Evaluation of 2014 Goals

Last Year’s Goals and Dreams

 Get Published!

Entails:

•  Revise and Submit "Kinuyo and the Kitsune," "Second Chance," "Necklace," "Julia Kaiser," and 1 more to Ether
•  Self-Publish "Lucidity" on Amazon
•  Learn how to Format
•  Learn how to Design Covers
•  Create an Author Page
•  Write and/ or Revise Short Stories for Other Magazines/ Contests  

How’d I Do?

·         Published “Necklace,” “Second Chance,” and “Julia Kaiser” on Ether

·         Published “Immortal” on Daily Science Fiction

·         Finished all preparation to publish The Changelings

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

Finish the 2nd Draft of The Originals (At Least the Middle Section)
 (Est. Pages: 400-600)

Entails:

•  Read/ Critique Previous Draft 
•  Brainstorm Backstory/ Background 
•  Create Maps and Collect Images
•  Research (Climate, Armies, Revolution, Disease, Etc.)
•  Write 

How’d I Do?

·         Two Months of notes in January and February

·         200 pages in April Nano

·         200 pages in Nov Nano

·         Middle Section Complete; Ending yet to come

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

Finish Three Floating Coffins 
 (Est. Pages: 150)

Entails:

•  Start/ Finish "Isle of Darkness" Segment
•  Start/ Finish Ending
•  Revise Opening Chapters

How’d I Do?

·         Finished Isle of Darkness

·         Finished Ending (Longer than I thought)

·         Read/ Evaluate Draft

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

 Increase Income

Entails:

•  Explore New Job Options (Back to Drawing Board)
•  Career Assessment
•  Temp job in the summer?

How’d I Do?

·         Got hired by Placentia Yorba-Linda District

·         Fundraised through Pubslush

·         Sold cards

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

 Agents and Self-Publishing

Entails:

•  Research and Query 20-30 Agents
•  If Rejected, Make Plans for Publishers and/ or Self-Publishing
•  If Accepted... Figure out What to Do Next!
•  Keep Agent Info... Might Need it for Coffins!

How’d I Do?

·         Made a decision to Self-Publish in spring

·         Revised Changelings

·         Hired Editor

·         Hired Cover Artist

·         Read manuscript outloud/ final edit

·         Hired Mapmaker

·         Fundraised for ISBNs

·         Formatted

·         Ready to publish on Kindle January 2015

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

Write Manzanar Ghost Story
 (Est. Pages: 50-100)

Entails:

•  Gather Research/ Research Blog?
•  Brainstorm
•  Write the Story (Use a NaNoWriMo if Necessary)

How’d I Do?

·         Didn’t do a damn thing

Final Evaluation:

FAILURE

 Go to Literary Orange and Los Angeles Festival of Books

Entails:

•  Plan for the Day
•  Take Lots of Notes
•  Blog Afterward

How’d I Do?

·         Went to Literary Orange

·         Blogged extensively for Literary Orange

·         Didn’t go to Festival of Books, due to illness

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

 Get Company Critiqued

Entails:

•  Self-Critique
•  Find Online Critique Group
•  Find Other Readers
•  Decide What To Do With It

How’d I Do?

·         Joined OC Writers Inklings

·         Got all of Company critiqued

·         Self-Critique/ Evaluation

·         Went to Big Bear for setting info.

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

 Blog

Entails:

•  Weekly Update
•  Additional Content Twice a Month (Reviews, Dissecting Fantasy, Travel, Etc.)
•  Read/ Comment on Other Blogs 
•  Research Blog?

How’d I Do?

·         Weekly Updates

·         Content Updates

·         Started Blog for OC Writers

Final Evaluation:

SUCCESS

Dreams

• Practice Japanese (Very rarely)
•  Lose Weight (Lost some, but it didn’t stick)
• Get My Own Apartment and Dog (No)
• Compile Information on Bakumatsu into Blog (Ha—no)
• Write Spin-Off Story About Gryphons (Oddly, I got some of it done during Nov Nanowrimo)
•  Get Coffins to Agents (I didn’t even get it to Michelle)
• Make Money off My Writing (Yes—well, $76, but still)
• Learn How to Network, Market, Platform, and Sell (I don’t feel like I made much progress here)

Other Notable Events

·         My sister got married

·         My cousin got married

·         Aunt lost job

·         Three root canals

·         Began research on Counterfeit Diamond

·         Visited Oklahoma

Goals and Dreams 2014

Goals

These are concrete, specific, and well-thought out, I hope.  They have the force of will behind them and a purpose in the long-term plan of my life.  Whether or not I complete everything on time, I will make a sincere effort.

Get Published!

Entails:

• Revise and Submit "Kinuyo and the Kitsune," "Second Chance," "Necklace," "Julia Kaiser," and 1 more to Ether
• Self-Publish "Lucidity" on Amazon
• Learn how to Format
• Learn how to Design Covers
• Create an Author Page
• Write and/ or Revise Short Stories for Other Magazines/ Contests  

Deadline: First Story to Ether by end of January; Amazon by End of Summer
Purpose:
I'm tired of not being published.  At the very least, I'll self-publish a short story on Amazon.  I might or might not get paid for these stories, but at the least, I'll get my name out there.  Also, self-publishing will create a trial run for when/ if I need to publish The Changelings, Company, or any other longer work.

Finish the 2nd Draft of The Originals (At Least the Middle Section)
(Est. Pages: 400-600)

Entails:

• Read/ Critique Previous Draft 
• Brainstorm Backstory/ Background 
• Create Maps and Collect Images
• Research (Climate, Armies, Revolution, Disease, Etc.)
• Write 

Deadline: Hopefully, the first 200 pages will be finished by spring; the next 200-400 pages should be complete by the end of the year.
Purpose:
I'm starting to realize this epic will be complicated and slow, no matter what I do.  I want to try a new method of writing.  During NaNoWriMo, I spend at least a month researching and brainstorming before forcing myself to spit out a 200 page draft.  I'm going to see if this works for 2nd drafts as well as first.  The focus here is creating a consistent and logical plot, working on my secondary characters, building settings, and making sure my ideas are strong--very basic levels of story-telling.  No one needs to see this draft.

Finish Three Floating Coffins 
(Est. Pages: 150)

Entails:

• Start/ Finish "Isle of Darkness" Segment
• Start/ Finish Ending
• Revise Opening Chapters

Deadline: The Isle of Darkness ought to be done by spring.  I have the rest of the year to finish the rest.
Purpose:
Ideally, I can finish this story this year, and have it edited and sent out to agents by 2015.

Increase Income

Entails:

• Explore New Job Options (Back to Drawing Board)
• Career Assessment
• Temp job in the summer?

Deadline: By end of Spring, come back with more concrete plans
Purpose:
I really can't survive on less than $6000 a year.  Since it might be several years before I get paid for my stories, I'll have to look for a new way of making money.  At the very least, I should get a summer job to increase my income in the months I don't work.

Agents and Self-Publishing

Entails:

• Research and Query 20-30 Agents
• If Rejected, Make Plans for Publishers and/ or Self-Publishing
• If Accepted... Figure out What to Do Next!
• Keep Agent Info... Might Need it for Coffins!

Deadline: I ought to have the first 20 agents queried by February; if I find another 10 agents, I ought to finish querying them by the start of summer.  The second half of the year, I'll have to make more concrete plans.
Purpose:
I still want to try traditional publishing, but my Changeling story might be too long and too specialized for it.  In that case, I'll have to look at self-publishing options, or possibly submitting directly to the publisher.

Write Manzanar Ghost Story
(Est. Pages: 50-100)

Entails:

• Gather Research/ Research Blog?
• Brainstorm
• Write the Story (Use a NaNoWriMo if Necessary)

Deadline: End of Year
Purpose:
I've spent so much time researching this story, I'd like to write it down.  I'd like to experiment with ways of organizing facts, so I'm not all over the place every time I'm forced to do research.  My secret hope is to make money off this story, either through magazine, contests, or self-publishing.

Go to Literary Orange and Los Angeles Festival of Books

Entails:

• Plan for the Day
• Take Lots of Notes
• Blog Afterward

Deadline: Both Events Take Place in Spring
Purpose:
Networking, hopefully.  If not, at least it will serve as entries for blogs.  Maybe someone will want to know what happened there.

Get Company Critiqued

Entails:

• Self-Critique
• Find Online Critique Group
• Find Other Readers
• Decide What To Do With It

Deadline: I'm not sure yet.
Purpose:
First, I need to find a group of Beta Readers--someone to read my story, aside from my dad.  Second, I like this story, but I'm not really sure what to do with it.  Should I self-publish?  Submit?  How should I edit?  I'll have to see.

Blog

Entails:

• Weekly Update
• Additional Content Twice a Month (Reviews, Dissecting Fantasy, Travel, Etc.)
• Read/ Comment on Other Blogs 
• Research Blog?

Deadline: All Year, Excluding Vacation Weeks
Purpose:
Blogging is a good way to market and so I'll keep trying.  If nothing else, it helps me keep track of various stuff going on in my life.

Dreams

The vague and wispy ideas.  I'd like to do these things, but either I don't think I'll have the time/ will to commit to them this year or I have no particular system or I just don't think they'll happen.  At any rate, I'm happy with them floating in the back of my mind.  For now.

• Practice Japanese--I'm going to try to review, but I don't know if I'll have the will to commit to any strenuous study.
• Lose Weight--The usual New Year Resolution; we'll see how it goes.
• Get My Own Apartment and Dog--because, damn it, I want to be independent (and puppies are cute).
• Compile Information on Bakumatsu into Blog--I really, really want to do this, but I don't think I'll have time this year.
• Write Spin-Off Story About Gryphons--I'll probably get to this eventually, I just don't know about this year.
• Get Coffins to Agents--again, I doubt I'll have time this year
• Make Money off My Writing--Sigh, it would be nice.
• Learn How to Network, Market, Platform, and Sell--I'm so clueless about how to do this.

Ten Years

Soon, I will be twenty-eight, an important age for me.  Ten years will have passed since I graduated high school.  Only two years remain until I hit a new decade.  It seems a time to reflect on where I wanted to be ten years ago and where I am now.

I thought I'd be further along than I am now.  Realistically, I knew I'd be struggling as a writer, but I guess I'd hoped I'd be published by now, or at least have finished a novel.  I'm not married, I don't have my own place, I don't even have a driver's license.  It's easy to see myself as a failure, looking at this particular slice of life.  But I met some goals and did some things I never expected.  For example, I:

• Got my Bachelor's Degree
• Became Christian
• Learned Japanese
• Traveled Abroad
• Lived Abroad (for 3 years!)
• Paid off $20,000 in Student Debts
• Did Volunteer Work
• Received 14 Rejections
• Wrote and Re-wrote an 850 page fantasy novel
• Never gave up on my dream to be a writer, even when things got tough

My twenties were about ambition, but it was also a time of learning how to be an adult.  I hope that in my thirties some of this hard learning will pay off, and I'll have a steadier life.  Here's how I picture myself in the next ten years, barring some kind of disaster:

• I want to have three books published
• I want my own house/ apartment and my own little dog
• I want a retirement account with actual money in it
• I want to try dating
• I want to keep up my volunteer work
• I want to plant a garden
• I want to travel to at least 2 different countries
• I want to learn a new, surprising skill
• I want to have a close relationship to family and friends
• I might want a Master's Degree

So, those are my modest long-term goals.  Hopefully, I'll see them through.