2017 was a crap year for me. Grief and depression did its best to swallow me whole. I barely got any work done. I did work on getting Sūnder published, but for the most part, writing new words was not in me that year. However, I did do a ton of world building on a couple of projects. By the end of the year, I had started the blog story, Assassin's Retirement and the next book in the Valespian Pact, Constant.
I had been excited for 2018 because I was crawling out of depression, and I thought I was ready to publish something, Constant, to be specific. But after the beta review, I realized that I still had a lot of work to do. I wasn't where I thought I was mentally. Writing while depressed is hard. It's like depression sucked the life out of my creativity and put my memory in a blender--demonic little turd. Unfortunately, it showed in Constant. The story went from 35k to 67k to I'm-still-working-on-it-135k. LOL!
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| 2018 Writing Agenda |
I did a lot of things wrong with Constant that all boil down to I didn't allow it to be the story it wanted to be. I was trying to force it to be something else from word count size to content to how the romance played out. It just didn't work which resulted in me rewriting much of it and adding what should have been there to begin with. I've been pushing to get it finished, blowing by both the deadlines I set for myself. LOL! But it will get there.
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| And more of the board |
This year I did accomplish getting Caledonia Destiny published. Twin Flames and Songs of the Earth were also released on audiobook.
I went to GRL and had fun, plus I gave away books and stuff.
For 2019's planning, I am going to attempt to be... conservative.
If you noticed, my 2018 goals were very... enthusiastic. It is a ton of fun putting projects on the writing list, but it's the pits when I keep looking at it, realizing in June that there is no way any of that is going to come off the list. It's like having 'eyes too big for your stomach'. Everything looks soooo good and you want to eat it all, only to be stuffed 1/4 way through, leaving you staring forlornly at all the wonderful food you cannot eat and will go to waste. The only difference, instead of me noting that the projects aren't going anywhere--they won't spoil and will wait for me when I get to them--I sort beat myself up about not being able to do it ALL.
So, for this coming year I'm going to outsmart myself... LOL! I am only adding two main projects to the project list. This will also allow me time to work on other things, such as expanding an existing story. It will also allow me to work on what I want to work on instead of what I feel obligated to (even though I'm not feeling the story-line). The planning for next year goes something like this:
Writing Projects
Akira (Darksoul, 2) - estimated word count 90k
Legacy (Nathan's Story) - a Sumeria's Sons standalone - 120k
Salvaging Toby's Heart - expanding from current word count, 33k to 60k
Assassin's Retirement (Scion of Beowulf, 1) (an I.O.N. universe story) - finish the blog story and self-publish it. Current word count 70k. Estimated 100k at completion.
Republish the Unshakable series since Gentleman's origins begins there.
Publish a Valespian Pact flash fiction anthology.
Send Sūnder to audiobook
Send Dreams of the Forgotten (Sumeria's Sons, 3) to audiobook
And finally,
Wingless (a Valespian Pact universe standalone) - replacement blog story set on the GyrFalconi's homeworld after the Twenty Year War.
Basically, that is what this coming year will look like. I'm really excited to dig into my project list. I should add another category at the bottom of the whiteboard for finished projects since I'm still working on Constant and it will be finished in 2019. And if I finish everything on the board, then I pick from stories waiting in the wings. :)
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Love what you have planned for the year to come. I know writing is hard work but I love❤ the stories you tell. Have a good year.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kelvin! I hope you have a wonderful year!
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