It’s that time of year again for goal setting. I always struggle to find that balance between pushing myself and creating unrealistic expectations, but no matter what, I’m far more driven if I’ve written them out. For each of these goals I’ve also set some deadlines and broken them down into steps, like a to-do list for each project. This year, I really want to focus on the writing and increasing my backlist.
1. Publish The Predator Analysis, the fourth and final book of The Kepos Chronicles.
After Nanowrimo 2020, I’ve got a draft! This goal is a little bittersweet because I was supposed to publish it this year, but for a variety of reasons, I didn’t. I have mostly myself to blame, and personal failure can be a hard thing to accept. That doesn’t mean I’m doomed to fail again. In fact, I feel poised to succeed. Either way, I’m looking forward to finishing one project, then focusing on the next.
2. Write two books of my next series and publish at least the first.
This trilogy will be like The Selection (Kiera Cass) meets Qualify (Vera Nazarian). It’s more of a science fiction romance than YA science fiction, and I’m ready to write something lighter than my last series. Ideally, I’d write all three and publish two, but I need to streamline my editing and publishing process. I’m confident I can write this series more quickly than the last, but three books in a year might be pushing it for me. I’ve got a goal and a reach goal for this item.
3. Outline (and choose) the next series.
I’ve got two directions I can go after my Selection-Qualify inspired trilogy, and I like to spend a lot of time ruminating on my outlines, so I want to start that process in late 2021 so I’m ready to write it in 2022.
4. Streamline my editing process.
This is a little abstract, but I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to improve my writing process. I get stuck in the editing. I feel indecisive and inefficient when I edit, and I’m looking to try a few techniques this coming year to see what works for me, like improving my outlining skills and editing as I go. The saying might be, “You can’t edit a blank page,” but I struggle to edit a full page, too. I plan to take time to examine the bottlenecks in my process, then identify and test potential solutions.
Erica Rue 