State of the Union

2010

Looking back over the last year, I'd say I've progressed in several aspects of writing. I think two or three of the pieces I've done this year have been my best, which I like to think is something I should be able to say every year. I've taken on more ambitious projects, including a grown up novel. The novel is, at this point, emphatically NOT the best thing I've ever written. I have hopes for improving it. I got my first publication, my first solicitation, and my first invitation to participate in an anthology. I managed through total serendipity to land two of the most friendly and helpful editors imaginable in K Allen Wood and John Skipp. I've sent out more stories this year than in all my previous years combined, and I understand the market infinitely better. I'm also getting something of a better hang of editing. On the down side, I haven't written near the volume I feel I need to, and any reason I can give is an excuse, because I've still managed to make time for things that mean less to me than writing.

I also wrote 34 blog posts, and managed to more or less keep to my promise of one substantive post per week.

2011

I have goals set out for the year and I've put them down in the corner so that I have just one more place where I can't ignore them: 365,000 words of fiction either written or edited to a printable standard; 30 stories in circulation, which is something of a moving target, because it doesn't count sold or trunked stories, only ones undergoing review; a finished, edited and submitted novel; two professional conventions (luckily my hometown is hosting the World Horror Convention); an SFWA membership; and a continuation of the one substantive blog post a week policy. Less measurable goals include experimenting more with structure (not necessarily in the dadaist sense of being experimental so much as trying my hand at different styles outside my normal range), writing a few more things I consider to be either terrifying (or hilarious) rather than just unsettling (or amusing), and speeding up all of my processes. I also plan to actually draw that background I've been meaning to for this site.

Having publicly posted goals has already helped me stop hemming and hawing on at least one submission. Here's to hoping it's a bright new year! I'm not always optimistic about the future, but I've got a good feeling about this one.