Sunday, January 2, 2011

A New Year, A Clean Slate

Well, in 2010 my first short story was accepted for publication, but it won't be available until February of this year. It might not seem that far away, but to finally see your name in print, it seems like an eternity. That was THE high point of the year.

The year 2010 also saw my return to writing after a long hiatus. During the course of the year, I had started numerous projects—five novel projects, one novella, and over a dozen short stories—very few of which have been completed. They may never see completion. Am I disappointed by that? Not at all. I had to wipe off the cobwebs and grease the hinges on that part of my mind I had closed the door on five years ago. I started two blogs: the one you are currently reading and Woofer's Lair (http://www.wooferslair.blogspot.com/), a site dedicated to book reviews, as well as showcasing some of my own writing. I also stumbled across a completed first draft of my first novel manuscript, Ursa Major, that I thought was forever lost. I have not found the disks, but I do have the hard copy, which is better than nothing.

So what will 2011 hold in store?

My first priority will be polishing up the short stories I have completed and get those circulating. My second priority will be to get a final draft of Ursa Major completed. The second draft is well underway, and once that is completed, I will be sending it out to a group of beta readers. While that is out with readers, I will be working on completing the first draft of a ghost story I started last year. I have a little over 60,000 words towards it already, but I put it aside because I thought of a new beginning for it and was trying to decide to restart it or to keep going until it was done. I've decided to restart it. The good thing is, I will be able to keep a majority of what I already have.

In order to get this done, I have done something I resolved to never again do—I made a New Years Resolution. I have committed myself to a five day writing schedule, with a minimum requirement of 1,000 words per day. If I get more done, so much the better, but I am committing to a minimum of 1,000 words.

Have you made any writing-related resolutions? Feel free to share them with us.

1 comment:

  1. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to loading the writing gun, putting on my BDU and getting into the action of settling down and simply writing, getting something done, getting something out there.

    I resolve this year to do more writing and getting it OUT THERE. Mr. Procrastination must die!

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