Lists and Plans

Last week I wrote about seeing my writing as a second career and talked about what I’ve been doing to move things forward.

This week, I decided to make a concrete list of steps forward, so that I can measure how I’m progressing.

Submissions

– I’ve made three submissions during April, and I have four submissions planned for May. Thus, I’m going to aim for a minimum of three submissions per month for the next few months.

– I’m going to focus on magazines and journals rather than competitions, though I’m not discounting them entirely. Competitions just have a lower weighting in my decisions of where to spend my time.

Novels

– I’m awaiting my second beta-reader’s feedback on Planes Shifter so I can apply any changes before the book goes off to my third reader.

– I’ve passed 25% on Shadow Sight and I’m aiming to finish the first draft by the end of June. That gives me two months to write 60,000 words. Oh, and finish working out the plot. Small details like that.

Next Steps

– I’ve begun researching agents, unagented publisher submission guidelines and editors. It’s all preliminary right now, but it’s a start.

– I’m attending a local writing group each month to help me better my craft.

– This website will continuously be updated, and once it goes officially live next week, I’m hoping to connect with other writers blogs.

– I’ve set aside a couple of days over the next few months as specific “writing” days to support me in meeting these goals.