Every January I put up a blog post listing my writing goals for the coming year. At the end of the year, I check back to see how I did. That assessment is the subject of this post.

2022 was a decent writing year, better than 2021. I met my primary goal and that did wonders to pull me out of a severe income slump in the first quarter of the year, so I’m not going to complain.

Here are the specifics on how I did, with the goals I set for myself in January in all-caps:

1. FINISH & PUBLISH THE CURRENT NOVEL
Done! This novel was Needle, third in the Inverted Frontier series. I finished a first draft early in the year, had it edited in the spring, and published it in July. Thank you to everyone who purchased a copy or convinced your library to get one. While I am by no means burning up any bestseller lists, Inverted Frontier has been my most successful indie project thanks to all of you, and I’m very grateful.

2. START A NEW NOVEL
Done! That is, I’ve started it. I envision five novels in the Inverted Frontier series. Right now, I’m working on volume 4. I’ve written the beginning of it, maybe 15% of the whole. That doesn’t sound like much, and I admit progress has been slow, but I’m very excited about the ideas I want to incorporate in this story. So many ideas, that I was feeling confused about how to handle them. So in early December I shifted gears and started putting together a new outline, with lots of details and dialog. I’m going through all my brainstorming files, sifting through the ideas, and fitting them into prospective scenes, all in the proper order. Once everything’s in place, I should be able to follow the outline, expanding the story scene by scene. For me, as I write, there’s always the dreaded question of what comes next. Knowing the answer to that, with copious notes to guide me, should help to accelerate my writing pace. Anyway, coming up with this detailed outline has been a fun, creative process.

3. WRITE ONE SHORT STORY (OR NOVELLA)
I really wanted to do this. I thought it would be fun to wade back into the story world of The Red. I even listened to all three audiobooks to try to get back into the series. But even after spending a couple of weeks brainstorming on it, I’m still not sure how to approach this project. Maybe next year.

Good heavens! I just realized that 2023 will be the tenth anniversary of the original publication of The Red: First Light, that is, in its indie edition, by my own Mythic Island Press. Wow. Yes, I really need to do something in this story world.

4. PUBLISH A THIRD SHORT-FICTION COLLECTION
Done, though not in the way I originally intended. I had hoped to add another short story or two (or that Red novella) to the eight stories I have ready to go. That didn’t happen. But I did create a story collection for the United States Air Force Academy’s “One Book, One USAFA” event — and that was such a huge honor that I’m going to call this goal a success. 🙂

Check back here tomorrow, when I’ll be posting my 2023 writing goals.

Hauoli Makahiki Hou! (Happy New Year!)

Posted on: Saturday, December 31st, 2022 at 7:03 am
Categories: Annual Writing Goals.