Checking in on my writing goals for the year

I realized this morning that the year is one-third gone already, which led me to consider how I was doing with the ambitious writing goals I’d set for myself.

  1. Novel edits. I have a novel coming out in early 2019, so an important writing goal for the year is to deal with edits I get from the publisher. I haven’t received the edits yet, so that’s still on the list.
  2. Compile Anthology. Done! Ahead of schedule, I finished selecting the twenty stories for Volume III of Everywhere Stories. I also got the editing done and compiled the manuscript, sending it off to the publisher last week. There is more work to be done—proofreading being the most challenging task ahead—before the book comes out in the fall, but this project is under control.
  3. Find a publisher for my novel. Um, no. Change of plans. Although I had some interest in this book from small presses, I decided that what it really needed was a developmental edit. That is underway, with comments due soon. I will then revise the manuscript and then start the process again.
  4. Finish the new story collection. Done! I was fortunate enough to get a short residency in February and used that time to finish a few new stories and compile the collection. It’s now being considered by a publisher and if that doesn’t work out I will send it to some other small presses.
  5. Finish the new novel. I had actually hoped to finish the new novel this summer, but that looks unlikely. Instead, I will aim to finish during a long residency I have scheduled this fall.
  6. Query agents. I still plan to do that this fall, but it won’t be for the new novel as I’d intended. Instead, I’ll query for the earlier novel, if I finish revisions by the end of the summer as I hope to do.

So, a third of the way into the year, I’m doing pretty well, I think. I even added a goal, which was to send out some of the new stories to magazines. I’ve had one acceptance so far, and hope to have others as the year progresses. Stay tuned!

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