Okay, it’s time to recalibrate and re-evaluate. I didn’t hit my targets for 2024, though in defense, real life did rear its ugly head in several ways. I changed jobs, caught COVID, and spent 3 months having to learn said new job while battling the longer-term effects of the infection. Cough mainly, but brain fog too, though one can only wonder how much of that was my natural decrepit-ness, lol.

Based on my notes, I’ve squeezed out 2 hours a week. It’s not enough to accomplish what I want, but it’s what I have. Still running a weekly critique group to get feedback helps kick me in the pants regarding writing objectives. I largely abandoned word count as a metric. However long the stories need to be to tell the story will determine the word count, not the other way around. Pumping out words doesn’t necessarily motivate me. Getting the story flow right does. As it stands, I tend to under-write scenes, so cutting out “fluff” isn’t a significant part of the revision process; it’s mainly filling in gaps in description and setting, setting up the foreshadowing elements better. My dialogue tends to be good overall. It’s all good, though.

My WordPress blog sucks at statistics, so I must figure this out the old-fashioned way—manual counting. 93 blog posts, much more than the 26 I was aiming for, so yay me! I’ve adjusted my blogging/social media strategy to push out chapters as they are completed to WordPress, from there to Bluesky and Facebook. Then, eventually, Substack. Substack is a new medium, and I am still learning how to use it. It’s not entirely intuitive, but the quality of the content is excellent. Abandoned X/Twitter as it became a cesspool of hate. I’m not entirely sold on Bluesky, as it looks like the Wild West of refugees from X/Twitter (like myself, so who am I to judge!).

On the manuscript side, Spear of the Winds draft is 99% complete and should be done by mid-January 2025. I did not publish Dragon Heartstone, as I’m still revising it, but I am getting there. It should be ready to go by the end of March. I’m holding off on publishing this until Spear of the Winds is ready. That way, I’ll have three of the five books for Westfal rolled out.  

My other manuscripts are still chugging along in the background, though they suffer from benign neglect. Those include:

• Princess Rachel Goes To Summer Camp, and its story within the story—The Adventures of Tim and Oscar. The summer camp story is only half done; I need to outline the remainder. Tim and Oscar’s portion needs an ending.
• The Old Ways (Faline’s origin story) (reworking lead-in portion. Have to massage out a plot jump/shift near the mid-point)
• Jonathan of Jamesville High (redoing the start, tweaking/retooling the end)

Previous goals (for 2024)

These were my goals for the past year, 2024. They were scaled back from 2023, when I didn’t achieve much. I hope I can get these done this year.

Revise manuscript of Dragon Heartstone by June 30, publish by Nov 30

4 weekly writing hours (blog posts, workgroup submissions, writing projects, etc.)

At a minimum, one blog post every two weeks

Complete the Spear of the Winds manuscript by May 30; the final draft will be by Nov 30.

Previous goals (for 2024)

These were my goals for the past year, 2024. They were scaled back from 2023, when I didn’t achieve much. I hope I can get these done this year.

• 4 weekly writing hours (blog posts, workgroup submissions, writing projects, etc.)
• At a minimum, one blog post every two weeks
• Complete the Spear of the Winds manuscript by May 30, and the final draft will be by Nov 30.
• Revise manuscript of Dragon Heartstone by June 30, publish by Nov 30