2013 goals update

.As a general rule, I do not believe in New Year's Resolutions or similar claptrap. January first is a rather artificial means of life-markery. That said, doesn't mean I didn't spend a lot of money on our tenth anniversary dinner. Things like new years and multiples of ten are useful tools in celebrating the passage of time and carry emotional weight whether that makes sense or not.

Thus, although I haven't done so in years, I didn't resist when I felt an urge to make goals for 2013. How could it hurt?

My goals were:

1. Finish the rough draft of my novella-in-stories by the end of January and have it ready for publication by October.

2. Finish a rough draft of my current novel project by the end of the year.

3. Get five short stories not currently ready for publication ready for publication. (Whether currently roughed, begun, or unimagined.)

But I made these goals with the expectation that other things would come up. I thought though that I would be able to meet these three goals no matter what other compelling things came up.

So. Now that the year is almost a third over, how am I doing?

I finished the novella-in-stories rough a little late, but it's done. I haven't been working on the rewrite, which puts me behind expectations, but not impossibly behind. And I expect that at least two of the stories will stand well enough on their own that I can count them towards goal three as well.

Sadly though, although I had been working a tear on the new novel when the year ended, I've barely touched it since. This upsets me, but because my excuses are good, I'm not beating myself up. I've been thinking about it more or less constantly and anticipate being able to pick it back up when I wrap up some other projects.

In the meantime, I've donated enormous energy toward a large thingamathing I'm not prepared to announce yet, which is going well and is quite exciting and is---fun for a change---collaborative. I haven't begun work with my cowriter (and things could still fall entirely apart before that stage), but it's someone I've wanted to work with for years and things are looking pretty good at the moment.

And, even if this plan is never consummated (if you will), it hasn't been lost time. I've learned plenty from the work I've already done. I trust the time lost will be found again in improved skills and new routes of thinking.

Another surprise is the amount of poetry I've produced this year. I've only published one so far and may not successfully place any others (I'm not, shall we say, renowned as a poet), but I'm enjoying the sidetrack. I suspect there's a good poet inside of me somewhere, but he's usually taking odd jobs prettying up bits of prose. It's okay. Every poet needs a day job.

Thus I've begun supplementing my original goals.

That novella-in-stories takes place in the Byuck universe (as it were) and, if I spend my summer as I hope too, I should also be prepared to finally finish the byucky novel I started a few years ago and never finished: Curses & Llew. What I have already written is brilliant. Would be great to finish the darn thing.

I also hope to place at least one comic this year. I placed one in 2012---why not 2013?

Ambition. Always ambition.

(What he seems to really mean.)