First Novel of the Year
I have officially finished my first novel of the year! I’m just talking first drafts complete here, unfortunately I still haven’t gotten the editing done that desperately needs my attention. The novel is called “Undefined” and is probably the most unromantic Romance that has ever been written! (I literally wondered at one point if there was too little gore in the novel…)
Its a pretty great milestone to have passed this early in the year and I’m quite proud of the accomplishment! It would be nice if it were a Chaotic Galaxy novel, but its actually a challenge project for Wriye and one that won’t likely ever be more than a fun experiment. But not to worry, I do have two Chaotic Galaxies novel in the works and many more that need to be edited and published!
I hope this novel is the first of many this year. Actually the first of six if you want to get really specific. That’s my goal for the year, complete six novels by the end of December! There is a challenge being thrown around to finish a novel a month but I decided to decline such a huge challenge because it felt like setting myself up for failure. I know me, I can’t write that much that fast, but I figure that I CAN do six in the year. These novels don’t have to be started this year as well, just finished within the year. This works great for me because I have a few, like “Undefined” that I just finished, that are already sitting at half way there!
There is also a challenge to finish a Trilogy which is perfect, as I’ve got the first novel of a trilogy already in the books with another two planned. This gives me a great push to actually finish those two remaining books and strike those projects off my plate!
It turns out, challenges and goals really work for me and I find myself wondering why I never tried this kind of thing before. Its not like it wasn’t obvious that setting goals would probably turn out to be a good thing, because how could it not? I just figured that I’d be no good at goal setting and that even if I had set a ton of wonderful goals, the chances of following through would be slim. I suppose that’s how the challenges fit in, they’re the vehicle for me to use to be successful at those goals. It doesn’t hurt that I set realistic goals that I’m sure I can accomplish. (Nothing like starting out your goal-setting with a horribly unrealistic goal that you can’t possibly succeed at and therefore sour the entire experience!)
No matter what it was that has pushed me to this milestone, its one that I am proud of. I hope that all you writers out where are finding your own success this year!
