I hope that you all had a fabulous New Year. Now it’s 2012 and the start of a fresh new year with tons of possibilities. I have a lot of writer friends who are branching out and will be sharing their writing with the world. It’s an exciting time.
As for me, I’m still concentrating on the novel. I did get a chance to finish the last revision. The word count is currently at 65,432 words. The next step is to concentrate on some other tweaks and getting it to beta readers. But honestly, I don’t have any “pressing” goals other than trying to make my novel the best it can be and getting back into the study of the fiction craft. And most of all, not to stress out too much about what’s going on “out there” and concentrate more of what I want to write and what kind a writer I want to be.
I’m also changing my blog schedule to weekly on Wednesdays. I’m coming up on my third anniversary of this blog — which is hard to believe because time flies so fast — I look forward to chatting it up with you and also visiting your blogs.
Just like last year, I’m going to create another theme for 2012. One that was inspired by a line from a recent blog post by author Nova Ren Suma:
“This is the year I write solely for myself and no apologies. How freeing.”
Freedom to write what I want. I think for awhile I was really hung up on what I *should* write. Something that would be a hot sell or something that would make a major impact.
The truth is that I didn’t start writing to prove anything to anyone. I just wanted to tell stories. Stories that I would like to read. So as I finish up this current novel project and start the next one later this year, I’m going to keep this in the forefront of my mind.
Don’t write to impress anyone. Write what brings you joy.
What about you? Do you have any specific writing goals for 2012?
Here here! We should all be writing for ourselves. I try to anyway! It’s hard not to have the market and trends hovering nearby!
Yes! It’s very hard with all of that outside noise. But this is definitely the goal in 2012.
This is so important, Karen! Focusing on making yourself happy with your writing needs to come first. We spend a lot of time working on each novel, so it better be something to be proud of and can enjoy.
During this last revision, I actually thought about putting in something that I thought would make the plot more “exciting” but it was really me trying to do something I thought would make it sell. I’m so glad that I decided to keep it out.
No more of that stuff in 2012. :)
YES. Writing for yourself with no apologies is the way to go. I did that on my last book, and so much so that I just stopped telling people about it because I didn’t want to hear any feedback. I really pushed myself, and I’ve never been more proud of a finished product. So I think that is a GREAT goal, and I wish you all the luck in the world!
I love that. In the end, it really is how you feel about your work when you’re done. Deep down, you know when you write something that has come truly from you and you only.
Absolutely! This can’t be stated enough. What a great blog post to start 2012. I may put “Don’t write to impress anyone. Write what brings you joy” over my desk. : )
2012 is going to be all about what *we* want to do. If you are writing with joy then I believe the writing will always be better because it resonates more with you.
I definitely try to write for myself. My current WIP is a contemporary YA story, which is not the “hot” genre right now. I have no desire to write for the trends. Hopefully what I want to write and read is also what other readers will want too, so at some point I’ll be able to find an agent and reach that publication dream. Best of luck this year!
A good YA story will always find a home. You keep up the good work and things will definitely happen for you. :)
I don’t have any specific writing goals. I would like to hammer out a few first drafts, but that’s what I said last year. I just haven’t found any zinger ideas…yet. I’m not worried.
Congrats on 3 years of blogging!! That’s crazycakes!
That zinger idea will come to you in time. And I can’t believe in April it will be 3 years. Where does the time go? Ha.
That is such a great zen attitude. And congrats on finishing your big revision!
It was a little rough at the end, but I finished a major revision phase. Still more work to do but it’s slowly coming together! Yay! :)
I agree with you and Nova, Karen. I’d like to finish two WIPs this year, stories close to my heart and not fitting any trends. Here’s to a great writing year.
I hope you have a great writing year too. Good luck on your WIPs. :)
Congratulations on a great perspective for the new year, Karen! For me, I’ve decided that “relax” is my word for the year. Write, yes. Revise, improve my craft, etc. But relax and enjoy the process. After all, writing really is fun!
Love that your word is RELAX. And you are so right, writing is fun — especially when you’re writing what you want instead of writing what you think you should.
That’s beautiful! What a perfect theme for 2012. I have some crazy goals and a lot of deadlines in 2012. It will be a whirlwind year. But I’m looking forward to slowing it down and spending some time critiquing and writing with you in Hawaii!
You have a lot of exciting things on your plate. Can’t wait to read BORN OF FIRE.
I think our Hawaii writing retreat is going to be one of the best highlights of 2012. It’s going to be so fabulous! Looking forward to it!
What a great theme! I’ll definitely be doing that this year. I have no idea where my writing will take me (I can only hope I get published), but I do know writing is a passion–and I know I would continue to write even if it got me nowhere. :)
Nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
Being passionate about your writing is half the battle. I strongly believe you can conquer anything that you have a passion for. Have a wonderful 2012. :)
Great post Karen! Writing for myself is a great goal in itself! Takes a world of pressure off as well :D Looking forward to a wonderful year ahead. Happy writing (and revising!)
Saba, I hope that you are furiously working on your sci-fi and that you will be posting more teaser in 2012. I love reading those.
Happy writing to you as well. :)
*stands and cheers*
This is such a great attitude! And I need to remember this from time to time. It’s easy to get caught up in the other stuff. I wish you the very, very best in 2012. And I agree…it’s so fun to watch our bloggy friends branch out and pave new paths.
I love it when I see writer friends sharing their novels with the world. I hope to hear some good things from you this year as well. :) Happy 2012 and best of writing to you.
I have a lot of goals and my main one is finishing edits for my novel so I can begin the query process. I really like this idea of writing for yourself. I think that I would also like to keep this in mind when I write this year. Sometimes I think about things too much. I need to just write and that’s it. No worrying about what other people will think about my work.
Ha, welcome to the “Think Too Much” club. :) Good luck on your edits. Looks like we are on the same path for 2012.