The Inevitable 2oo2 Summary

Before anyone says anything -- I know this is almost two weeks late, but I haven't had a chance to get this down since I returned from the sticks.

2oo2 was a mixed year I suppose: my finals at uni and settling in to my new home and job, meant that, at times, I was so busy I hardly got any writing done. On the other hand . . . I had a three month period of unemployment in the middle of that, and the only reason I didn't get many words done was laziness.

I got a few chapters of Dearest . . . written, a lot less than I would have liked. I wrote seven new short stories. I'm proud to varying levels of all of them, but my favourites are Curiosity and Tymmy. I hope I can convince some editors of their worth when I finally get around to sending them out. And that's the rub, I didn't send anything out this year.

So that leads me on to my resolutions for 2oo3. Only two of them really apply to my writing, so I'll leave the rest out: 1. Improve the quality of my writing and my skill at the craft; and 2. Get something published. There were others but as they weren't about writing, I won't bore you with them :)

As for targets, how about we say 5ooo words a month, seeing as the 75oo I tried last year didn't work out. If I stay committed, that should give me about 6o ooo words by the end of the year.

Thinking about that, I'm going to amend that last bit and say that I want at least of half of those words to be on my Work in Progress. I'd go the whole hog and say I want to finish the novel, but I doubt I could work through the year without at least one more writer's block.

Later . . .

I Want to Play in the Mud and be a Hippy

Since writing the above addition on Sunday, I've made what I hope will be the final revision of The Well. I've been making changes for the past month or so, and it looks as good as it's ever going to get. The plan now is to sit on it for a week or so, whilst I nip over to Ralan's to find a home for it, and have a quick final read before sending it off to whoever I decide to send it off to.

I'm half tempted to not look at it again before sending it out, but I don't think I could live with myself knowing that I hadn't performed one last sweep for typos and grammatical slip-ups. If I can convince some of my friends to proof it for me, I might forego doing it myself. I don't really know.

Well, I'm almost ready to make my first submission, and actually take a step towards that second resolution. Keep your eyes on this spot for further updates.

Later . . .