Friday, December 16, 2011

My 2012 Writing Goals and Three Ways You Can Meet Yours


Hi everyone,

I know I've been missing for a while. Had last minute projects and finals to do not to mention some family issues.

However, while I have neglected this blog, I haven't completely neglected my writing. I've been planning my second novel. Now that I am completely done with school for the semester, I should have lots of time to finish planning and get started on writing.

My plan is to start writing the first draft on January 1st, 2012. If I get done planning before then, though, I will start writing. I can't wait to start this novel. My first novel, the one I did for Nano, was action. I mentioned that I never thought I would do that kind of novel.

Now, I'm shifting gears to fantasy. I have lots of of fantasy ideas in my head, and I think that's what I'll be focusing on for novels to come. However, I don't see magic being the center focus of these ideas. I think what makes these ideas fantasy is that they take place in other worlds. Think Narniaesque kind of places where animals and trees may or may not talk. I think the focus is more on culture. The cultures are way different. But I'm still developing the ideas.

With this second novel, the first thing I did was set my writing goals. Starting in January, I want to write at least 500 words every weekday, totaling at least 10,000 words a month. I'll be doing InkyGirl's 500 Words a Day Challenge to help keep myself accountable. It's a neat thing. There are also the 250 and 1000 Words a Day Challenges. To the left are the badges you can put on your blog or website to show that you are doing your words. There's also a Facebook page to connect with others who are also doing the challenges. You should check it out!

In March, when EdNoWriMo begins, I will revise and edit my first novel. I will also keep working on the second novel, but perhaps at a slower pace. I'm estimating the second novel to fall around 60-80K so hopefully I'll be done by late summer. Talking about summer, I also plan on participating in Camp Nano, maybe as a rebel if I'm not done with the novel by then. Then it'll be on to the third novel and getting beta readers for the first novel. I really hope to eventually electronically self-publish it.

Meanwhile, I'll also be making the Writing Resources page a lot better. There are so many resources I have been looking into that I want to share so be on the lookout for that update.

What are you up to now that Nano is over? Any of you doing Camp Nano? Will you be writing throughout the year or wait around for Nano to come up again?

Keep writing!



2 comments:

  1. Good to hear you won (er...finished) NaNoWriMo.

    I hadn't heard of the Word Challenge from Inkygirl... My brother Ben (I found you through your comments on his blog) and a few blogger/writers have been doing a similar thing on and off for a couple of years. We call it the Word Counters Union. Our deal is that we commit to a minimum 100 words of fiction per day and post our daily progress at wordcountunion.blogspot.com. We'd be glad to have another active writer. It might be superfluous if you're already doing Inkygirl's daily challenge, but you're welcome to check it out.

    I hadn't heard of Camp Nano either. I might give it a try this summer.

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  2. Thanks! I hadn't heard of the Word Counters Union. 100 words minimum sounds like a really good goal, especially when you don't feel like writing or if things get in the way. I'll be sure to check it out! It might be a better option than Inkygirl for now since I'm almost due and I'm sure life will be hectic for a while after the baby gets here!

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