New Year Writing Goals

I’m not much for superstitions, and the concept of a New Year falls under that category. I love any excuse to have a little party, of course, but let’s face it: A year is an artificial concept in itself, something we invented in order to keep track of our shit. There’s nothing mystical going on when the calendar flips over to a new number.

Still, there’s a utility to picking a moment to look back and look forward. Did you achieve your literary goals this year, artistically and professionally? What will the goals be next year? This is as good a time as any to consider both areas. I’ll start.

2017: The Writing Year in Review

I’ve been writing professionally for a while now, so my goals tend to be pretty static. I went into 2017 with a few basic goals:

1. Increase freelance income (always, that Cost of Living increase is no joke)
2. Sell a book to a publisher
3. Write 12 new short stories, minimum
4. Sell a few short stories
5. Launch an author newsletter
6. Write 3 new novels

So how’d I do? I did in fact increase my freelance income by about 30% this year, mainly by picking up a new client while maintaining all my old ones. In fact, I’m making more money as a freelance writer than I was when I had a Day Job, which kind of amazes me. I did sell a book—Writing Without Rules will be published by Writer’s Digest Books in May 2018. I wrote my monthly short stories, and actually had a hot streak where three of them are actually pretty good and will be in my submission cycle next year, after a bit of polishing. I sold one new story and saw two others published. I did in fact launch my author newsletter, which is awesome and you should sign up for it pronto.

And I did in fact write 3 new novels, though 2 were reboots of projects I’ve tried to write before (and one of those is being rebooted again), and started 2 others.

So, 2017 goals achieved. My 2018 goals are basically the same. Writing is a long game—instead of concentrating on one project, I just keep my head down. I write. I submit. I talk to my agent and listen to her sage advice. I take the opportunities that come my way and make the best of them.

So what are your writing goals for 2018? The key to achieving them, I think, is simple: Put in the work. There’s no magic spell, and there’s no One Way to publish and sell work. But at the core of the infinite ways people succeed as writers is that one simple rule: Do the work. Write, revise, submit. Repeat.

Happy New Year, folks!