Writer at Large

You might note that I changed the title of this blog.

As my single paid publishing credit is a single non-fiction book from some years ago, I felt it a bit pretentious to keep the title as it was. Also, this new blog title reflects my intended perspective going into the new year.

As far as I am aware, there is nothing particularly numerologically significant about the year or number 2011. That doesn’t mean that it cannot be a year of transformation and change. How that will play out during the course of the year, I don’t know yet.

Here is what I am going to do:

• Get serious about my writing . . . and the publishing of it. I know that what I’m producing isn’t perfect, and I also know that I’m my own worse editor, so I’m going to find out what the mistakes are that I’m making and strive to correct them.
• Take a serious look at self/e-publishing. I’ve read two blog articles lately that have finally dispelled any final myths I’ve long held about the so-called legitimacy of being published by one of the big publishing houses (and the long odds against being successful at it). If you’re curious, those articles can be found here and here.
• Read more books. I have an ever-growing stack that isn’t getting any smaller. I’m thinking a reasonable goal is probably two per month. I can ratchet that up if it seems too easy. I need to get over my personal guilt trip of “If I’m reading, I’m not writing.” That excuse only flies in November and maybe in April—maybe.

There are probably more goals that should be included on this list, but these are the three I intend to focus on.

New Year: Day 1.  Ready . . . set . . . go!

1. Finish the first draft of "Battlefield".
   Completed on 12/10/07.
2. Finish a new draft of "Building Baby Brother" and submit it.
   Sadly, no. I did start giving it some thought, but no real writing work was done.
3. Participate in NaNoWriMo 2007.
   Yes. And I'm very pleased with my performance this year. You can read the posts specific to this if you're interested.
4. Participate in Script Frenzy.
   Participated: Yes. Won: No. I get partial credit for trying?
5. A page a day. If nothing else: a page a day.
   Yes. Even not counting NaNoWriMo, I am pleased that to report that I managed to accomplish this.

2008 Goals

These are my writing-related goals for the year:

1. Finish a new draft of "Building Baby Brother" and submit it.
2. Begin work on the second draft of Battlefield.
3. Participate in NaNoWriMo 2008.
4. Participate in Script Frenzy 2008.
5. A page a day. If nothing else: a page a day.