Comments on: What’s your plan?

By: Martyn Drake

Martyn Drake — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:30:41 +0000

Well, I’ve definitely made a start of sorts on my first proper creative project. I’m fleshing out characters, the genera plot and certain events, but not much else at the moment. The whole thing is very shlocky, but then again I love shlock. My fear is making a start on gluing everything together and then giving up because it’s too silly or the ramblings of a mad man. I tend to lose confidence very easily.

However, at *this* moment at this time I’m very happy with things and my resolution is to try very hard NOT to give up.

By: Daemon

Daemon — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:36:49 +0000

My genre-related goal? I’d like to get one story published. That’s it. People keep telling me I should seriously attempt to do so, and I’m thiking that maybe this will be the year I decide to actually sit down and give it a shot.

By: Simon Haynes

Simon Haynes — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:39:20 +0000

I’d like to see my books published in the UK and/or US, although there’s little I can do to influence that since it’s in the capable hands of my agent. (Australia is the third-largest English-language market, so getting published here is like a first step to world domination. Most of you get published in the biggest market first, and see sales to other markets as icing on the cake.)

Aside from that, I’ll be writing the fifth Hal Spacejock novel, and I like to introduce a new sub-genre or two with each one. The first book was SF/humour & satire, while the second had alien tech and the third had a spy thriller/secret agent feel. The fourth (yet to be released) combines police stuff (whodunnit, investigations), romance and horror. The next … well, I’m still recovering from the last one, so we’ll see.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:41:55 +0000

By George, my goal is to write a novel this year! How did you know?

I do both, resolutions and goal-setting, fairly relentlessly and obsessively. I get what you’re saying, but I don’t think there’s actually any law requiring resolutions to be hollow and meaningless.

(Nice to meet you, btw)

By: Laura Reeve

Laura Reeve — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:44:41 +0000

Since I’m a new author under contract with Roc (elated! excited!), I get to have real deadlines (hmm, not so excited about this). My goals include:

— Returning changes on book #1 according to whatever schedule my editor requests (within reason, I hope)
— Returning proofs, galleys, etc., for book #1 within (reasonable?) publisher’s schedule
— Submitting mss. for book #2 by the end of April
— Being well along the way to delivering mss. for book #3 in early 2009

One of my biggest fears is appearing unreliable to my publisher, so I’m RESOLVED to meeting these goals. If I get a chance, I’d also like to start on a humorous fantasy that’s been rolling around in my head. However, this gets hobby status and doesn’t make “the list.”

By: Mike Brotherton

Mike Brotherton — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:36:37 +0000

I blogged my resolutions today at my website. I appreciate your distinction, but think that the specific actions are more important than the goals (although both are interesting). If your goal is to lose weight or stop smoking, you must have a specific plan to accomplish the goal and that’s really the hard part for most people. So I always do both — state my goals and my specific actions I will take to reach them.

For my genre-related goals, it is just to finish a new book. It’ll only be my third, and every book to me seems like it’s full of it’s own particular challenges. I don’t at all approach writing with goals like “learning to write a more complex plot structure.” That sounds way too much to me like, say, a computer programmer having a goal of learning a new coding language without any need for it, which strikes me as a waste of energy. I have too many needs to fritter away my time on idle goals. Every story has its own needs, and I follow the story and try to develop whatever new skills I need to tell it.

The new book is going to stretch my skills quite a bit and I’ve already done more research for it than for anything else I’ve ever written. Anyway, here’s the resolution:

“5. Start and finish at least a first draft of the new novel, which is tentatively titled Unification. I’ve been researching it most of the last six months. I plan to read another 2-3 books in the next two weeks and plot. Then I want to write most of the first draft this semester and will make a deal with students in my Science and Science Fiction class about that. Revisions will take the rest of the year, and probably longer into the sabbatical. In the short term I’ll have to figure out how to write substantial word count (750-1000 words a day) without drinking wine. Or much wine. I’m a bit of a stereotype when it comes to the drinking writer.”

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:10:46 +0000

Finish the third draft of my novel. I’ve been working at it for a month now, and aim to be done in the next couple of weeks. And then? Agents, editors, publishing!

By: tycho garen

tycho garen — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 13:46:09 +0000

I’m going to make a list of everything I read. In part as encouragement to read more, but also so when I’m thinking about what I’ve read recently, and draw a blank I can say “let me check” rather then “idunno, not much.”

I blogged this here, but I think I’m pretty much on the same page as you about resolutions and goals…

By: SMD

SMD — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 06:48:27 +0000

Well…my goal is to get something published and to finish two novels and anything else I can get done. One novel for sure, more if possible, and many short stories. But getting myself one publication is really my top goal…

By: Karen Wester Newton

Karen Wester Newton — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:38:13 +0000

I’m going to do anything and everything my agent says will help her sell the book!