Tag: new year’s resolutions

Revisiting New Years Goals

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Today I’m revisiting the goals I’ve made for the year, but looking at them as far as where I am for Quarter 1 (January through March), and a little at what I need to do for Quarter 2.

Goal 1: A blog post every day. Well I quit with that, only following up with an update on the days after I did writing. I’m not far off, but I’m not really writing much other than updates. Maybe I’ll revisit trying to do more in April.

Goal 2: 52 books in a year. This is the tenth week of the year. One of my goals is to have 52 stories for the year (roughly one a week). I’m at 6 completed out of the 10, but only one of them is under the GS Wright name. 😛 Once Hungry Gods 3 and Apocalypse Witch 3 are done, I’m only 2 behind (7 behind with the GS Wright name). 🙂

Goal 3: One Million Words for the year. I’m fairly confident I’m going to succeed at this. Granted, I wasted February. Right now (thank you February) my average daily word count is 2,029. That won’t get me there (that’s only 742,600 words for the year), but I write way more than 2k a day on average when I do write, and if I get back on schedule, that average will be back up. For example, I’m averaging 3k right now just for March. I’ll revisit this at the start of April and see how close I get back on track. Part two of this goal, 2 million, I’m not confident about at all. On that I’m already 230,000+ words behind. O.o

Goal 4: Read a book a month. Meh. I’ve got this one. According to Goodreads, I’ve finished exactly two books so far. 🙂 Just need to add one for March.

So anyway, on to other stuff.

Yesterday I finished another short story, and my word count actually includes about 1k from Sunday on the project mentioned yesterday. I’m not adding it to the list of books I’m working on, because at this point, it’s low on my priority chart. My goal for March is to put some of my projects to rest, primarily Apocalypse Witch and Hungry Gods. I’m going to be at a library event in April, and it would be nice to have those books available in print. Following the completion of those two books, I’d also like to finish Spilling Blood Season 3, but I don’t see there being enough time to get get the last three parts done this month too, though I’m going to try.

Yesterday also marked the end of week 1 of March, with a word count of exactly 21,000 for the week.

Today I need to make a cover and publish a short story, then on to writing for a bit, and finally editing.

 3/7/16 Word Count: 3,327 (ave. 1,932 wph) Editing: 1 hour

Spilling Blood ep. 12 +0 10,221/15,000

Pen Name Novella #2 +0 4,417/20,000

Pen Name Short Story #4 +2,304 6,226/5,000 (Complete!)

Pen Name Short Story #5 +0 1,908/5,000

Hungry Gods 3 +0. 58,009/50,000 Editing

Apocalypse Witch 3 +0. 21,648/20,000 Editing

March Word Count: 21,000

2016: January: 103,398, February: 11,551

For Year: 135,949

2016 Completed Projects: Spilling Blood 11, 1 Novella, 4 Short Stories

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9 Dark Resolutions for Writers

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So what if the other resolutions for yesterday didn’t do it for you? What if you are already a writer, and a jaded one at that? What if your resolutions are about the underbelly of the writer life, the darker, grittier side not often talked about?

  1. Drink More. There’s a stereotype about writers that involves alcohol. Live the dream. Drink! Not beer, no, that’s for people who watch football. It’s gotta be the hard stuff. Hard Core Goal: Be done with writing by noon, be drunk by 2 (Thanks, Hemmingway!).
  2. Play More Games. Want time to go by fast? Play games. It’s easy to kill an hour or three, even on something simple like Candy Crush or Angry Birds. What, it’s already lunchtime? Hard Core Goal: Get in at least eight hours of play.
  3. Watch More Movies. Oh man, is there a lot of good movies out now or what? Superheroes, Star Wars, other shit… seriously, you can spare at least 4 to 6 hours a day for a movie fix. At the very least, watch one a day. Hard Core Goal: Movie marathon a trilogy every week.
  4. Watch More TV. Thanks Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix! So many shows, so little time. There’s only one way to get through your fantastic shows, and it involves a tub of licorice, a fresh pot of coffee, the remote, and a recliner. Hard Core Goal: Dedicate an entire day to binge watch a season of a show, especially when a new season is released.
  5. Get a lot More Sleep. Sleep’s good for you. If it’s so good for you, get more. Sleep until noon. Or 1! One is a nice moment on the clock! That is definitely a good time to get up. Hard Core Goal: Balance getting up late with going to bed late. Going t bed early is for quitters.
  6. Spend More Time on the Internet. Right now, there is a cat video you haven’t seen, and you have dedicated followers that need you to share it! It’s funny, dammit!!!! And the memes… ohhhh the memes! Like and share! There’s Facebook! Porn! All of your movies and shows! Games! Writing posts is still writing, as are the emails. Hard Core Goal: Go at least three days a week without leaving your house. There’s nothing out there you need anyway.
  7. Seek Revenge! Somebody make you mad? Did they leave you a bad review? Write them into your next story… and kill them! Laugh diabolically as you watch your nemesis perish horribly through the power of your written word. Change their name and give them a nasty trait so they won’t willingly admit it’s them in the story and sue you. Hard Core Goal: Sell them a copy of the book.
  8. Let Others Know How Much they Suck! Because you’re a writer. You’ve got Social Media. OBVIOUSLY everyone cares about your opinion, and OBVIOUSLY it’s your duty to be a troll. Bash other people’s politics, tear down their religion, bash their music and movies. You have power to abuse. Hard Core Goal: Get a t-shirt with the word troll on it.
  9. Procrastinate. [Note to Self: Remember to write this Resolution later]. Hard Core Goal: …

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10 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers

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Are you a writer? Here’s a list of 10 New Year’s Resolutions to consider and ideas for implementing them. As a bonus, each includes a Hard Core version for you writing beasts.

  1. Write. You’re a writer, so this one makes sense. Life has many distractions like Netflix, Facebook, Video Games, and our cell phones. Take time away from what consumes your time and move it to writing. Set a minimum goal of finding 30 minutes a day to write, whether journaling, poetry, or a story. Hard Core Goal: Write every day, and find a minimum of 2 hours.
  2. Read. If you are going to be distracted by anything, it should be reading. Decide on a number of books you intend to read for the year. Utilize Goodreads to keep track of your “want to read” library, and participate in their 2016 Reading Challenge. Hard Core Goal: 100 Books in 2016.
  3. Word Count. Set a daily or weekly writing goal. If you have to, start with something manageable like 500 words. When you find yourself exceeding your daily goal with regularity, increase again. Continue to challenge yourself. For some perspective, a novel in a month (a 50k NANOWRIMO) requires 1667 words a day. Hard Core Goal: target 5k to 10k a day.
  4. Become Full Time. Why not write for a living? The challenge here is to make money writing. That means finding markets, a publisher, self-publishing, learning marketing (like Facebook’s ads), and writing more stories. This is a great goal, especially if you like working in sweats. Hard Core Goal: Support your family on this income.
  5. Book in a Month. Some people like to do this in November, but there’s 11 other months to choose from, and 7 that give a precious extra day. Hard Core Goal: One novel every month.
  6. Build your Platform. Make a resolution to get yourself known. Be a regular on Social Media and grow your followers. Check out klout.com to measure your influence and expertise in topics as a writer. Hard Core Goal: Achieve over 20k followers across all social media.
  7. Book Signings. Even if you are an introvert, getting out and meeting people will sell those paperbacks you’ve got in a box in the closet. Find other authors to share expenses with at trade shows and farmer’s markets. Plus you don’t look lonely and ignored at bookstores if traffic sucks. Get to know the bookstore clerks. Hard Core Goal: Set up a signing a month.
  8. Finish your Work in Progress. Stop going back and editing. Stop ignoring it. Force yourself to dive in and get it done. Hard Core Goal: Move on.
  9. Get Fit. Everyone seems to make this resolution, right? At minimum, get out and walk. Get a treadmill. Eat better, cut back on sugar and soda, find a program that works for your body type. Hard Core Goal: Get fit! Spend 4 hours a week in the gym. Show the world what a ripped writer looks like.
  10. Network. Meet other writers, editors, cover designers. Exchange advice. Participate in writer/author groups. Meet in person and have coffee. You’ll learn a lot from others. Hard Core Goal: Be the one who starts a group. Keep it going and growing. Set up book signings for your group.

What are your resolutions for this year? Please share them in the comments below. 😀

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The Official 2014 Resolutions/Goals Post

Before I get started on New Year’s Resolutions, I thought I’d take a quick look back at what I said I’d do for 2013, and where I fell short.

The Best and Worst of 2013

fellshort

First: 13 Novels – Yep, didn’t happen. Three happened. Actually, I’ve written four, but I’m saving one to release in 2014.

Second: 5,000 words a day. Sometimes I was lucky to hit 500. My best writing day was just over 8,000. However, I I’m currently hitting between 2k to 6k a day for the end of this year.

2013 did see the release of Broken Things, a novel I’m very proud of, and continues to be my bestselling book.

I also released the first book of two series, Hungry Gods and Spilling Blood.

I did not stay true to one genre, but I never intended to.

On to 2014

kitty1). Since last year I wanted to write 13 novels, this year I’m setting my goal for 14 for this year. Do I care that I didn’t hit my goal last year? No way. Is it going to deter me? Not a chance. 14 novels.

Book 2 of both The Hungry Gods and Spilling Blood series will see release in the first quarter of 2014, and books 3 to both following. I have outlines for two more Sci-Fi books waiting in the queue, one additional fantasy, and a ton of horror.

2). Word count goal: 1 million words in 2014. That’s less than 3,000 words a day, but I intend to achieve much more than that.

3). Updates. Monday ones, Just like this one, every Monday. Starting this week, I’m going to actually use Tumblr too. I think I’ve got maybe three posts ever there. I’m going to use it to post daily word counts and how my goals are coming along.

4). This is my Maybe Goal. Maybe I’ll use my newsletter. Maybe.

And with that, I’ll leave you with one update: my next book, and first book of 2014, will be Death’s Reach, Book 2 of the Hungry Gods series, and it will be released in January. That’s all! 😀

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