What are your writing goals for 2012?

[Gavin Luper]

Okay, so I'm a few weeks late with this, but I'd still be interested to find out and share with other ficcers here: what are your writing goals for 2012? What do you hope to achieve this year or what have you already achieved? What do you want to have done by the end of December?

For me, I have three:

1. Post up the final chapters of Lisa the Legend.

2. Complete my Honours thesis.

3. Continue to brainstorm and then use NaNoWriMo 2012 to draft my first novel.

How about you?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

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.

[Evil Mewf0ur]

To actually update something, for starters

[Crystal Tears]

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.

[classy_cat18]

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.

[mattbcl]

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.

[Gavin Luper]

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

Originally Posted by Mikachu Yukitatsu

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?

Originally Posted by Evil Mewf0ur

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?

Originally Posted by Crystal Tears

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?

Originally Posted by classy_cat18

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.

Originally Posted by mattbcl

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]

Originally Posted by 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!

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.

Originally Posted by 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....

^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]

Originally Posted by Gavin Luper

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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

[Chris 2.1]

Gav: The fantasy one would not be something I'd publish, I think, but I like the idea of superpowers and that kind of thing. If I do a fic after Show-Off I might do the trainer fic, but it would be quite short.

We'll keep in touch re chapters!

[Charles Legend]

My true plan is to write an autobiography and then be hung on the gallows just like the legendary pirates of the golden age were. in other words it will be my goodby topic...

~Charles Legend

[Gavin Luper]

How do you mean, Charles? I'm not familiar with the reference to the legendary pirates of the golden age - can you elaborate on what you mean, exactly? I hope you are okay.

[Charles Legend]

Originally Posted by Gavin Luper

How do you mean, Charles? I'm not familiar with the reference to the legendary pirates of the golden age - can you elaborate on what you mean, exactly? I hope you are okay.

In a nut shell my history as a writer, well Many of the most well known pirates in historical lore originate from this Golden Age of Piracy, which is a common designation given to one or more outbursts of piracy in maritime history of the early modern period. In its broadest accepted definition, the Golden Age of Piracy spans from the 1650s to the 1730s and covers three separate outbursts of piracy, many of the pirates from the Caribbean such as Charles Gibbs were executed by being hung on the Gallows.

Gavin I won't lie to you, right now my pride as an author is hurt badly, and my reputation is in ruins, I have no one to blame then myself for both an idiot and a jackass...

~Charles Legend

[Chris 2.1]

Don't worry, Charles. Writers are always developing and honing their skills. It's not unusual to feel like you've not reached a certain goal, or your work isn't looking how you want it to. We're all constantly looking to improve - not for the recognition of others, but to do our own ideas the justice they deserve.

[mattbcl]

I couldn't agree more with Chris. I haven't been working on my writing nearly as much as I feel I should so I'm down on myself for it - then, when I try to force myself into it, I wind up writing badly, which only makes me feel worse. Getting in a rut can be, in fact, pretty typical for this particular hobby/profession.

[Gavin Luper]

Originally Posted by Charles Legend

In a nut shell my history as a writer, well Many of the most well known pirates in historical lore originate from this Golden Age of Piracy, which is a common designation given to one or more outbursts of piracy in maritime history of the early modern period. In its broadest accepted definition, the Golden Age of Piracy spans from the 1650s to the 1730s and covers three separate outbursts of piracy, many of the pirates from the Caribbean such as Charles Gibbs were executed by being hung on the Gallows.

Gavin I won't lie to you, right now my pride as an author is hurt badly, and my reputation is in ruins, I have no one to blame then myself for both an idiot and a jackass...

~Charles Legend

I agree with the advice Matt and Chris have given you, Charles. It's tough being a writer, or an artist of any kind, but hang in there, try not to be so hard on yourself, and keep writing away! Good luck.

Cheers!

[Chris 2.1]

And we're a community, not a panel of critics I remember when I wrote a trainer fic (From Rookie To Champion: The Indigo Road) it was completely slated by a certain mod from Perth

But I'd like to think I've come leaps and bounds since then. Perhaps it's a testament to my writing now that I can't bear to read any old fics.

[Gavin Luper]

Originally Posted by Chris 2.1

And we're a community, not a panel of critics I remember when I wrote a trainer fic (From Rookie To Champion: The Indigo Road) it was completely slated by a certain mod from Perth

But I'd like to think I've come leaps and bounds since then. Perhaps it's a testament to my writing now that I can't bear to read any old fics.

Oh man *cringe* I shudder to think what I would have been like as a reviewer way back then. Probably completely tactless? Sorry if I slated your work. Or maybe I'm not sorry, since you have become a genuinely awesome writer (and published journo) following that tough criticism? Okay, I obviously can't use my past bluntness to take credit for your talent, but you get what I mean, maybe the advice helped. I definitely hope it was ultimately helpful and not too harsh, since that was the end goal.

... and I definitely do the same when I look back at my past writing, especially pre-LTL stuff like Pokemon: Kohtu. I don't even have any copies of that anymore, I don't think, but I remember it well and it was basic. Granted, I was twelve. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure it was criticised quite sharply when I first posted it, and I ended up working hard instead at my alternate story, Lisa the Legend, and put everything I had into lifting my game. So maybe that's where I get my credo from that firm but fair criticism is crucial for a writer, as I found it worked on me and made me work harder to improve myself.

[Chris 2.1]

Totally. Back when TPM was a website, I put my fic up for criticism and Pancake (then MistyDeeDee gave it like 1/5. I was so crushed. But then, I was also about 11 years old.

Christ, have I really been on TPM longer than I've *not*? *has all-knowing moment*

[mattbcl]

If such existed, I'd go out into the world and burn every copy of the original Against All Odds I could find. At first, every reviewer and critic who read the thing was all, "This is an awesome story! Deep and long and such a pleasure to read!" And that was a heck of a way to stroke my ego and keep writing exactly the same way I'd been doing it.

But a few years ago, I started questioning whether it really was all that, and my own doubt was confirmed by one reviewer on Fanfiction.net who politely and respectfully tore it to shreds. At first I wanted to slap that guy, but it was only the initial reaction to his review... and as I looked over the tale, I realized that he was right about virtually everything he had to say.

Hence my rewrite. Now when I read over the original, I'm like, "Jeez, that's terrible!" Celine hears me mutter about it and constantly reminds me I was fifteen when I wrote it, and it was pretty good stuff for the age of fifteen. But I can never find it in myself to look at it that way. I always compare it to my writing ability now. I find myself saying, "Sheesh, I can write better than that! Why didn't I?!"

But now I'm doing it. I ought to have loads and loads of time to work on it now, because I'm in an empty home for the next couple months. Distraction free (supposedly!).