I know, that’s a big question. I’ve asked it in the singular, too, because I want everyone to try to focus in on the single most important ambition for the year, rather than listing several.
So, what is your 2024 writing goal? It could be to write more frequently or regularly, or to complete - or begin! - a long-gestating project, or to reach a certain number of subscribers on your newsletter.
For me, it’s to wrap up Tales from the Triverse in a satisfying way. I’ve published it every week for over two years, and this year will likely be when the story comes in to land. Exciting and a little intimidating!
I find saying these things out loud helps to turn them into a reality, so I’ll see you in the discussion.
My goal is to treat the deadlines I set for my personal writing with the same respect I would for my clients. It’s tough! What is helping is setting a realistic publishing frequency for my personal projects, even if it isn’t as frequent as I would like. At least I can stick to it.
I tend to find that setting low expectations with my writing helps, paradoxically. Whenever I get over-ambitious, I then become disillusioned Whereas setting achievable goals spurs me on to do more. Same goes for word counts: setting a minimum viable word count I find very encouraging, and I tend to blast through those targets and write a lot more in a session. Whereas if I set a high target to start with, it intimidates me and everything becomes a struggle.
Yeah, our brains are weird. Also, I think knowing what works for each of us just comes down to experimenting and failing over the (many, many) years. It's one of the nice parts of getting older.
I find it so difficult to take myself seriously as 'a client' of my own work... my own writing interests and goals are the first things to be de-prioritised. I would love to hear about strategies you find helpful!!
It’s taken me years, but this seems to be working at the moment:
* carving out regular time to write on my own projects. For me this has meant 5am wake-ups, so that I have an hour of writing time before my toddler wakes up. Or, I give myself the first hour of the work day (8-9am) to work on my own project. Or it’s an occasional lunch break. Sometimes it’s two hours on a Saturday morning. Be flexible by testing out different times and find what works for you.
* setting out a realistic publishing schedule that I can stick to: in a world where I didn’t have a mortgage and bills, I’d love to write a weekly Substack but I need to make enough time for my paid work commitments, so I’m only publishing every two weeks. I’m also releasing a podcast in a few months as a limited series, again because I don’t have the time to commit to more.
I hope that gives you a few ideas! TLDR: be realistic about the amount of time you can give to your own projects, and then honour that time once you commit.
As Lizza says, setting realistic expectations at the start. Don't try to do, say, a weekly newsletter if that's unrealistic right now.
Set quite small, achievable goals that you can definitely, 100% hit every time. Then build from there.
I got started writing a single weekly serial, so that was 1,200 words maximum once a week. If I was writing every day that's only 171 words per day. I don't write every day, because life gets in the way, but that was still doable within a couple of writing sessions.
That was in 2015. I now still write a weekly serial, as well as a Monday newsletter about writing, and I've just added a group rewatch blog of a classic TV show. Plus this year I'm attempting to do audio for most posts, too. So these days I do quite a lot, but I built up to that slowly over a very long time. If I'd tried it straight away I'd have fallen over and got disillusioned.
The other big trick, for me at least, was releasing my work publicly while I was writing it. Writing and publishing each week meant there were readers waiting for new stuff. Not many, but even one reader was enough to get me back to the keyboard. It won't work for everyone, but that was the single biggest productivity boost I got.
Initially I was going to do a series of "my favorites" but quickly realized that would take too long for me to decide. I went so far as to have a spreadsheet where I was attempting to rank them based on which I personally liked and received feedback from others along the way that they resonated with it as well. Then my brilliant wife suggested I simply publish them all and do "The First 100" "The Second 100" and so on. This way I eliminate the need to choose between them which is my favorite. The content is already there. All I have to do is create the template (which I have done) and every one-hundred stories I've written can then be put into a book. I have book one out to the printer and when I know it's 100% what I want then I will do the same for book 2. Obviously, as I am only just over 250 stories written I have to wait a bit for The Third 100 but by end of 2024 I should have 4 or 5 of these books out! I'm just glad I splurged on buying hundreds of ISBNs as I had a feeling this day would come.
I'm also glad I'm only selling these commercially as paperback so when I create the hardback special edition for paid subscribers only I can do so ISBN free!
You can be sure I'll have a Note ready to share the proof copy once it arrives. They say it will take 3 weeks so I've got about another 2 weeks of wait time from when I placed the order...
I have two goals. One is to get my Substack set up with my last novel (The Worlds of Harriet Henderson) republished. Simon, your videos and articles about Substack have been invaluable for me as I fumble around trying to work things out.
My second goal is to finish my next novel, Sally and the Universarium. I've got most of the first draft done, but there's plenty of work still to do. Am hoping to have it ready by the end of 2024.
Thanks for the opportunity to say these things out loud. Like for you, Simon, that helps.
Excellent! Glad to hear the videos and articles have been useful. I love how generous the online writing community is, so am very happy to contribute my bit.
Well, I'm tempted to say you'll have to read the book to find out what the Universarium is. But, given it won't see the light of day for some time yet, that would be churlish. When I was a boy I visited London (I'm Australian), and visited the Planetarium. I haven't forgotten the experience. So when I wanted to invent, for my novel, a place where school groups could go to explore (using futuristic technology) every aspect of the known world and universe, I thought I'd call the place the Universarium.
Simon, you're forcing us to be diligent, committed writers with goals. How dare you! Challenge accepted. 😁
My ultimate goal is to publish another book this year, an anthology of short stories centered around a mysterious town with supernatural tendencies. I'm using Scrivener to do it, and the ultimate gold star for me reward will be to get my local library to carry it, and to use IngramSpark for fulfillment.
Nice. I like the setting and having a unified theme. That can really bind an anthology together in a satisfying way, whereby each story enhances the others. Look forward to it!
After many years (it's obscure historical fiction), I'm filling the last of the missing scenes. 5 POVs. My goal is to have it to a developmental editor by June of this year. Really, really want to hit "publish" by June of '25. It's likely going to clock in at around 220K words. Ugh. I could have written five by now if I'd chosen simpler period and plot. At this size, it's the continuity that's taking as long as the original research. I love this story and want it to be awesome. But I also want to write a few more before I'm done. LOL!
I used to always have a million projects on the go at once. It was my wife back in the late 2000s who pointed out that I never really progressed, let alone finished anything, because I was always becoming more enthusiastic about the NEXT thing.
It's tough, though. I have so many other things I want to be trying, but Triverse has to be my sole fiction focus for now. It definitely works for me, having that singular focus, even if other parts of my brain are screaming for attention.
One big goal I'd like is to get a routine set. I've broken the goal down into small, easy chunks that hopefully life won't derail too much when it butts in.
Since my books are not selling, I believe I need to do some serious soul-searching and reconsider why I am writing. It is clear that I am failing abysmally at the "marketing game," so perhaps I should just give everything away for free! Who knows?
I am also stymied, because one of my projects will be impossible for me to pitch (for all the most obvious reasons), while another (which would be the spectacular sequel to a famous work) will be blocked by algorithms and thus be virtually unmarketable. Thus, as I said, perhaps it's time to reconsider a few things...
Sounds challenging and frustrating. Small comfort, but it's a vanishingly small number of writers who have actually figured out the 'marketing game' and sell enough books to be financially useful.
Very anecdotal, and it's still mostly pocket money, but I've had the most success financially with my writing since putting everything out for free on this newsletter.
The first part of this definitely resonates with me. It's easy to fall prey to the not-so-fun marketing/business side of the writing life during the last 10+ years since the self-publishing era we’re currently in. I myself am trying to get better at marketing at the expense of putting off finishing some older writing projects. (Not a good trade since I can’t even begin the marketing process without anything to market!)
On the second note, have you thought of writing the “famous work sequel” as a fan fiction story/novel? I don’t know how popular the fanfiction genre is here on Substack, but Wattpad is well-known for it. And maybe it could lead to you finding writing strategies that work for you.
Many thanks for your response, and best of luck with your efforts at marketing. I am saddened to read that these have come "at the expense of putting off finishing some older writing projects."
re: the sequel -- Georges Bataille actually offered a skeletal outline for *The Story of the Eye,* but given the nature of that work, I would never be permitted to self-publish it (those algorithms!). I do not believe any of the small "traditional" houses would want to publish it, either.
Such a project would definitely NOT be fan fiction, since the author provided the sketch for how the sequel should unfold. I have done additional research and believe I have found more hints as to his original intent, which is what I would develop if I were to pursue the project. However, recent experiences have left me in mortal dread of the aforementioned algorithms. [Barnes & Nobel are carrying paperback editions of the first two novels of my series, THE PASSION OF ELENA BIANCHI. However, they rejected digital versions of the same works, and even "passed" on an expurgated version of the first novel. Thus, the digital editions are Amazon exclusive, through no fault of my own!]
I have a few but they all stem from the BIG ONE which is to write 2000 words a day. Or a cool, 732'000 words for the year. More than triple what I wrote last year. Thing is 2000 a day is doable and, at times, easy. 732'000 sounds ludicrous but here it goes.
Sounds like a wonderful goal for 2024. Good luck with bringing Triverse home. I hope it goes well for you.
My goals for 2024, is to apply for a writing development programme, and work at getting ahead on my posts. I'd also like to work on the poetry pamphlet idea I have too.
Good luck with the application. There are lots of good opportunities out there - I should look into that sort of thing myself more. A poet friend of mine and former colleague at the Writers' Centre is an expert at understanding the arts funding world.
I've been in love with writing and publishing in serial form since about 2015. It's a creative process that has absolutely clicked with me and seems to bypass all of my usual procrastination. This current book has been a big challenge, as it's very different from anything I've tried before, but so far so good, I think!
You’re finishing one, will you be starting a new serialization?
I love having deadlines. My one glitch was that after I committed to serializing and dropping Ch 1 a family member said they were uncomfortable with one of my main characters that was based on her. So. Major overhauling of character, story line, etc. I’m almost back on track. It was stressful tho. I’m definitely more nervous about posting chapters than I am about posting essays.
That's interesting. My characters are all splinters of me, I think, but I don't tend to base them on people I know - at least, not to that extent. I'm sure there are pieces I pull from other people. A 6 year old in a previous book was based loosely on my son, but more in terms of vocabulary than actual personality.
I'll definitely spin up something new once I finish this one. Not sure what, yet. I might also try some shorter projects in other mediums - games, or comics, for example.
Fab. Hubby makes video games. He's in between jobs now but knows his stuff if you ever need a looksee. (He's used to me offering his services. Hehe.) He made LOTRO and more recently Magic the Gathering.
I simply HAVE to finish the edits on my first novel—that I wrote over 10 years ago during NaNoWriMo! It’s been the bane of my writing existence all this time. I don’t know about anyone else, but, for me, the writing’s the easy part; it’s the editing that’s my kryptonite. I’m too much of a perfectionist, I guess. I’ve written other novels and stories since that one, and I’ve actually edited this novel at least 6 times, so why is it I take so long to finish?!
P.S. I’m INFJ personality, so that’s probably a huge factor in all this as well.
I also find editing difficult and a bit of a slog. Actually, that's not entirely true - I love doing big, structural edits, but getting into the fine detail tends to drive me slightly mad.
To experiment with longer form pieces after my first real year of fiction was all about the shorter bursts, the 100-worders and ‘Fifties by the Fire’. Explore how to get folk to read the longer stuff. Happy writing, everyone.
My writing goal is to reliably protect a block of time each day for this work. I have a terrible habit of letting other people's time and schedules take precedence over mine. I plan to end that, at least for an hour or two each day.
I want to get into the habit of writing more this year and write in English and in my mother tongue Estonian and see what sparks could become a bigger flame.
Great discussion prompt. My one writing goal for this year is or would be to put plainly, write less. I don't want to produce less content, but I am open to the idea of democratizing my platform from the perspective of uncovering and executing on an effective and healthy way to allow for guest posts, cross posts, featuring other writers and content etc.
I actually used to do NaNo back in the day, but I always ended up discarding whatever I wrote because it wasn't even worth editing. Unfortunately, I think I just need more time to think things out when I write.
I remember writing a episodic adventure with friends that went on and on. I didn't think we'd ever get to the end, but it happened. Perseverance is impressive. Keep going.
I’m moving in the next couple of weeks (2500 miles, my brain is fried) so I’m being kind to myself this year. My only writing goals are to start drafting two books, the fourth of five in my YA horror series and the second of two in my cyberpunk duology. I’m also working toward publishing my first novella under my pen name toward the end of the year. Other than that, it’s time to let my brain recharge after the chaos of December and January for me.
Besides write “something” every day, my ultimate goal is to flesh out my WIP and stop procrastinating. I’m stuck right now, so I’ve put it aside to work on prompts and shorter pieces for my local writers group, which helps me practice and improve my fiction writing, but it doesn’t help my WIP. I just started my Substack blog, so I’m anxious to keep posting.
I made peace with the fact I don't write every day a long time ago. It doesn't really work for me - not consistently, anyway. I always write every week, without fail, but I don't stress about every day. Having gaps in-between writing sessions seems to help refresh my creativity, too.
It's all about finding what works best for you, though. Every writer does it differently, it seems!
1. To complete all my planned 'tentpole' articles - big, substantially researched, long-form pieces that I believe best represent my newsletter. I especially want to finish the one I've been planning for the Matrix sequels.
2. To regularly publish (at least once weekly) until the Summer, and so hopefully get one of those 'x-week long streak' notifications from the platform.
It's so hard to make one goal! So, I'm going with one habit and one goal:
Habit: Publish on a schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 8am).
Goal: Write serialized fiction once a week. I will finish my first novel (The Light Brigade) by the end of February, and then start my second (tentatively called Panopticon) in April.
Bonus goal: Physical publication of my first novel, or at the very least get this process started. It will have illustrations, so I'm not sure how long all of that takes.
Definitely going to have to work with an artist since I lack all visual art skills. But just figuring out that whole process is going to be a bit of work
My first goal is to finish and publish book 3 of my teen fantasy adventure series. I'm about 75K into the first draft. Then I plan on creating a new/revised edition of my adult fantasy series. After that, keep on plugging.
It may sound like a bit of a cop-out and a failure of ambitious imagination, but - I really want to just catch up. I am just going to focus on getting partly caught up and then see what else is possible. Last year was a bit of a mess because of a few serious (but thankfully fixable) blips with my health, and I lot of things slid as a result: deadlines, promises to the readers of my newsletter, my own plans, my ability to maintain a somewhat ruly Inbox, all of it. So I'm just knuckling down and getting (more) caught up.
And I should say: I'm actually really excited about doing this! Being behind last year - which was still the best year of my professional life as a writer - was a constant source of stress and worry. It doesn't really help with imposter syndrome when you see more and more reasons to judge yourself incapable of maintaining the basics. So I'd be thrilled if by, say, March, I was feeling somewhat on top of my own workload and fulfilling most of the promises I've made to people kind enough to read my rubbish.
So: that. It'll involve a regular publishing schedule, a much-diminished pile of emails to reply to, a storytelling course launched, and a book part-written. But I have faith.
Beyond that, I know I want to write scifi. And that I want to do it in a way that's weird enough to feel like a good experiment and a fun risk. But - that's for my brain later in the year, hopefully.
It's a horrible feeling when STUFF piles up on itself and it feels impossible to get out from under it. Especially when it's health issues that have compounded the issues in the first place.
I feel like there's an interesting conversation to be had about going from writing about real science to writing science fiction.
My primary goal is to finish a first draft of my urban fantasy novel 'Of Wolves & Men'. It's the first in a novel series that builds on my short stories.
It's kind of been the other way around. I started writing a draft for the novel, and the characters had a lot more to say than I thought.
So instead of info-dumping particular scenes from their past, they became short stories, and only get referenced in the new novel outline.
The novel outline has changed a lot thanks to taking that time to explore the characters in a bit more depth, and has me even more excited to write it.
So, who knows, I might actually get to the end... this time!
My biggest dream for 2024 is to reach 1k subscribers. It’s a huge dream for me, one I thought I’d never achieve when I started, but after a bit over one year and slightly more than 400 subscribers in that time, I feel like I can reach it, or at least get close to it by the end of the year. Another goal is to write and publish 10 short stories, both here (on my newsletter or as guest posts on other people’s newsletters), and in literary magazines. I’m excited, for sure!
Definitely doable! I've been surprised by how quickly this newsletter had grown, and it does seem to be cumulative to a degree: the more people you have, the faster you get more people. Breaking that first 100 is the hardest bit, in some ways, I think.
Happy 2024! My goal this year is to carve out consistent writing time so I can finish book 3 in my series by the end of the summer (along with some prerequisite projects first).
Very good and pertinent question, Simon. I wish everyone here the best of luck in achieving their 2024 writing goals. Glad to hear you are pulling the pieces of the Triverse into final order.
As for me it would have to be publishing, or at least placing, my first detective novel... I wrote 90,000 words in December and am now one and a half chapters removed from finishing at least the entire book's first draft. It has been a fascinating two years of learning the characters, the plotlines, and what their ever-changing list of demands from me the author, but it's time to finish. That is the plan at least!
Good questions Simon! At some point, I was thinking to elaborate on just such matters, but briefly for now what I can say is this.
The first three chapters (2021-22) were edited down for word count several times and went through various edits. Chapters 4-8 (2023-now) followed a sort of long lull; in the interim, it's not that I did nothing in this vein, actually, I wrote several other detective stories for the anticipated other five novels in the series. The whole synopsis has changed several times as some stories have expanded, others reduced, and new ones arrived due to larger world events and side projects that seemed interesting. For example, there is even one story (hopefully, for a forthcoming novel) that would never have been written had it not been for a story anthology prompt on a specific subject. So I just submitted and was accepted, and that will be part of the detective's larger 'caseload.' I must have written over 200,000 words of detective stories by now, a true trial by fire, having never done anything in this genre until 2021.'
This took the whole characters and superstructure 25 years into the future and clarified a lot of underlying issues and relationships that had not existed or been seen to me clearly when I originally envisioned the character in about August 2021.
This is why it has felt like such a surreal and sometimes tortuous experience, even though I had a pretty good general idea of where I wanted the general trajectory of the story to go. Some aspects or vital details only unfolded over time, while out on a walk, while asleep, etc... a very mysterious process, this writing one is.
Now that I am so close to finished (on novel 1 at least) I don't really love the idea of edits, but it is necessary. It was fun and exhilarating to write 19000 words in one day (a new personal record), but the hard reality is always that the final version has to stand up to quality checks. So it goes!
Hi Simon :) First time commentor, been following Triverse for about a year now and also really appreciate your work about writing-fiction-on-substack. My goal for 2024 is to find a 'writing scene' that feels like it fits me. That might be writers/publishers of speculative fiction in London (where I live now) or the UK, or across the interent more broadly. It's like dating! But for professional writing friends.
I'm a military Operations Officer with academic training in strategic foresight. These forecasting platforms are something altogether different (there are several: Predictit, Metaculus, Augur, 538, etc.)
The first rule of foresight is, "Never make point predictions." Otherwise, you'll end up as the guy who says dumb things like, "Those horseless carriages will never be more than a fad," or "If man were meant to fly, God would have given him wings."
However, making point predictions is all the forecasting community does. Then they bet on them. I find it very cool and intriguing. What I like to do is organize my books around 15-20 specific and related forecasts (using them as writing prompts for each chapter) into what I like to think of as a "prediction net."
I'm not sure at this early stage what the value of my technique is. Right now, I'm looking at the 2024 presidential election. What will I learn? Will I know in advance which candidate will win? I just checked the embedded prediction on chapter 1 and it says "Biden 49% / Trump 45%." So, no real insights yet!
The process is really challenging me as a writer, however. I'm forced to look at issues from perspectives opposite and/or contrary to my own. More importantly, I'm forced to imagine "Black Swan" outcomes, both good and bad. I see the role of the science fiction writer as to try to imagine the unimaginable.
Thanks for the opportunity to discuss what I've been working on. I've got a new form of fiction that combines the multi-path adventure format with each chapter tied to a specific prediction from the Metaculus forecasting platform. My in-progress novel is called "Can You survive the 2024 Election?" https://directedfiction.substack.com/
I'm about a third of the way through it now, and I hope to have it finished (it will have ten separate endings) by the end of March.
My goal this year is to optimize my writing process and platform. I’ve spent lots of time building up my standing in the community and creating content and now hope to hone in on best practices around both my creative output. Specifically, I’m hoping to establish some sustainable routines that promote more creative output without fostering burnout with my writing. Always a delicate balance, I find :)
My goal is to treat the deadlines I set for my personal writing with the same respect I would for my clients. It’s tough! What is helping is setting a realistic publishing frequency for my personal projects, even if it isn’t as frequent as I would like. At least I can stick to it.
I tend to find that setting low expectations with my writing helps, paradoxically. Whenever I get over-ambitious, I then become disillusioned Whereas setting achievable goals spurs me on to do more. Same goes for word counts: setting a minimum viable word count I find very encouraging, and I tend to blast through those targets and write a lot more in a session. Whereas if I set a high target to start with, it intimidates me and everything becomes a struggle.
Human brains are weird.
Yeah, our brains are weird. Also, I think knowing what works for each of us just comes down to experimenting and failing over the (many, many) years. It's one of the nice parts of getting older.
I find it so difficult to take myself seriously as 'a client' of my own work... my own writing interests and goals are the first things to be de-prioritised. I would love to hear about strategies you find helpful!!
It’s taken me years, but this seems to be working at the moment:
* carving out regular time to write on my own projects. For me this has meant 5am wake-ups, so that I have an hour of writing time before my toddler wakes up. Or, I give myself the first hour of the work day (8-9am) to work on my own project. Or it’s an occasional lunch break. Sometimes it’s two hours on a Saturday morning. Be flexible by testing out different times and find what works for you.
* setting out a realistic publishing schedule that I can stick to: in a world where I didn’t have a mortgage and bills, I’d love to write a weekly Substack but I need to make enough time for my paid work commitments, so I’m only publishing every two weeks. I’m also releasing a podcast in a few months as a limited series, again because I don’t have the time to commit to more.
I hope that gives you a few ideas! TLDR: be realistic about the amount of time you can give to your own projects, and then honour that time once you commit.
As Lizza says, setting realistic expectations at the start. Don't try to do, say, a weekly newsletter if that's unrealistic right now.
Set quite small, achievable goals that you can definitely, 100% hit every time. Then build from there.
I got started writing a single weekly serial, so that was 1,200 words maximum once a week. If I was writing every day that's only 171 words per day. I don't write every day, because life gets in the way, but that was still doable within a couple of writing sessions.
That was in 2015. I now still write a weekly serial, as well as a Monday newsletter about writing, and I've just added a group rewatch blog of a classic TV show. Plus this year I'm attempting to do audio for most posts, too. So these days I do quite a lot, but I built up to that slowly over a very long time. If I'd tried it straight away I'd have fallen over and got disillusioned.
The other big trick, for me at least, was releasing my work publicly while I was writing it. Writing and publishing each week meant there were readers waiting for new stuff. Not many, but even one reader was enough to get me back to the keyboard. It won't work for everyone, but that was the single biggest productivity boost I got.
I know you want ONE goal but I do have at least three "main goals":
1. Continue to write my 100 words daily but this year will make the first time I do a full calendar year.
2. Publish at least ONE of my 100 word story collections (proof should arrive in the next couple weeks).
3. Release my first ever serial that will likely take all of 2024 to do.
Erica, having 3 goals is quite clearly cheating.
Setting that aside -
1. Amazing! Don't know how you do that. Must be immensely satisfying.
2. Oh, nice. I have to admit to not keeping up with you daily writing, but I'd be really interested in an anthology collection.
3. Ooooooh. Are you going to publish as you go, or do you mean you're writing it in 2024 to publish once it's done?
Initially I was going to do a series of "my favorites" but quickly realized that would take too long for me to decide. I went so far as to have a spreadsheet where I was attempting to rank them based on which I personally liked and received feedback from others along the way that they resonated with it as well. Then my brilliant wife suggested I simply publish them all and do "The First 100" "The Second 100" and so on. This way I eliminate the need to choose between them which is my favorite. The content is already there. All I have to do is create the template (which I have done) and every one-hundred stories I've written can then be put into a book. I have book one out to the printer and when I know it's 100% what I want then I will do the same for book 2. Obviously, as I am only just over 250 stories written I have to wait a bit for The Third 100 but by end of 2024 I should have 4 or 5 of these books out! I'm just glad I splurged on buying hundreds of ISBNs as I had a feeling this day would come.
I'm also glad I'm only selling these commercially as paperback so when I create the hardback special edition for paid subscribers only I can do so ISBN free!
You can be sure I'll have a Note ready to share the proof copy once it arrives. They say it will take 3 weeks so I've got about another 2 weeks of wait time from when I placed the order...
any source to learn writing 100 word short stories??
None that I’m aware of...yet...I’m working on a How To book but in the meantime, here’s something I wrote on my Substack you might find helpful: https://ericadrayton.substack.com/p/how-i-write-my-100-word-stories-daily
I have two goals. One is to get my Substack set up with my last novel (The Worlds of Harriet Henderson) republished. Simon, your videos and articles about Substack have been invaluable for me as I fumble around trying to work things out.
My second goal is to finish my next novel, Sally and the Universarium. I've got most of the first draft done, but there's plenty of work still to do. Am hoping to have it ready by the end of 2024.
Thanks for the opportunity to say these things out loud. Like for you, Simon, that helps.
Excellent! Glad to hear the videos and articles have been useful. I love how generous the online writing community is, so am very happy to contribute my bit.
What is a 'universarium'? I like that word!
Well, I'm tempted to say you'll have to read the book to find out what the Universarium is. But, given it won't see the light of day for some time yet, that would be churlish. When I was a boy I visited London (I'm Australian), and visited the Planetarium. I haven't forgotten the experience. So when I wanted to invent, for my novel, a place where school groups could go to explore (using futuristic technology) every aspect of the known world and universe, I thought I'd call the place the Universarium.
Simon, you're forcing us to be diligent, committed writers with goals. How dare you! Challenge accepted. 😁
My ultimate goal is to publish another book this year, an anthology of short stories centered around a mysterious town with supernatural tendencies. I'm using Scrivener to do it, and the ultimate gold star for me reward will be to get my local library to carry it, and to use IngramSpark for fulfillment.
Nice. I like the setting and having a unified theme. That can really bind an anthology together in a satisfying way, whereby each story enhances the others. Look forward to it!
That's an easy one: Finish the first novel!
Good luck! How much progress have you made so far?
After many years (it's obscure historical fiction), I'm filling the last of the missing scenes. 5 POVs. My goal is to have it to a developmental editor by June of this year. Really, really want to hit "publish" by June of '25. It's likely going to clock in at around 220K words. Ugh. I could have written five by now if I'd chosen simpler period and plot. At this size, it's the continuity that's taking as long as the original research. I love this story and want it to be awesome. But I also want to write a few more before I'm done. LOL!
Long projects can be a bit maddening by the end.
I really admire historical fiction writers. There's so much research involved!
It's one way to determine how much you love the story-live with it for this many years. Heh.
Obscure? Do tell.
7th century Syria. Obscure to us. Wasn't to them!
Sounds interesting.
My goal at the moment is to pin down what my goal actually is. Too many projects on the go, I need to focus on one and finish it.
Sounds like a good goal, TBH. :)
I used to always have a million projects on the go at once. It was my wife back in the late 2000s who pointed out that I never really progressed, let alone finished anything, because I was always becoming more enthusiastic about the NEXT thing.
It's tough, though. I have so many other things I want to be trying, but Triverse has to be my sole fiction focus for now. It definitely works for me, having that singular focus, even if other parts of my brain are screaming for attention.
I know EXACTLY what you mean.
Congrats on finishing. My main writing goal is every year the same. Simply write
That's all you need, really, isn't it? Nice!
One big goal I'd like is to get a routine set. I've broken the goal down into small, easy chunks that hopefully life won't derail too much when it butts in.
Since my books are not selling, I believe I need to do some serious soul-searching and reconsider why I am writing. It is clear that I am failing abysmally at the "marketing game," so perhaps I should just give everything away for free! Who knows?
I am also stymied, because one of my projects will be impossible for me to pitch (for all the most obvious reasons), while another (which would be the spectacular sequel to a famous work) will be blocked by algorithms and thus be virtually unmarketable. Thus, as I said, perhaps it's time to reconsider a few things...
Sounds challenging and frustrating. Small comfort, but it's a vanishingly small number of writers who have actually figured out the 'marketing game' and sell enough books to be financially useful.
Very anecdotal, and it's still mostly pocket money, but I've had the most success financially with my writing since putting everything out for free on this newsletter.
The first part of this definitely resonates with me. It's easy to fall prey to the not-so-fun marketing/business side of the writing life during the last 10+ years since the self-publishing era we’re currently in. I myself am trying to get better at marketing at the expense of putting off finishing some older writing projects. (Not a good trade since I can’t even begin the marketing process without anything to market!)
On the second note, have you thought of writing the “famous work sequel” as a fan fiction story/novel? I don’t know how popular the fanfiction genre is here on Substack, but Wattpad is well-known for it. And maybe it could lead to you finding writing strategies that work for you.
Just my 2¢
Many thanks for your response, and best of luck with your efforts at marketing. I am saddened to read that these have come "at the expense of putting off finishing some older writing projects."
re: the sequel -- Georges Bataille actually offered a skeletal outline for *The Story of the Eye,* but given the nature of that work, I would never be permitted to self-publish it (those algorithms!). I do not believe any of the small "traditional" houses would want to publish it, either.
Such a project would definitely NOT be fan fiction, since the author provided the sketch for how the sequel should unfold. I have done additional research and believe I have found more hints as to his original intent, which is what I would develop if I were to pursue the project. However, recent experiences have left me in mortal dread of the aforementioned algorithms. [Barnes & Nobel are carrying paperback editions of the first two novels of my series, THE PASSION OF ELENA BIANCHI. However, they rejected digital versions of the same works, and even "passed" on an expurgated version of the first novel. Thus, the digital editions are Amazon exclusive, through no fault of my own!]
Read less of other people's writing and write more of my own.
Good luck.
I have a few but they all stem from the BIG ONE which is to write 2000 words a day. Or a cool, 732'000 words for the year. More than triple what I wrote last year. Thing is 2000 a day is doable and, at times, easy. 732'000 sounds ludicrous but here it goes.
The big number always sounds ludicrous, but it's just lots of small numbers put together. ;)
I can manage 2,000 words in a session but not every day. Definitely ambitious, but I love the ambition!
Wow, that's ambitious!
Sounds like a wonderful goal for 2024. Good luck with bringing Triverse home. I hope it goes well for you.
My goals for 2024, is to apply for a writing development programme, and work at getting ahead on my posts. I'd also like to work on the poetry pamphlet idea I have too.
Good luck with the application. There are lots of good opportunities out there - I should look into that sort of thing myself more. A poet friend of mine and former colleague at the Writers' Centre is an expert at understanding the arts funding world.
Thank you! It's my first time applying, they only take on about 12 people so I'm not holding my breath. But I'll remain hopeful at least.
Definitely worth exploring! I'm sure there are plenty of them amount. It's just learning of them.
Congrats on finishing up the serialization of your novel. Very exciting.
My goal is to complete my novel this year. I’ve already began serializing it. Ch 4 lands Wednesday.
How was the process for you?
That also sounds exciting!
I've been in love with writing and publishing in serial form since about 2015. It's a creative process that has absolutely clicked with me and seems to bypass all of my usual procrastination. This current book has been a big challenge, as it's very different from anything I've tried before, but so far so good, I think!
How about you?
You’re finishing one, will you be starting a new serialization?
I love having deadlines. My one glitch was that after I committed to serializing and dropping Ch 1 a family member said they were uncomfortable with one of my main characters that was based on her. So. Major overhauling of character, story line, etc. I’m almost back on track. It was stressful tho. I’m definitely more nervous about posting chapters than I am about posting essays.
That's interesting. My characters are all splinters of me, I think, but I don't tend to base them on people I know - at least, not to that extent. I'm sure there are pieces I pull from other people. A 6 year old in a previous book was based loosely on my son, but more in terms of vocabulary than actual personality.
I'll definitely spin up something new once I finish this one. Not sure what, yet. I might also try some shorter projects in other mediums - games, or comics, for example.
Games? As in video games? Love comics. Exciting to have something new to work on.:)
Yes, video games. Nothing crazy, obviously, but some small narrative-focused thing with minimal production values!
Fab. Hubby makes video games. He's in between jobs now but knows his stuff if you ever need a looksee. (He's used to me offering his services. Hehe.) He made LOTRO and more recently Magic the Gathering.
I'm starting on a new novel. One hopes.
I simply HAVE to finish the edits on my first novel—that I wrote over 10 years ago during NaNoWriMo! It’s been the bane of my writing existence all this time. I don’t know about anyone else, but, for me, the writing’s the easy part; it’s the editing that’s my kryptonite. I’m too much of a perfectionist, I guess. I’ve written other novels and stories since that one, and I’ve actually edited this novel at least 6 times, so why is it I take so long to finish?!
P.S. I’m INFJ personality, so that’s probably a huge factor in all this as well.
I also find editing difficult and a bit of a slog. Actually, that's not entirely true - I love doing big, structural edits, but getting into the fine detail tends to drive me slightly mad.
To experiment with longer form pieces after my first real year of fiction was all about the shorter bursts, the 100-worders and ‘Fifties by the Fire’. Explore how to get folk to read the longer stuff. Happy writing, everyone.
My writing goal is to reliably protect a block of time each day for this work. I have a terrible habit of letting other people's time and schedules take precedence over mine. I plan to end that, at least for an hour or two each day.
Carving out the time can be very difficult. Good luck!
I want to get into the habit of writing more this year and write in English and in my mother tongue Estonian and see what sparks could become a bigger flame.
Great discussion prompt. My one writing goal for this year is or would be to put plainly, write less. I don't want to produce less content, but I am open to the idea of democratizing my platform from the perspective of uncovering and executing on an effective and healthy way to allow for guest posts, cross posts, featuring other writers and content etc.
My nonfiction goal: get 12 Steps in Shadow Work (self) published.
My fiction goal: share my stories on Substack and move my Storytelling out of "dedicated hobby."
Two goals, but #sorrynotsorry 😜
What's your new categorisation going to be, if 'dedicated hobby' is no longer appropriate?
Published Writer 😁
Nice! 😁
I want to at least finish the first draft of a novella. Considering my writing pace, this is more challenging than it sounds.
Good luck!!
Have you thought about doing writing sprints with fellow authors on places like Twitter, NaNoWrimo.org, or www.mywriteclub.com; or using word-tracking apps like www.pacemaker.press?
I actually used to do NaNo back in the day, but I always ended up discarding whatever I wrote because it wasn't even worth editing. Unfortunately, I think I just need more time to think things out when I write.
I remember writing a episodic adventure with friends that went on and on. I didn't think we'd ever get to the end, but it happened. Perseverance is impressive. Keep going.
I’m moving in the next couple of weeks (2500 miles, my brain is fried) so I’m being kind to myself this year. My only writing goals are to start drafting two books, the fourth of five in my YA horror series and the second of two in my cyberpunk duology. I’m also working toward publishing my first novella under my pen name toward the end of the year. Other than that, it’s time to let my brain recharge after the chaos of December and January for me.
I like that you 'only writing goals' are writing two books and publishing a novella, Donna. :P
That is a big move! Change of country, or just a very long way across a big one?
LOL! I’m going from one coast of the US to the other.
Hope it all goes smoothly. :)
Thank you!
Besides write “something” every day, my ultimate goal is to flesh out my WIP and stop procrastinating. I’m stuck right now, so I’ve put it aside to work on prompts and shorter pieces for my local writers group, which helps me practice and improve my fiction writing, but it doesn’t help my WIP. I just started my Substack blog, so I’m anxious to keep posting.
I made peace with the fact I don't write every day a long time ago. It doesn't really work for me - not consistently, anyway. I always write every week, without fail, but I don't stress about every day. Having gaps in-between writing sessions seems to help refresh my creativity, too.
It's all about finding what works best for you, though. Every writer does it differently, it seems!
I have a number of goals:
1. To complete all my planned 'tentpole' articles - big, substantially researched, long-form pieces that I believe best represent my newsletter. I especially want to finish the one I've been planning for the Matrix sequels.
2. To regularly publish (at least once weekly) until the Summer, and so hopefully get one of those 'x-week long streak' notifications from the platform.
3. To hit 1000 subscribers before year's end.
A good list! Although you cheated by having 3. ;) Clearly taking a leaf from Erica's book there.
I think they only introduced those 'long streak' notifications relatively recently, so I never got one. :(
Good luck with it all! I'm sure you'll hit those numbers.
Thanks! Good luck to you with your goals as well. And did not mean to cheat, just had multiple goals, lol!
It's so hard to make one goal! So, I'm going with one habit and one goal:
Habit: Publish on a schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 8am).
Goal: Write serialized fiction once a week. I will finish my first novel (The Light Brigade) by the end of February, and then start my second (tentatively called Panopticon) in April.
Bonus goal: Physical publication of my first novel, or at the very least get this process started. It will have illustrations, so I'm not sure how long all of that takes.
I like that you snuck in a bonus goal there.
Illustrations! Are you doing them yourself or working with an artist?
Definitely going to have to work with an artist since I lack all visual art skills. But just figuring out that whole process is going to be a bit of work
Definitely! Should be creatively very satisfying, though.
My first goal is to finish and publish book 3 of my teen fantasy adventure series. I'm about 75K into the first draft. Then I plan on creating a new/revised edition of my adult fantasy series. After that, keep on plugging.
It may sound like a bit of a cop-out and a failure of ambitious imagination, but - I really want to just catch up. I am just going to focus on getting partly caught up and then see what else is possible. Last year was a bit of a mess because of a few serious (but thankfully fixable) blips with my health, and I lot of things slid as a result: deadlines, promises to the readers of my newsletter, my own plans, my ability to maintain a somewhat ruly Inbox, all of it. So I'm just knuckling down and getting (more) caught up.
And I should say: I'm actually really excited about doing this! Being behind last year - which was still the best year of my professional life as a writer - was a constant source of stress and worry. It doesn't really help with imposter syndrome when you see more and more reasons to judge yourself incapable of maintaining the basics. So I'd be thrilled if by, say, March, I was feeling somewhat on top of my own workload and fulfilling most of the promises I've made to people kind enough to read my rubbish.
So: that. It'll involve a regular publishing schedule, a much-diminished pile of emails to reply to, a storytelling course launched, and a book part-written. But I have faith.
Beyond that, I know I want to write scifi. And that I want to do it in a way that's weird enough to feel like a good experiment and a fun risk. But - that's for my brain later in the year, hopefully.
It's a horrible feeling when STUFF piles up on itself and it feels impossible to get out from under it. Especially when it's health issues that have compounded the issues in the first place.
I feel like there's an interesting conversation to be had about going from writing about real science to writing science fiction.
My newsletter about this is on the way 😏
My primary goal is to finish a first draft of my urban fantasy novel 'Of Wolves & Men'. It's the first in a novel series that builds on my short stories.
What's it been like to expand from the short stories into a novel?
It's kind of been the other way around. I started writing a draft for the novel, and the characters had a lot more to say than I thought.
So instead of info-dumping particular scenes from their past, they became short stories, and only get referenced in the new novel outline.
The novel outline has changed a lot thanks to taking that time to explore the characters in a bit more depth, and has me even more excited to write it.
So, who knows, I might actually get to the end... this time!
My biggest dream for 2024 is to reach 1k subscribers. It’s a huge dream for me, one I thought I’d never achieve when I started, but after a bit over one year and slightly more than 400 subscribers in that time, I feel like I can reach it, or at least get close to it by the end of the year. Another goal is to write and publish 10 short stories, both here (on my newsletter or as guest posts on other people’s newsletters), and in literary magazines. I’m excited, for sure!
Definitely doable! I've been surprised by how quickly this newsletter had grown, and it does seem to be cumulative to a degree: the more people you have, the faster you get more people. Breaking that first 100 is the hardest bit, in some ways, I think.
I want to finish my graphic novel proposal and get started on a new project!
I want to read that graphic novel, so please hurry up. ;)
Happy 2024! My goal this year is to carve out consistent writing time so I can finish book 3 in my series by the end of the summer (along with some prerequisite projects first).
My goal this year is to publish at least one of my novellas and a short story collection.
Very good and pertinent question, Simon. I wish everyone here the best of luck in achieving their 2024 writing goals. Glad to hear you are pulling the pieces of the Triverse into final order.
As for me it would have to be publishing, or at least placing, my first detective novel... I wrote 90,000 words in December and am now one and a half chapters removed from finishing at least the entire book's first draft. It has been a fascinating two years of learning the characters, the plotlines, and what their ever-changing list of demands from me the author, but it's time to finish. That is the plan at least!
Exciting! Do you expect to have an extensive editing/redrafting phase, or do you write pretty tight first drafts?
Good questions Simon! At some point, I was thinking to elaborate on just such matters, but briefly for now what I can say is this.
The first three chapters (2021-22) were edited down for word count several times and went through various edits. Chapters 4-8 (2023-now) followed a sort of long lull; in the interim, it's not that I did nothing in this vein, actually, I wrote several other detective stories for the anticipated other five novels in the series. The whole synopsis has changed several times as some stories have expanded, others reduced, and new ones arrived due to larger world events and side projects that seemed interesting. For example, there is even one story (hopefully, for a forthcoming novel) that would never have been written had it not been for a story anthology prompt on a specific subject. So I just submitted and was accepted, and that will be part of the detective's larger 'caseload.' I must have written over 200,000 words of detective stories by now, a true trial by fire, having never done anything in this genre until 2021.'
This took the whole characters and superstructure 25 years into the future and clarified a lot of underlying issues and relationships that had not existed or been seen to me clearly when I originally envisioned the character in about August 2021.
This is why it has felt like such a surreal and sometimes tortuous experience, even though I had a pretty good general idea of where I wanted the general trajectory of the story to go. Some aspects or vital details only unfolded over time, while out on a walk, while asleep, etc... a very mysterious process, this writing one is.
Now that I am so close to finished (on novel 1 at least) I don't really love the idea of edits, but it is necessary. It was fun and exhilarating to write 19000 words in one day (a new personal record), but the hard reality is always that the final version has to stand up to quality checks. So it goes!
My good ideas always seem to happen in-between actual writing, while out for a walk, or doing a mundane household job.
I'm with you on intensive editing: I find it difficult, but it's always worthwhile.
Hi Simon :) First time commentor, been following Triverse for about a year now and also really appreciate your work about writing-fiction-on-substack. My goal for 2024 is to find a 'writing scene' that feels like it fits me. That might be writers/publishers of speculative fiction in London (where I live now) or the UK, or across the interent more broadly. It's like dating! But for professional writing friends.
My writing goals:
1: Write a blog post every week. (Even if it ends up in drafts)
2: Re-edit my finished personal writing project
3: Restart my novel writing (perhaps I'll try this 100 word story thing. I haven't written a creative word in two years🥲)
4: Participate in at least one writing contest.
5: Treat my deadlines more seriously.
6: Revamp my socials and reach potential readers (because my accounts are basically dead at this point.)
I'm a military Operations Officer with academic training in strategic foresight. These forecasting platforms are something altogether different (there are several: Predictit, Metaculus, Augur, 538, etc.)
The first rule of foresight is, "Never make point predictions." Otherwise, you'll end up as the guy who says dumb things like, "Those horseless carriages will never be more than a fad," or "If man were meant to fly, God would have given him wings."
However, making point predictions is all the forecasting community does. Then they bet on them. I find it very cool and intriguing. What I like to do is organize my books around 15-20 specific and related forecasts (using them as writing prompts for each chapter) into what I like to think of as a "prediction net."
I'm not sure at this early stage what the value of my technique is. Right now, I'm looking at the 2024 presidential election. What will I learn? Will I know in advance which candidate will win? I just checked the embedded prediction on chapter 1 and it says "Biden 49% / Trump 45%." So, no real insights yet!
The process is really challenging me as a writer, however. I'm forced to look at issues from perspectives opposite and/or contrary to my own. More importantly, I'm forced to imagine "Black Swan" outcomes, both good and bad. I see the role of the science fiction writer as to try to imagine the unimaginable.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the opportunity to discuss what I've been working on. I've got a new form of fiction that combines the multi-path adventure format with each chapter tied to a specific prediction from the Metaculus forecasting platform. My in-progress novel is called "Can You survive the 2024 Election?" https://directedfiction.substack.com/
I'm about a third of the way through it now, and I hope to have it finished (it will have ten separate endings) by the end of March.
I hadn't heard of Metaculus. That's an interesting way to inform the writing.
My goal this year is to optimize my writing process and platform. I’ve spent lots of time building up my standing in the community and creating content and now hope to hone in on best practices around both my creative output. Specifically, I’m hoping to establish some sustainable routines that promote more creative output without fostering burnout with my writing. Always a delicate balance, I find :)