I need to do. So far it's turning out to be much tighter than Jack Manley was at a similar stage.
Goal 2: Get Ug and the Giant's Backyard republished: I'm not sure whether I've mentioned this before on the blog, but I had a children's picture book published through a small press. (Okay, so it was a small press run through the school I attended, for which I was part of the editorial staff. Nepotism is a hell of a thing.) I did the writing and the illustrations, and I have all of the rights, so there's no reason I shouldn't get it back out there. The main stumbling block is that I want it to be in colour this time around, which is a lot of extra work.
Goal 3: Maintain a regular blogging schedule: I have a load of blogs on a variety of subjects: writing, computer games, gamebooks, Dungeons & Dragons, Marvel comics... Anyone who has followed my blogging career will know that I am, at best, an erratic poster. This year I'd like to keep up the pace a little better, and post to each of my blogs once a week.
So that's it. Three goals, none of which are out of the realm of possibility (though that blogging one may be stretching things a bit). Join me in 2016, when I once again recount my failures.
WHAT MY OTHER BLOGS SAID:
Marvel Year By Year: The Beginning - The introductory post of a new blogging project about the Marvel Universe. It doesn't reveal what the blog's about just yet, but it does detail my first brush with Marvel. I'm really looking forward to continuing with this one.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual part 51 - In this blog I'm reading through every D&D product in chronological order, and attempting to craft a cohesive game world using everything I find therein. It's an exercise in folly, basically, but D&D nerds may enjoy it.
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Watching
Resurrection season 2
What I'm Reading
Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Daredevil by Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin
What I'm Playing
Orthanc on a PLATO emulator
Crossy Road on my phone
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
A Look Back On My Unrealistic Goals for 2014
I had some new content on Friday, but now it's back to the same-old same-old: ruminating on my failures. I set some goals for last year, and now that I'm ramping up for 2015 it's time to look back and see how poorly I did.
Goal 1: Get Jack Manley and the Warlord Infinity onto Smashwords, and promote the thing.
I'm calling this half a success. Jack Manley is on Smashwords - go and look! - but I didn't do any promotional work. I have neither the time, the money nor the inclination.
Goal 2: Finish The Lightless Labyrinth.
Is this where I'm supposed to burst out laughing at myself? No, I didn't finish the book, and I knew it was an unrealistic goal when I set it. I got about two-thirds of the way through the first draft, though, so at least I made some progress.
Goal 3: Start Jack Manley and the Interchronal Deathmatch Tournament.
Once upon a time I had the grand idea to write a serialised Jack Manley novel, which would be released a chapter at a time for free, then collected later for cash money. I've scrapped that idea, I think. I'll still be writing the book, because I really like what I've got outlined, but I will probably release it all in one hit.
Goal 4: Release Volume 1 of a Marvel Comics Guidebook.
Aaaaaand NOPE. Not even close. I'm in the process of getting this up and running as a blogging project, though, so we'll see what happens.
Goal 5: Write every day.
I probably managed to write every third day or so, which is a marked improvement on my life to date.
Goal 6: Stop writing about being a lazy writer.
See the rest of this post. How do you think I did?
So that's my last year as a writer summed up, I think. Make no mistake, though, 2014 was probably the most productive year I've ever had. It was only a failure by the standards I set for myself, and the standards of actual dedicated people. I have the feeling I'll do even better in 2015; I'm nearing forty, and I'd like to become at least a mild success before I have to call myself middle-aged.
WHAT MY OTHER BLOGS SAID:
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, part 50
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
What I'm Watching:
Guardians of the Galaxy
What I'm Playing:
WWE Supercard on my phone
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii
Orthanc on a PLATO emulator
Goal 1: Get Jack Manley and the Warlord Infinity onto Smashwords, and promote the thing.
I'm calling this half a success. Jack Manley is on Smashwords - go and look! - but I didn't do any promotional work. I have neither the time, the money nor the inclination.
Goal 2: Finish The Lightless Labyrinth.
Is this where I'm supposed to burst out laughing at myself? No, I didn't finish the book, and I knew it was an unrealistic goal when I set it. I got about two-thirds of the way through the first draft, though, so at least I made some progress.
Goal 3: Start Jack Manley and the Interchronal Deathmatch Tournament.
Once upon a time I had the grand idea to write a serialised Jack Manley novel, which would be released a chapter at a time for free, then collected later for cash money. I've scrapped that idea, I think. I'll still be writing the book, because I really like what I've got outlined, but I will probably release it all in one hit.
Goal 4: Release Volume 1 of a Marvel Comics Guidebook.
Aaaaaand NOPE. Not even close. I'm in the process of getting this up and running as a blogging project, though, so we'll see what happens.
Goal 5: Write every day.
I probably managed to write every third day or so, which is a marked improvement on my life to date.
Goal 6: Stop writing about being a lazy writer.
See the rest of this post. How do you think I did?
So that's my last year as a writer summed up, I think. Make no mistake, though, 2014 was probably the most productive year I've ever had. It was only a failure by the standards I set for myself, and the standards of actual dedicated people. I have the feeling I'll do even better in 2015; I'm nearing forty, and I'd like to become at least a mild success before I have to call myself middle-aged.
WHAT MY OTHER BLOGS SAID:
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, part 50
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES:
What I'm Reading:
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs
All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
What I'm Watching:
Guardians of the Galaxy
What I'm Playing:
WWE Supercard on my phone
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii
Orthanc on a PLATO emulator
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