I’m announcing my plan to the world. I’m going to be shaping it here over the next few weeks, trying to form a cohesive manual on how I’m going to reach my goal.
Here are my first goals:
– I want my first short story accepted by July
– I want my first novel accepted by mid-2008
Okay, those are lofty goals. So here goes:
– I’ve subscribed to Tale Bones and Realms of Fantasy. I’m going to aim for those two magazines first
– buy a few manuals. The first is Make Your Words count. Them some grammatical books…so reference type books. Study them, work on them.
– attempt to setup a writer’s group in the London area. I’d prefer not to have to go to Toronto.
– I’m re-editing two short stories (Wolves at the Gates, and Dance of the Dead). Those are my first salvos to be fired. On a side note, I’ve already edited Dance of the Dead…I cut 3400 words.
– write more short stories. While quality is obviously my main goal, I’d like to write and edit one short story a month. That’s a lot of short stories, but it would be more of a numbers game if I have multiple stories (that means I’d have 9 completed stories by July…one of them would have to get published…wouldn’t it?)
– begin editing my novels. I won’t use professional editors. Rob Sawyer asked ‘would a carpenter hire someone to hammer his nails’? Fair enough.
– New Novels. Hmm, haven’t touched on those yet. Writing novels is really where I’m comfortable. When do I start the next? Should I wait, or begin working on chapters? Perhaps around Christmas.
Lots to do. I have to figure out a way to get all of this routine into my life. When? Early morning. Uggh…I don’t think I can get up early. But maybe. I’m thinking more the 9pm to midnight time. Make that my time. The difficulty with that is that’s the only time of day I spend with Kari (though she’s usually in bed by 10pm).