2018 has been a year of big changes and special firsts.
But most of all, I think 2018 has been the year I've become more serious about my writing career. Though I've been writing seriously for several years now, I hadn't started building my author platform till late 2017 but really this year. This year I've:
posted regularly on my website
started a YouTube Channel
performed my poetry for the first time
sent my novel to beta readers
published my chapbook and released the recordings of the poems
participated in and won my first NaNoWriMo
and updated my website
Also, I've done a lot in my personal life to. I've presented my research at a conference, studied abroad and left the country for the first time, and started a new job at my college.
Wow, it's been a busy year.
At the beginning of last year, I made 5 year resolutions, which also led to me making monthly goal posts.
Goals for 2018
1. Begin Friday 10 minute stories & 3. Receive 25 rejection letters from literary magazines
Both these goals I abandoned early in the year because I decided to focus my efforts on other things.
2. Recite my Poetry at Open Mic Nights, 4. Publish my first poetry chapbook & 5. Finish Revisions of Episodes 3-10 by May 25th.
All three of these, I accomplished. I recited my poetry at two different open mic nights in the beginning of the year. I published Sensuality. in September. Then, I finished the revisions for my book by the deadline and sent it to my beta readers over the summer.
Halfway through the year, I made three more year goals:
6. Write 35 poems
Accomplished! I wrote 36 and most of them in the summer.
7. Recite at more Open Mic Nights
Failed! I didn't recite at another open mic night in the back of half of the year. They kept sneaking up on me, and I was either too busy or not prepared.
8. Finish the beta reading stage and start the final round of the revisions for The One and the Other Volume One
Sort of accomplished? One of my beta readers is finishing up, but I've already started going through the feedback from my others. I've also read through the most current draft and written my own critiques. Once I've collected all my feedback, I'll be able to start revising.
I'd say 5 out of 8 goals is a productive year. It's been a good year, but I am looking forward to 2019. I can't believe we're about to be in the 20s again, though.
Goals for 2019
1. Work on 3 Work-In-Progresses at once
I've always worked on just one project at a time and worked on other ones while I've been on a break from my main WIP--The One and the Other Volume 1 (TOATO1).
But because I've worked on other projects on my breaks, I've started multiple other ones and haven't been able to finish them. And I don't want to wait for another break to return to them. So, for the first time, I've decided to try working on all three of them at once. TOATO1 will be my main WIP that I'll focus on during the week, and then the other two, I'll write on the weekends. I'll alternate between the two.
- The One and the Other Volume 1
I'm analyzing my feedback from my beta readers right now. While I'm considering doing another round of beta readers after some more revisions, I'm not sure if I'm going to. It'll have to depend on how I feel about the manuscript after these edits.
Also, it is possible that I could publish this novel at the end of this year. I'm not sure though, so I'm not making it a goal. If I have to do another round of beta readers, it probably won't be published. And I need the money and the following to give the book the launch it needs. I don't want to rush publishing my first book.
My goal for this manuscript in 2019 is to finish revising it completely.
- Poetry Book #1
This is my first full-length poetry book. I've had the idea since Fall of 2017, but I didn't begin serious work on it till this past summer. I'll only write poems for this book over the weekends because I prefer to write a poem in one large sitting rather than work on it a little bit over the course of many days. I feel like I write poetry slower in multiple sittings than one because each time I have to get back into the flow.
My goal for this manuscript is to write 90% of the poems. This goal doesn't include revising some of them, which I already know I need to do. I want most of the structure of the book to be done by the end of the year.
- Chervaux - my NaNoWriMo 2018 novel
I wrote the first draft of this standalone last November, knowing I probably wouldn't be able to revise it for a long time. But I've developed a lot of momentum with the story, and I really want to keep up with it. I've decided I'll work on it on the weekends, alternating with Poetry Book #1.
I've re-outlined the manuscript. The next step is to read my first draft and then work on re-writing the entire manuscript--which I knew I would do because it's part of my process. I have no goal for this manuscript other than to work on it. I would love to finish re-write draft, but I'm going to stress over it.
2. Hit 100 subscribers on YouTube
Just in the last month, I've gained some traction of YouTube. I've met a lot of other awesome AuthorTubers! They're so supportive! I want to grow my channel to 100 subscribers. I'm not sure how hard this goal will be to reach. It might be that I accomplish this way before I thought I would or it might be harder than I think. It seems like an attainable goal if I upload consistently.
3. Promote Sensuality.
I released my chapbook of poetry Sensuality. last September. I didn't promote it a lot when it came out because I wasn't sure of what I was doing and life happened, but I want to spread the word about it this year.
The plan is to post excerpts from it on my Instagram and read from it at local open mic nights where I can also maybe sell a few copies. I might reach out to book reviewers too. The problem is is that there's not many people interested in poetry. But a girl's gotta try, right?
4. Start a Monthly Newsletter For My Email List
Starting this month, I'm going to send out a monthly newsletter to the subscribers on my email list. It'll include updates on my projects, links to my recent videos and posts, and exclusive information about my work in progresses or maybe a never-before-seen poem. If that interests you, you can sign up today! You don't want to miss the first email!
Last year was the start of my author platform, and this year I hope to grow it further and reach people to share my work with. Do you have any year resolutions? How was last year for you? What are you looking forward to the most in 2019?
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