Writing Goals for 2022

Happy New Year!

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, although I have some that I mostly keep to myself (lose weight, declutter the house, etc.). I do, however, like setting goals, and mostly my goals are about writing since that’s my current line of work. In years past, I’ve gone into specifics about various writing projects I intend to work on—book reviews, essays, stories, and so on—but this year I’ve only got one goal:

  1. Finish the damn novel. I mean it this time. I’ve been working on this book for so many years and I know it keeps getting better, but I’d really like to be done with it so I can move on. I had hoped, even a few months ago, to be done by now and ready to send out queries in the new year, but I think it will be spring or fall before it’s ready for that. However long it takes will be how long it takes, but I really want to be done with it this year.

That’s it. If I don’t finish this novel this year, everything else was just a distraction. I’m already committed to writing at least one book review, and there’s a short story I could be working on, and I’d love to start working on some personal essays, but the novel is the thing.

I’ll let you know how I did at the end of the year.

About the author

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.

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