Writing In 2012: Writing Challenges

One of the best ways I can sum up the last few months of 2011 is in the word inspiration. In learning about the new world of publishing through the mentor roles of authors like Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michael Stackpole, and others, a whole new phase of my writing career began. It's been a slow start but one that is still ongoing. I plan on entering the new year with a series of challenges that are also writing goals.

50 STORIES

That's right, I plan to write fifty new short stories in 2012. My goal is to complete all fifty by the end of the year. If I  exceed the number, then all the better. Still, I have a definite number of stories that I can aim for and succeed in finishing. It's a realistic goal meaning it is dependent on me and within my control for the most part. 

Each story that is finished will either be indie published or sent to a market. I hope to do a little bit of both just to see if I can sell any of the stories to magazines. The bottom line for me is to complete at least those fifty short stories and have fun doing it. Additionally, I will discuss each one when it's finished and post it for free on my site for a week. I will tell you a little bit about the process of writing it, how long it took to write, and other points if they come up. 

2012 LONG FICTION

Besides the short story challenge I've described here, I plan to write several pieces of long fiction. By long fiction, I mean novels and novellas, for the most part. At this point, I have five projects that will be spilling over from this year into the next. Three nonfiction books and two novels will all be published in the first half of 2012. When I considered what I wanted to accomplish for the year, I looked for a number to shoot for. 

As far as totals are concerned, I have ten books in mind. I want to publish a total of ten books. That leaves five books unaccounted for or not conceived yet. It may be a mix of fiction and nonfiction, depending on what clients come my way. I will be adding more details to this challenge as I nail them down.

Novellas, shorter by design, are harder to fit in to the picture, but I am thinking about writing five of those as well. 

STAY TUNED...

If you're following along, you'll have to wait for some upcoming posts to get more information. I am ready to hit 2012 hard and fast and have a lot of fun writing. If you're a writer, I hope you are setting some goals too in the coming year. Get busy writing...or find something else to do with your time.