Writing Resolutions

Welcome to all my readers. Thanks for tuning in for my resolutions.

For those of you who don’t know me:

My name is Morgan and I write from my lair in the Washington DC suburbs. I live near a lake and take way too many picture of it, which you can find on my Instagram. I have a twin sister and dote on her daughter. By day, I’m a software engineer. The rest of the time, I’m usually writing. Back in November of 2013, I got serious about my writing and started, for the 3rd time, what is now my first full length novel.

INK AND FLESH is an 89,000 word (~350pg) coming of age novel about Lilyen, a devout tattooist who flees to hide her demon-stains. She struggles with her faith when she learns the clerics are draining her little sister’s life.

INK AND FLESH is about to undergo it’s 5th round of edits, (3rd round of full revisions). During November 2016, I wrote 75,000 words of the sequel, INK AND SNOW, but it’s not done yet.

Last year’s resolutions were a resounding success. Following in there footprints, here are my SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) goals.

Writing

Most of the goals are getting me towards publication with INK AND FLESH, my original Work-In-Progress (WIP), while some are making sure I progress on the sequel, INK AND SNOW. So, I need to make sure I start querying, keep editing, AND don’t stop writing. I’m bad at multitasking, but good at keeping up momentum, so this chart should help me stay focused.

Reading

I want to make sure I read, though. Plus, I keep hearing the best way to support your fellow writers is to leave reviews on Amazon for them. If I read something and can’t give it more than 3 stars, I’ll probably skip reviewing it. (But don’t assume just because I don’t review it doesn’t mean I disliked it).

Social

I’m involved in far too much social media and not working out nearly enough. I’m going to try and keep my writing blog reading to times when I’m on the treadmill or elliptical. That way, I keep up with people’s blogs AND get off my butt. Because having both my day and night jobs be computer based doesn’t really lend itself towards physical activity.

2017 Goals

1st Quarter:

• Edit #WIP1 with editor
• Finish rough draft of #WIP2  [minimum 5k a week until done]
• Start querying #WIP1 & #PB1 [minimum 3 queries a month, each]
• Post 3 book reviews on Amazon/Goodreads

2nd Quarter:

• Edit #WIP2 [minimum 50 pages a week]
• Send #WIP2 to beta readers
• Query #WIP1 and #PB1 [minimum 3 queries a month, each]
• Write a short project
• Balticon
• Post 3 book reviews on Amazon/Goodreads

3rd Quarter:

• Revise #WIP2 [Notecards, tiny manuscript, rip to shreds, rebuild]
• Keep querying? or R&R if requested? Or accept agent offer….
• Some-other con
• Post 3 book reviews on Amazon/Goodreads

4th Quarter:

• Plan #WIP3
• NaNoWriMo #WIP3 [50-75k]
• Revise #WIP1 or #WIP2 as needed
• Post 3 book reviews on Amazon/Goodreads