2016 Writing Goal Progress

Last year at this time, I was approaching the end of my Writing Popular Fiction degree. For one of our class assignments, we set writing goals for the next year.

I said that by 2017, I would:

• Complete my final revisions of Penteract of Blood and have a new reader critique it.
• Complete my revisions of The Nightbringer and turn it over to someone to critique.
• Complete my final revisions of Agent of the Relari.
• Search for an agent, both by looking for agents in my genre and by participating in events like #PitMad, for Penteract and Agent.
• Have at least 3 short stories which have either been accepted or I’m actively submitting to markets.
• Complete my role in at least one video game project.
• Take steps to double my blog traffic.
• Learn how to manage subscribers to my blog.
• Seek opportunities to give a presentation to a class at my undergraduate school.
• Participate in at least one community event, such as my town’s fall festival.

So, how did I do?

Penteract of Blood was my thesis novel. As I vowed, I finished editing it and had a new reader critique it.

The Nightbringer remains on hold, however, because when I looked at Agent of the Relari, I realized it needed far more than a few simple revisions.

Therefore, I devoted quite a bit more time to Agent of the Relari than I expected, turned it over to a new reader to critique, and decided to start working on revising the sequel. In short, my goal for The Nightbringer was replaced by a different goal.

However, it did mean I was able to spend the year searching for an agent for my two completed novels. No luck yet, but I keep trying!

My next goal focused on short stories. One of my short stories was published this year, “The Artist,” available in the anthology Final Masquerade.

Although that was my only new publication this year, I’ve been actively submitting three other short stories as well. I also spent some time on writing new short stories.

On the other hand, my video game project goal went very well. I worked as an editor for The Chronicles of Noah’s Ark, The Trials of Olympus II, and similar puzzle games that are not yet available. I also wrote the script for an upcoming puzzle game in the same style.

I also worked as an editor for the RPG/RTS Megamagic: Wizards of the Neon Age and the visual novel Anime Studio Simulator, both of which came out this year.

(Don’t worry about Parachronism: Order of Chaos. We’re still working on it, and it’s one of my current projects.)

My next two goals concerned my blog. I hoped to learn how to manage subscribers (which I did, and you can subscribe!) and double my blog traffic. I didn’t succeed in doubling my traffic, although I did increase it.

As for my last two, I didn’t manage to give a presentation, but I did hold a successful book signing at the local fall festival!

All in all, it was a successful year. I didn’t meet all my goals, but I met most of them, and my video game writing especially was a success. What will next year bring?