2016 Targets
I’m actually glad I delayed writing this post to February as I’ve already revised my initial targets for the 2016 year. I’m spent January finishing up a novel that took a bit longer than I anticipated.
In other words, already my schedule is slipping—so I remade the schedule! Writing is supposed to be fun. There’s no reason to stress myself out about it.
So for 2016 the new targets are:
- Write two novels to completion.
- Start a third novel with a goal of having 75%+ done before the new year.
- Start publishing the Sunken City Capers novel series
- Read six fiction novels.
Number one shouldn’t be too difficult, depending on how long the novels go. I’m a bit concerned that the word count will creep up as the novels progress, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. In the same vein, it should be reasonable to start a third novel this coming year, the high-bar target would be to finish it. And I’ve set a launch date of October 4, 2016 for the first novel in the Sunken City Capers series, which I’m really excited about. The last blog post has more details on that.
Number four is a new target for me. I’ve never before set a reading goal for a year, mostly because I never had any trouble reading so it didn’t require any conscious effort on my part. It does now. With a full time job, young children, and trying to get a writing career off the ground, spare time is at a premium. If it weren’t for the Fantasy workshop and the associated reading list last year, I’m not sure I would’ve read much fiction at all. I have been reading a fair amount of non-fiction as research material, but it’s not the same as reading fiction. So this year, I’m going to make a concerted effort to make sure I consume and fill up my creative well with some entertaining fiction in the mix.