What are your writing goals for 2012?

[Gavin Luper]

I thought I'd check in - how is everyone else going on their path toward their goals?

I stated in a new year thread in Misc that I'll start writing a new FanFic in 2012. Now I must admit even starting will be a hard task. Perhaps the hardest. I do have the idea of how the beginning would go, but I don't like the thought of writing a few chapters and then quitting all of a sudden because of running out of ideas. Plus, I want to surprise people and not ask for help until I have a clear picture in my mind and have started already. Once I'm sure I'll be able to finish the story too, I'll be ready to receive criticism and help. Furthermore, I have some back-up plans I could use and pick up a whole different story from like 3 alternatives. Time will tell.

Mikachu, have you had any luck in starting a fic? Or maybe just gathering some ideas for one?

To actually update something, for starters

I'm gonna say you've done pretty well with this man - don't I see you posting an update to your fic almost every other day lately?

Start posting regularly in a fic on this site… I was posting regularly on fanfiction.net before a whole load of drama in my life killed inspiration and such. Of course this requires to me to actually find a story I really enjoy writing. Under the Dusk is fun but I’ve lost my way a bit with it and eh… Heh. I cannot stay motivated with things on here, it seems.

I wanted to start writing my StarCraft story again, and I have (previously scared away from it due to a very bothersome reviewer, gotten over it now). Now more of my goal is to really get somewhere with it, and maybe move it onto TPM.

Past that, I really want to work on my NaNo and form it into something a lot better (maybe my own first novel?! Totes stealin’ yer goal Gavin :p). Seeing as right now it is complete and utter shit… heh… there is also a distinct need to make it severely less Final Fantasy and make it more my own, which is how it started out but didn't end.

How did the NaNo-rework go, Sie? Any luck yet?

To finish one chapter or DT story each month.

...Starting next month. I gotta get Phoenix Wright outta my head again, because I can't concentrate on anything until I play the first three games.

Well, Shonta, I guess since you stated you were starting your writing goal next month, I'll ask --- how is the gaming going? Hehe.

My goal is to write an average of at least one page every day. "Page", in this case, is defined as what would print out on one side of a WordPerfect document, OR two sides of a looseleaf paper if I'm handwriting. I've been keeping up with this goal (mostly) and on the days when I know I'm falling off, I have so far made up for it.

I'll be making some serious headway on my D&D adaptation this year, and I hope to have at least seven series of short stories completed on it by year's end - those seven series will lead up to the "main event" of a larger trilogy, for a total of ten... well, books.

In the meantime, I also want to get back to writing Against All Odds, which has been taking something of a hiatus in my head. My plans are a bit ambitious, I'll admit, but I believe it can be done with patience and effort.

Matt - how have you gone with trying to do a page each day? I admit I've tried that before and failed, it just gets too frustrating.

Having said that, I'm really not writing as much now as I should and could be, and would like to be. Maybe I need to be more disciplined with myself and really make myself write SOMETHING regularly, whether it's prose or just rubbish or notes.

As for my goals - I've posted 3 chapters of LTL so far this year, and am about to start my Honours thesis/first draft of my first novel this week!

Everyone: Update the rest of us on each of your successes and/or setbacks ... we are all writers, we should talk and support each other.

Cheers!

[Chris 2.1]

I didn't mention any goals at the start of the year, but thought I'd wade in.

2012 wil be the year Show-Off is wrapped up, which is quite exciting. I aim to get more chapters up more often; I have about 10 left, so it's not long really. It's hard to believe the fic is beginning to close... but as ever I have a few other ideas I'm working on.

I'm not sure what I'm doing next; I have been wanting to do another fantasy fic and I've spent a few months working on characters and setting, doing concept sketches. Whether or not it's for TPM is a different matter, mind.

Another fic I'm keen to start is a more old-school trainer fic, a classic gym one. I spent a long time going away from that genre since it got so stale, but I'm keen to feature a female protagonist, and set it in Hoenn.

So 2012 is going to be a big year, i think....

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

*takes a small notebook from his backpack*

It seems I have written more than half a page down here, 18 lines. Wow!

That's not entirely everything though. I can reveal that Plan A will be a crossover FanFic and I have read various internet pages for the backstory. Also, I have gathered ideas inside my head and there's a lot of what I haven't written down. But I'm still not sure if I can carry on with my plan and that's why I still keep this in secret. I'll post the first chapter/introduction/prologue eventually, but not until I have a clearer picture how the fic is going to progress and even end. I'm sorry about this secrecy, but you have to bear with me because I don't want to make a big fuss about something that's not sure to be completed. Perfectionism, yes. Perhaps I AM making a big fuss about this just now.

And then I have Plan B and perhaps even Plan C, and actually Plan B seems a lot easier to execute than Plan A.

I wish good luck to everyone who want to achieve something in their writing this year as well, that aside!

[Gavin Luper]

*takes a small notebook from his backpack*

It seems I have written more than half a page down here, 18 lines. Wow!

That's not entirely everything though. I can reveal that Plan A will be a crossover FanFic and I have read various internet pages for the backstory. Also, I have gathered ideas inside my head and there's a lot of what I haven't written down. But I'm still not sure if I can carry on with my plan and that's why I still keep this in secret. I'll post the first chapter/introduction/prologue eventually, but not until I have a clearer picture how the fic is going to progress and even end. I'm sorry about this secrecy, but you have to bear with me because I don't want to make a big fuss about something that's not sure to be completed. Perfectionism, yes. Perhaps I AM making a big fuss about this just now.

And then I have Plan B and perhaps even Plan C, and actually Plan B seems a lot easier to execute than Plan A.

I wish good luck to everyone who want to achieve something in their writing this year as well, that aside!

Well done with what you've got done so far, Mikachu, that's a great effort. And I totally understand the secrecy and the wanting to have something done perfectly before you share it, or even speak about it. I think most writers here will empathise on that point.

I didn't mention any goals at the start of the year, but thought I'd wade in.

2012 wil be the year Show-Off is wrapped up, which is quite exciting. I aim to get more chapters up more often; I have about 10 left, so it's not long really. It's hard to believe the fic is beginning to close... but as ever I have a few other ideas I'm working on.

I'm not sure what I'm doing next; I have been wanting to do another fantasy fic and I've spent a few months working on characters and setting, doing concept sketches. Whether or not it's for TPM is a different matter, mind.

Another fic I'm keen to start is a more old-school trainer fic, a classic gym one. I spent a long time going away from that genre since it got so stale, but I'm keen to feature a female protagonist, and set it in Hoenn.

So 2012 is going to be a big year, i think....

^A fantasy fic would be exciting. Would you try to get it published, do you think, if you don't use it for TPM?

If you're finishing Show-Off this year and I'm finishing LTL, we should keep each other accountable with posting updates!

Sounds like a busy year indeed. Do you think you'll go for the trainer fic or the fantasy one first?

[Crystal Tears]

I haven’t actually done it yet, the intention is there… but right now I’m rather unmotivated. I need to work the kinks out and make the characters so much better than they are, in fact the only part of the entire NaNo I like is the ending, and to be honest it’s quite the depressing end (not necessarily a bad ending, but a sad one).

I’m working on a semi-private writing challenge (sharing it with my sis, becki and asi) and trying to get re-established with my starcraft fic…

Amusing tidbit: that reviewer who scared me away? He was the first one to reply back to the new chapter I posted… ‘cept he was much more polite, I think he figured out my little rant about being respectful was about him…

Writing regularly is a pain I fine, the challenge I’m doing is every week… I haven’t done my blurb yet… I’ll eventually start it… but right now I’m totally distracted by other things (like Mass Effect 3… >.> My writing is gonna die because that game comes out tomorrow~).

[classy_cat18]

Well, Shonta, I guess since you stated you were starting your writing goal next month, I'll ask --- how is the gaming going? Hehe

*glares at empty Word page then at you* Last case of Trials and Tribulations, and the fever hasn't gone down one bit. *headdesks*

EDIT: It's not so bad, I actually have a little bit of an RPG post down but that's not what I'm worried about. I just noticed that I haven't updated Hemisphere in a YEAR. I've gone through three chapter rewrites in that time. It's not working out; none of it is! And Scattered Lights is a mess. How long has it been since its last update? Three years? I'm not fishing for compliments, this isn't just self-pity, and I'm not trying to be a perfectionist! Nothing is working!

And now it's not just Phoenix Wright that's distracting me. I'm behind in my anime watching, I got two books that constantly call for my attention, and everyday I get a sudden drop in energy. I'm still trying to find a job and my room's a disaster zone. Maybe I should try waking up an hour earlier...

EDIT #2: Same ol' rant. It's getting rather sad...

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

This is weird, but I had an inspiration yesterday, and it was because TPM was DOWN. I didn't have anything else to do, so I just grabbed the notebook and pen and wrote down a total of 4 pages and a half. What's more, I was actually able to go back to the story today and just fixed one passage so that it would be more interesting to read.

So I'm tempted to say that the date I'm going to post the introduction just got earlier than expected, but I must resist and not say that. I haven't changed my opinion on that I must have a clear picture in my mind how the story will progress and even end before I can post it here chapter after chapter for criticism. That's right, I'm going to assure I have like 10 chapters written down and then will post them in intervals, so that other people can read them one by one, and they still will be open for comments and, who knows, I might even change the chapters already written down if someone has ideas.

To summarize, I feel that I'm a lot happier what comes to the progress of my story than I was on Sunday.

[Weasel Overlord]

Aaah this is so delayed! But you know, I figured I abandon you guys a lot since I have this weird idea that no-one would be interested in the fics I write (and also a lot of them are very x-rated ahahah), but who knows?

Anyway! On topic. Finishing nano made me feel like I could maybe someday possibly be a vaguely professional writer of some sort, but my efforts so far have been stalled by terror, for the most part. I finished nano with the goal that I would attempt to build myself some sort of portfolio of work examples, put myself out there for freelance copy-writing, but it's not happened yet. I'm working towards it, or trying to anyway.

I fulfilled one goal two days ago by finishing a (slightly) contemporary review article of the replay of inFamous 2 that I just completed. Mostly, it was just getting back into journalistic styles, and figuring out how I'd like to present my persona. Also getting back into the habit of whittling, heh. I cut 400 words from that beast by the time I was done!

In other goals, I finally got my nano finished last week! I'm letting it stew before I hit the editing (not looking forward to that, to say the least!) and then it'll be all go, I think. Editing and rewriting takes a whole lot less time, I've always found, but I plan on getting a beta reader once I've done one pass on the thing.

Uhh I'm sure there's something else? Oh yeah, I wanted to try and finish off a whole load of fics that've been stagnating in my folders for years (might not work, since I'm not big on Supernatural fandom once more ¬_¬) and do a few collaborations with some of my friends (two planned; one Final Fantasy drinking game thing and the other a Dragon Age 2 thing). I'd also really like to write more poetry, but I seem to be lacking in inspiration without the focus of my workshops. Le sigh.

Maybe I'll post my article up here for some critique!

[classy_cat18]

Aaah this is so delayed! But you know, I figured I abandon you guys a lot since I have this weird idea that no-one would be interested in the fics I write (and also a lot of them are very x-rated ahahah), but who knows?

Bad girl! Writing smut and keeping it to yourself! For shame! *deletes my own crappy hentai*