Overdue 2019 Writing Goals-Update 11/30/2019

*this is a picture of the corner of my dry erase board by my desk

I’m one of those people who likes to set goals, and ,like many, I tend to do it in a cyclical fashion. Most of my goal lists come from a disgusting amount of time calculating out averages, finances, day job schedule, etc. But it always boils down to a simple list of a few things I’d like to achieve, so that I can pat myself on the belly with a thousand cookies.

Write 11 (stretch goal of 17) new stories
- I have a list of 21 stories on deck to write
- 3/2
  - ‘The Sweets I Gather for You’. Gorey horror love story
  - ‘Museum of the Stars’. Space exploration short story
- Update 5/29
  - ‘The Flesh I’m In’. Second world fantasy story with a werewolf and shapeshifter who find love, hate, and truth in each other
  - ‘Lucky Number Eight’. Dark magical realism story about death and moving on
  - ‘Crash’. Magical Realism story about the perfect apartment with the worst bathroom
  - ‘The Man from Earth’. Science fiction AI story about a different form of creationism
- Update 11/09/2019
  - To date I’ve written 29 stories since May my last update. (Been such a busy beast)
    - ‘Free‘. A flash piece apart of my August flash challenge where I wrote a flash a day during that month. It’s a post apocalyptic story about a child and their family fighting for freedom in a world gone bad.
    - ‘Josephina and the Dragon‘. Another flash written during the month of August. A fantasy about a young wandering thief who finds the treasure of a lifetime and a home to call her own.
    - ‘Mama Fry’s Number Five Special’. Also a piece from my August series. A body horror flash about a restaurant that makes it food with the blood, sweat, and flesh off their backs.
    - ‘Black Skies of Danny Bracket’. AF(August Flash). Horror about a boy and the darkness inside his head.
    - ‘When the Spiders Come‘. AF. Horror flash where a bite grows into something more.
    - ‘Building to a Feeling‘. AF. Science fiction piece about a person who discovers a secret about their life after they’re brutally murdered.
    - ‘At the End of the Week I Die’. Horror flash that I did for my Nightlight Horror Writers Workshop about something that knows it’s going to die.
    - ‘Everything and More.’ Science Fiction story set in the future and follows a newly wed couple with tons of baggage as they go back to the husband’s childhood haunted home.
    - ‘Garbage’. Science Fiction piece about the most unlucky person winning the lottery but losing their ticket in the trash.
    - ‘Last Nights and First Days’. Horror flash I did for my Horror Writers Workshop about a boy introducing himself to his new class and warning them of what happened to his last class.
    - ‘Out of the Machine’. A Science Fiction Crime novel based off of an old draft but expanded on and rewritten. A young girl is falsely convicted of murder in a future megacity that uses your data as the main thing to convict.
    - ‘To the Stars and Back’.- A Science Fiction short story about aliens using humans to power their ships.
    - ‘Trapped’. Dark Science Fiction short story where a killer’s smart house malfunctions.
    - ‘Walnuts’. Literary Science Fiction about a transgender hacker who takes revenge on the company that fired him when he came out and with the help of the CEO’s dead mother who now haunts the internet.
    - ‘Skin‘- Science Fiction promotional piece for skinless androids.
    - ‘My Haunted Emptiness‘- Horror micro story from the perspective of an empty haunted house.
    - ‘Blacker Than We Realize’-Horror flash story about new white parents who discover their child is more than just a surprise black baby.
    - ‘How the World Ended, How the World was Made‘- Science Fiction micro creationism story.
    - ‘Beliefs Passed On‘-Science Fiction flash about an android.
    - ‘Wild Night‘-Fantasy Adventure story about a group of friends who crash a magical party.
    - ‘Where the Truth Goes’– Dark Fantasy story about a teen who breaks into a secret organization in search of the truth.
    - ‘Bringing Them Back‘-Science Fiction flash about a group of friends at a dinner party, discussing the recent death and resurrection of one of their child.
    - ‘On the Hill of Arrival‘- Science Fiction first contact about a group of friends who witness aliens coming to the planet.
    - ‘Care and Keeping of Monsters‘- Horror flash where two parents have to cover up a murder that their children have committed.
    - ‘Waking Alice‘- Dark fantasy about a child witch and her wicked ways.
    - ‘When the Spiders Come‘- Horror flash about a spider bite that becomes much much more.
    - ‘You Who Doesn’t Exist‘- Speculative Fiction flash about an elderly woman in the future at a dating function for others in her community.
100 poems
- 3/2
  - ZERO ZERO ZEROOOOOOOO
- 5/29
  - ZERRRROOOOOOOOO
- 12/30
  - I did not prioritize writing poetry this year like I wanted and therefore have nothing to show for it.
50 new blog posts for my other website, the Love Underground
- 3/2
  - 7 new posts
- 5/29
  - Zero
    - Plan: Set aside two days, where I focus on my blogs. Reading, journaling, writing drafts, researching, and planning out posts will be tasks on these days.
      - Starting June 1st, I’m gonna do a re-watch of Black Mirror in the order that Netflix has it listed. My aim is to watch one season a day and post about each of the episodes’ plots and characters and what writers can learn from them. I’ll post them on Byline or By Crook. It’ll be in preparation for the new season coming out June 5th.
- 12/30
  - Zero new posts
    - I have not added to either of my blogs and have simply been focusing on pushing my writing career forward.
10 new articles
- 3/2
  - ZEROOOOOOOO
  - ~~Not doing so hot~~
- 5/29
  - Robots & Gender-outlined and query letter drafted
  - Full-time Writing-outlined
  - Books for Writers-outlined
  - High Hiking-outlined
  - Mountain Experience-outlined
  - Disturbed Views of Nature-idea
- 12/30
  - I have written about six articles for as a writer for my local publication Thurstontalk, so am calling this a win.
Make progress on my Gothic fantasy, Monsters I Have Known
- 3/2
  - - I made this poster board to hang in front of my desk
    - It’s a sorta of concentric circle of story. At the heart of it all is the story as it plays out-the plot. As you go through the different circles, the story deepens to show the multiple subplots and character story lines that play into the central story.
    - I haven’t touched or looked at the rewrite and prolly won’t until toward the end of the year.
  - 5/29
    - Haven’t touched or added to it, though I feel it developing and changing-forming something stronger-inside me.
      - Plan: I’ve made a decision to finish up with Out of the Machine, Into the Heart and a few more short stories before I give my entire fiction writing focus to Monsters.
  - 12/30
    - I have created a new more detailed writing reference notebook and plotted, sketched, and figured out how I want to go about writing it. Over the next couple of days, I’ll be sketching out scene cards and start writing the latest draft. I’ll count this as another win.
Attend 2 conventions
- 3/2
  - I’m scoping out a couple local genre writing conventions like NorwesCon
- 5/29
  - No tickets bought and no conventions gone to. 😦
    - Plan: The main reason I have not gone to any conventions yet is due to my car needing work and lack of funds to fix it. So, I’m going to start looking in my own backyard for writing events that I can attend. There’s a few meet-ups, talks, and readings that I have scheduled to attend.
- 12/30
  - Back in September or October maybe even August, I went to a comic convention in town, but that was the only one.
Either restart my writing group, Little Darlings, or join a new one
- 3/2
  - Haven’t met or reached out to any writers or groups
- 5/29
  - Haven’t attended any yet, but am planning on going to the next meet up of writer’s at my local grocery store.
- 12/30
  - I started attending a local writers group. I haven’t been back in about 2 months or so because I’ve realized that what I need is a master group or group of other writers at my same level with the same pursuits as me. Otherwise it feels as though I am wasting my time when I could be writing and mastering my craft.
Attend 3 writing classes
- 3/2
  - ZeRo
- 5/29
  - None yet, but maybe one soon.
- 12/30
  - I attended a horror writing workshop over the summer, but due to low funds, have not been able to attend more.
Publish 8 pieces
- 3/2
  - ‘A Crisis‘
  - ‘Phantom‘
    - Technically, I sold this within the last couple of days of the year, but I didn’t sign the contract until 2019
- 5/29
  - Biographies for Black Texas lawyers
  - Micro stories for a video game
  - Web pages for lgbti.com
- 12/30
  - Four pieces for Thurstontalk and more coming.
- I’ve destroyed this goal this year.
100 submissions sent out
- 3/2
  - 15 submissions out
- 5/29
  - 12 new submissions out
- 12/30
  - All in all, I’ve sent out around about 110 submissions to places. Another win.
20 new members across both my blogs
- 3/2
  - 6 new followers
- 5/29
  - 1 new follower
- 12/30
  - I might have gotten 1 new member over the course of the past few months.

I’m so proud of myself for what I’ve done over the past year. Where I am in my writing and career is exactly where I wanted to be by this point. It’s crazy that things are where they are, and everything isn’t all golden and cherry, a lot of this past year has been hard and stressful, but I wouldn’t trade any of the decisions I’ve made for the world.

As I step into the new year, I have many opportunities open to me and within my grasp. 2020 is going to be a big year of teaching, writing, submitting, publishing, querying, and everything wonderful and strange and in-between.