Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Well I had a lot of fun writing this month. January flew past so smooth and quick that I hardly realized it was over until I noticed that today was February 1st. So much productivity, so many events and changes crammed into these thirty-one days; looking back at what I’ve accomplished and experienced, it makes me excited for what this year will bring.
On a personal note, I made a big change at my “day job” – basically a lateral move – which has changed my day-to-day life in small but significant ways. I feel more relaxed, I feel like I am making a bigger contribution to the world, and it has helped me regain some focus in my work and writing life. This came upon me suddenly and little warning, but it was my choice and I am very happy with it.
Big news on the publication front – the Kickstarter for “We Suck at Comics Volume 2: Coloring Outside the Lines” was launched this week. After only a few days we are already at 37% funded and climbing fast. I cannot write this enough: I am doubly blessed with this second volume because I get to be a part of this incredible series of books and I get to appear with my fantastic wife by my side. Everything I see from this volume looks awesome. Please swing by the Kickstarter and make a pledge so we can get our copies that much sooner!
On to my writing month. I came up just a hair short of my goal, but I am not really upset by that. I finished around 45,000 words – just 5K from my goal – and that stinks, but I still feel great about what was accomplished. I made incredible headway into the story, so much that I am gearing up for a pair of crazy chapters that will lead into the climax of the book. Like the first one (yeah, I know, you haven’t read it, but hopefully I will make progress towards it being available this year) the finale is a 2-chapter affair, one big action piece and one personal, story-driven piece. I’ve had both ideas in my head for a long time, so long that I could probably write the finale right now, but I want to get there in order. I don’t need to, but on the marathon course I wrote in January I made a bunch of changes to the narrative, so before I get to the climax I want to make sure I have all the pieces in their proper places.
To close this out, here are my 6 goals for 2025:
1 – I want finish editing book one of my YA series to the point that I consider it good enough for publication (it probably won’t be, but I want to get it as far as I can take it). I am close on this one. The last 2 months of 2024 saw a lot of movement on this goal, so this is one I feel very positive about.
2 – I want to begin querying agents to see if I can publish that book, and its sequels, traditionally. This was delayed because the editing process took longer than I anticipated. I have 3 different query letters written; I have decided to spend a money for a professional review to help me polish one so that it is worthy of being sent out. I am planning on attacking this goal in February, beginning when I have a week off from work.
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and go through at least 1 round of edits. With a huge month of January behind me, I am around 5-6 chapters from the end. My plan is to have this 1st draft done no later than my Spring Break.
4 – I want to have a completed outline for book 3 with an aim at starting the writing process this year as well. I already have the basic idea for this story and a theme to work with. I also have a few notes and ideas for pieces I want to include, but like any series some things will be contingent upon what came before (and what I know comes after) so finishing book 2 must happen first.
5 – I want to have at least 2 short stories accepted for publication. I am repeating this goal because I think it is obtainable and a good motivator. I have several stories that are incomplete of in need of an overhaul, so I will spend some time whittling down that stack as the year progresses.
6 – I want to extend my visibility as far as social interactions and publicity goes. I had 11 followers when 2024 began and 50 when it ended. For 2025, I am going to push for at least 100 followers. How? Well, that remains to be seen. I know I need to post more, something I wanted to do in 2024 but fell off on very quickly. That will be my starting point. I have some posts drafted and I still have my writing process posts that I outlined but never got done to my satisfaction. It may take me a little time, but before summer arrives I want to have a bank of posts ready to go.