2012 is the year I want to start making real headway toward a writing career. I’ve been pushing myself this year. It’s paid off in a few more publications than I normally see in a year. I’ve decided after seeing these types of goals on other people’s websites to give this a try. However, I’ve divided mine into two categories. Goals are things I have control over. Milestones are things I don’t have complete control over. So I have goals and milestone here.

First, I think it’s important for me to establish an overall goal. I do eventually wish to be a full time writer. This means all my income will come from writing. Does this mean I need to replace a senior level programmer’s salary with my writing income? No, I don’t think so. As long as I have a dependent, I probably won’t manage to live off a writer’s income. So I’m looking at 8-10 years to convert to a professional.

I might add to or change this list as the years go by, but for now this is what I’m setting before me as the road to success.

I’m using a number of tools to get me there. Most of these are techniques I’ve learned from the greats. Things like writing a short story a week [here] , [here], and [here], which I’ve tried before and wasn’t able to keep up, but I think my goals of reaching certain milestones will help me reach a point where I can keep this going. Additionally, I’ve changed my writing style. There was a time I put a lot of focus on the prose. I don’t do that so much anymore. I’m intentionally aiming for a less literary style. I’m attempting trim, neat prose. My revision process now is one pass using some of Rand’s 10% solution to clean the sentences, but I’m also attempting to write more active sentences. In other words, I’ve put more emphasis on writing fast.

How to write a short story. Following the advice [here]. Seriously, I’ve read a ton of ‘how to’ writing books and they all seem to boil down to the advice given by Vonnegut.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

This is my personal journey. The following things are how I recognize success. Your mileage may vary.

 

Goals:

Read a short story, an essay, and a poem every day before bed.

Read the Wednesday paper from cover to cover every week.

Read the Sunday paper from cover to cover every week.

Practice timed writing once a day – 5 minutes minimum.

Practice Flash Friday weekly.

[] Write a short story in a week and send it off to a professional market.

[] Write a short story a week for three weeks in a row.

[] Write a short story a week for six weeks in a row.

[] Write a short story a week for 12 weeks in a row.

[] Write a short story a week for 20 weeks in a row.

[] Write a short story a week for 30 weeks in a row.

[] Write a short story a week for 52 weeks in a row.

[] Have at least 5 short stories in circulation.

[] Have at least 10 short stories in circulation.

[] Have at least 20 short stories in circulation.

[] Have at least 50 short stories in circulation.

[] Complete a novel and prepare it for an agent or publisher.

[] Complete 3 novels and prepare them for an agent or publisher.

[] Complete 10 novels and prepare them for an agent or publisher.

[] Complete a short screenplay based on a short story.

[] Complete a second short screenplay based on a short story.

[] Complete a third short screenplay based on a short story.

[] Complete a full length feature screenplay.

[] Complete a second full length feature screenplay.

[] Complete a third full length feature screenplay.

[] Complete a fourth full length feature screenplay.

[] Complete a fifth full length feature screenplay.

[] Have one screenplay out to agents.

[] Have a second screenplay out to agents.

[] Have a third screenplay out to agents.

[] Have all screenplays in circulation to agents.

Milestones

[] Make first professional short story sale.

[] Make second professional short story sale.

[] Make third professional short story sale.

[] Join SFWA.

[] Make fourth professional short story sale.

[] Make fifth professional short story sale.

[] Make tenth professional short story sale.

[] Make twenty-fifth professional short story sale.

[] Make fiftieth professional short story sale.

[] Make first professional novel sale.

[] Make second professional novel sale.

[] Make third professional novel sale.

[] Make fourth professional novel sale.

[] Make fifth professional novel sale.

[] Make tenth professional novel sale.

[] Make a professional screenplay sale or option.

[] Make a second professional screenplay sale or option.

[] Make a third screenplay sale or option.

 

So those are my goals and milestones. 2012 is the year I really try to take things to the next level.