New Year’s Wishes & Writing Goals

This morning, I woke up to the thought that I had only 534 words to go to reach 90,000 words on the draft of my novel-in-progress. It was a glorious feeling. By noon, during my daily writing session at one of my favorite local library branches, I blew right past that number, and wrote more like 1,000, which is a good number for me.

When the book’s done, sometime next year, it’ll be the third in my Sing & Shout series of historical thrillers for young adults, following Back in the USSR and Strawberry Fields.

It’s been a tremendous year for me writing-wise. I realize that when I look back. The first novel I ever wrote, a standalone historical mystery which remains unpublished, took twelve years to write and then another couple to find an agent who couldn’t find a publisher. I put that one aside to write Back in the USSR, which took me about four years to write and then less than one to publish myself. After that came the much shorter Strawberry Fields, a novella, which took me a year to write and a few months to publish. So word-for-word, the draft I’m working on now has come together faster than anything before it, about fifteen months. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about it.

I’m really proud to have made it this far, and grateful that I’ve had the opportunity and support from family, friends, and readers, especially given how vast and bleak the publishing landscape sometimes appears. I remind myself constantly that although I’ve wanted to write novels for most of my life, I’m only two years into the publishing game, and it can take a lot longer than that for many authors. I’m fortunate to have have plenty of time ahead and tons of ideas waiting to pour out.

This year, I originally aimed to get to 100,000 words. I cut that goal short last month when I found I needed a break from what for me had been such an unusually intense year of writing. I still count that as a win, and now I see the end in sight. After another month or two, I’ll be able to start revising my draft. That’ll consist of outlining the story, identifying problem points, filling gaps, whittling down, and several rounds of editing.

I’m also looking forward to what comes after. In the second half of the new year, I’m planning to go back to my first, unpublished novel. I want to revise it, polish it, and put it out too. Ideas for how to do that have been bouncing around in my head for months now. And I’ve started brainstorming and outlining something completely different, a sort of alternative-history dark-academia fantasy series (say that five times fast), which I can’t wait to dig into as well.

Here’s to the New Year, and to looking forward, and to hope itself. Having plans to look forward to and the freedom to pursue them is no small thing. I wish the same for you, along with anything and everything else you’re hoping for.