Goals four V.38!

Dustin I'm so happy to see this thread! Your four in thirty-five thread encouraged me to make and keep that goal--and I got my first finalist during that fourth quarter! I wouldn't have made it without the cheering, amazing mosh pit you reference 😉 I got a lot of writing done that year, and the practice set my habits to really amp up for the next year. I was moving!

Only...I've slowed way down. Things outside our control do that at times and while I'm trying to get back IN control, I need to get back to basics.

My goal? A fresh story a quarter.

Feels like wading through sludge after a slow bunch of months. I sent my first resub EVER last quarter (I can't let a quarter go without subbing). But I'm determined to get back in gear . My quarter 4's first draft still isn't done. Hopefully first quarter will be easier. And the next. And the next...

I'll raise my goals as I start meeting these again.

I am very happy to see this.

Hang in there, Girl In The Glasses!

I have every confidence you'll get back into your normal writing flow and rhythm.

How do I know?

Because you've done it before; you can do it again - especially you hit 'Finalist.'

Also, the fact I bet on you a while ago, and I don't like to lose a bet, lol.

Best,

Retro

Personal goals: To submit to all four quarters, and to re-establish a stronger writing routine. (I had one for about three to four months and then the babies started dropping down to one naptime. Still working out how to make writing time work under the new schedule.)

I know all the logic of needing to be intrinsically motivated but sometimes public goals - especially those shared by others are the type of extrinsic tools that really help me.

Hoping that is what this will do for me.

Editing has been so much easier for me lately than fresh writing so I am going to commit to writing at least one completely new story. The other three are most likely to be me finally finishing ones that have lingered in my partly done folders forever. And I'll add that I won't do any re-submissions during the year. Although this quarter no promises

Count me in for the goal of four submissions in 38 and I am setting myself the additional challenge of playing Heinlein Hackysack and kicking my stories back out onto the market every time they come home.

My goals remain the same: submit every quarter, consistently improve my results, hopefully get closer to winning. Keep my stories on the market until they sell or have to be trunked, write more books and work toward getting an agent. Keep on keepin’ on!

I think I'm game for this myself, too--four new stories next year sounds like just where I need to be going. I have some things that I'd like to work with for them, too--one story, and one new approach to brainstorming new short story ideas. Curious to see how it all pans out...

I'm in!

I'm in Portland, Oregon and all the various crises we're dealing with is not exactly bringing out the best in everyone. I work, help my friends as much as I can and do writerly things. Also, ants ate a giant hole in the side of my garage. Anyway, it's the stuff like formatting and submitting that's hard for me. Getting stories written and critiqued isn't much of a problem. I've been writing for years but I've only been submitting for about six months. My first submission was to a non-professional market and it's being published. My second was to Q2 and it won an Honorable Mention. I've submitted three stories at the moment (one of them to Q3) and I have three more ready, just looking for more markets. My goal is going to be: 1) Enter WotF every quarter. 2) Have at least three stories submitted to non-professional markets at any one time. 3) Turn around rejections in less than a week. Considering my writing "career" only, I'm feeling good about the next twelve months.

Agathon,

That sounds totally do-able. Do you keep track online or in excel or whatnot?

I have a giant excel sheet going back to my first submission. I also keep track on the Grinder, but that's my backup and search engine. Some also have a bingo card. I have one, but stopped submitting, so the only one I can fill in is WotF.

Do you keep track online or in excel or whatnot?

I use Duotrope. I'm still learning all the things it does but so far it's a real timesaver when researching markets.

I may have posted this elsewhere, but to make it official...

My goals four 38:
Submit a co-authored story all four quarters.

Since I've never actually done a four-fer, I figure this may be the best way to accomplish that. Now I just need four people to put up with me over the course of one story and I'm good!

Submit co-authored stories to WotF? That sounds interesting, especially with a different author each time. Are you aware of co-author winners? I don't remember any.

I haven't missed a WotF quarter since I first submitted, so my goal is to continue submitting each quarter until I win or pro-out and to level up in the meantime.

I've been sitting on two of my favourite stories since the first year I entered WotF, so I want to finally get around to polishing up those drafts ready to submit at least one to WotF.

And also, to continually learn and improve my short story writing!

Are you aware of co-author winners?

Volume V- The Wallet and Maudie by Dan'l Danehy-Oakes and Alan Wexelblat.

^^ wow.

From the volume:

As has happened once before (see WOTF II), a collaborative team has won a Contest prize. It is in face a First Prize, for a story which was written electronically by passing it back and forth between California and Texas via modem. The authors had met only on a computer network and had never seen each other face-to-face until the story was nearly completed. That has never happened before. We are, indeed, living in the future.

I will read this story tonight.

I'm on the prowl for a Q3 co.

Oh, and Alex, I hope to have your crit finished today or latest tomorrow. I'm sorry for the delay.

I read The Wallet and Maudie. Interesting. There's two POVs, possibly each author wrote one, but I couldn't tell. Not sure this would place today. Not because the story was bad, but there's a sort of drift to it. Character growth was minimal, and one character was the inanimate wallet (even though the title warns us it will be, this seems out of fashion today).

I also spotted KD Wentworth's story in Volume 5. Excited, I read it in five minutes. Seriously, it was under 2k. Wow.

Both stories seemed to make an almost self-referential point. Again, this is a style that I feel is out of fashion, at least in WotF. Daily Sci-fi seems to love stories like this.

I'm trying to get mentally ahead for this, and have my fall-back plans for V.38 sketched out now -- completing one story that I took half-way for a WotF entry previously, one new story that I have the concept written for, and two possible stories that are essentially near complete rewrites of older stories that I now think I can do much better with the premises for.

However, that's just my first sweep for this, working with the ideas I've already got down. I'm also planning to run a full brainstorming idea session for myself, to start working up some new story ideas. One area where I've been a little lax of late is new ideas--I've been running through older thoughts and concepts, mining my old books, but not really spitting out many new pieces. (One or two, but mostly just out-of-the-blue thoughts, nothing by way of trying to specifically feed that process). I'm curious to see how that goes--maybe I'll have some great ideas, maybe none, but at least I'll find out if it's something that works for me.

My goals for this year are:

Receive a placement higher than HM
Submit every quarter
Write five days a week for whatever amount of time I can get in
Get 40 rejections

Good luck everyone else on your goals!

Get 40 rejections

I love this goal--I set out, a long time ago, with the goal of getting a hundred rejections, because I noticed that I was taking individual rejections pretty hard (so that it kept squashing my enthusiasm for writing), and I knew that I needed to toughen my mental skin. I'm closer to 400 now.

Get 40 rejections

I love this goal--I set out, a long time ago, with the goal of getting a hundred rejections, because I noticed that I was taking individual rejections pretty hard (so that it kept squashing my enthusiasm for writing), and I knew that I needed to toughen my mental skin. I'm closer to 400 now.

I think I might have gotten it from you then I was skimming through the forum and saw someone mention it. Don't remember the username though. But yeah it seems like a good idea - making into a game to get as many as possible rather than being disappointed

Get 40 rejections

I love this goal--I set out, a long time ago, with the goal of getting a hundred rejections, because I noticed that I was taking individual rejections pretty hard (so that it kept squashing my enthusiasm for writing), and I knew that I needed to toughen my mental skin. I'm closer to 400 now.

I think I might have gotten it from you then I was skimming through the forum and saw someone mention it. Don't remember the username though. But yeah it seems like a good idea - making into a game to get as many as possible rather than being disappointed

I think you'll find it fun, too. Some markets will give good feedback, which can help you get better as a writer--and although I continued to accumulate rejections, more of them became second or final rounds, and the feedback on the rejected stories got steadily better too. it's been a rewarding process, though not always a perfectly smooth one.

I’ve had 100 rejections per year as my goal since 2018. I should be close again this year. I think I only hit 80 last year.

I’ve had 100 rejections per year as my goal since 2018. I should be close again this year. I think I only hit 80 last year.

Well maybe it was you then! No idea but it is a good idea.
I'm starting with 40 because I only had 10 this past year so 40 would be more real.

My rejections were solidly on about 60-80 per year for four years (I only passed 100 rejections in one year, 2015), until my job situation crumbled and left us near-bankrupt, and I had to scramble. Since then, my job and finance situation got considerably better, but with it, my stress and hours went up too, and my writing and submissions both suffered. That said, while I've written less, at the same time I believe I've written to a higher standard, so I don't know how much that is a step backwards, versus a step forwards.

I have been learning to balance things a little better, but I'm still not as good at this as I once was.

Only reason I get anywhere near 100 is with novel queries. 40 for story rejections is a great goal.

Only reason I get anywhere near 100 is with novel queries. 40 for story rejections is a great goal.

Oh ok. Thanks

My goals remain the same: submit every quarter, consistently improve my results, hopefully get closer to winning. Keep my stories on the market until they sell or have to be trunked, write more books and work toward getting an agent. Keep on keepin’ on!

This is about where I'm at. I've submitted every quarter since 2016, and I plan to keep submitting each quarter until I win or pro out. There have been a few trunk stories in there to keep me in during tough quarters, but for the most part I try to send in fresh stories. My main other goal is to get a first draft of my WIP novel done by the end of the year.

Thanks for making this thread, Dustin. I think you've got the right idea to set goals that we can control, and this amazing community is a great place to get the support to do it!

I plan to:
- Submit a fresh story every quarter
- Write at least five hours a week
- Submit to other markets at least four times (I've never done this before, so I'm starting with a low number)

My hope is to snag at least one HM, but we'll see how it goes. I'll be plenty happy with just meeting these three goals, and I look forward to working through this volume with all of you.

Thanks for making this thread, Dustin. I think you've got the right idea to set goals that we can control, and this amazing community is a great place to get the support to do it!

I plan to:
- Submit a fresh story every quarter
- Write at least five hours a week
- Submit to other markets at least four times (I've never done this before, so I'm starting with a low number)

My hope is to snag at least one HM, but we'll see how it goes. I'll be plenty happy with just meeting these three goals, and I look forward to working through this volume with all of you.
Those are good goals, Marcus. Submitting to other markets is pretty simple once you get the hang of it--just be sure to check submission requirements before you send in a story, because while there is a standard manuscript format, some markets like to do things a little differently (half the time, it feels like they just want to make sure we're paying attention).

If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn't expecting it. ~ H.G. Wells
If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain
R, SF, SHM, SHM, SHM, F, R, HM, SHM, R, HM, R, F, SHM, SHM, SHM, SF, SHM, 1st Place (Q2 V38)
Ticknor Tales
Twitter
4th and Starlight: e-book | paperback