Saturday, December 29, 2012

Reflections 2012


Way at the beginning of the year I made a list of goals I hoped to reach by the end of the year. I…have a bad feeling about this.

1. Finish editing GLITCH.
            This includes working on all the notes I have, more beta reads, more critiques, checking word usage, finish making it make sense, making sure it all pops like firecrackers, another grammar check, and the final polish. There’s probably more but I’ve blocked it from my mind for sanity reasons.
            Sigh, I didn’t finish, although I did make a lot of headway. Overall, I’d put it at 90% done, but unfortunately without much input from beta readers (so it's probably a bit less than that in reality). That last one isn’t so much my fault as bad luck. I’m hoping this year I can find someone who doesn’t get sick, disappear, or absolutely hate my main character.

2. Write another book.
            Maybe two if I do NaNo again this year. I’m not quite sure what it is that I’ll write (one of the consequences of being a panster), but I had one of those magical sparks that might be Something Good. If it’s still in my head in a few months, I’ll see where it goes.
            Yep and yep. Like in 2010, the second book was much shorter only about 40K, but since the first one is close to 100K right now, I think it’s okay.

3. Start editing above book.
            I only say “start” because GLITCH has a lot more edits to go through and I want to really finish it. So…many…edits.
            Yes, I’ve started. Sadly, I’ve probably neglected GLITCH more than I should have, although it was more than laziness that made me do so.

4. Write a query letter for GLITCH.
            And it has to be good! This will have to be sent to be critiqued too.
            Through something out of my hands (a book with the same title and a similar plot point), I’ve decided not to query GLITCH right now.

5. Send out queries for GLITCH.
            I hope. If life gets in the way again, I may have to resort to death. Of myself, others, all life in the universe…whatever gets in my way the most.
            Same as above. I’m disappointed about that, but I don’t think it’s query ready anyway. Not being ready is a big failure on my part.

6. Make significant progress towards taking over the world. Do absolutely nothing that will elicit international scrutiny.
            You saw nothing.
            Heh heh heh.

7. Join in more blogfests.
            I think it will help make more blogging friends and that’s always fun.
            This was an utter failure. I didn’t join a single one after the Mini-Platform Building Campaign last February! I’d like to say it’s because I didn’t see any that interested me, but in truth I think it’s just because it’s hard for me to be social, even online. Sigh…resolution not achieved…

So overall, I completed about fifty percent of my goals. A failing grade, yes, but only if you don’t scale. Does life grade on a curve? I sure hope so.

4 comments:

  1. It's not a failure because you started something! I love number 6 - but I saw nothing... :) I have trouble doing blogfests too - I just don't get into them and I'm not very social either. Good job on doing something! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Life better grade on a curve. Since it gives the test first and the lesson after.

    And if you need a beta reader, I'm available...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you did a great job! Lots of those items are out of your control, and you COULD have accomplished them if you weren't being such a knowledgeable and disciplined writer (aka, deciding not to send GLITCH queries out because of the book with the same title and similar plot). Here's to a new year :)

    ReplyDelete

Please validate me.