New Years Resolutions/Annual Writing Goals

Wow.  All of you are so ambitious! I'm usually terrible at setting goals, and get discouraged really easily if I find myself getting behind, so I'm going to try and be exceedingly realistic.  I've got some things in my life that really limit what I am physically able to do, so don't judge my low bars too harshly plz and 10q 😆  

2026 goals

• Finish 3 short stories
• Submit those stories for the remaining 3 quarters of WotF
• Polish my HM and try submitting it somewhere outside of WotF
• Do any amount of writing on my novel, seriously, any amount of getting un-stuck will do for me 😅

Posted by: @bootzenkatzen

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Wow.  All of you are so ambitious! I'm usually terrible at setting goals, and get discouraged really easily if I find myself getting behind, so I'm going to try and be exceedingly realistic.  I've got some things in my life that really limit what I am physically able to do, so don't judge my low bars too harshly plz and 10q 😆  

2026 goals

• Finish 3 short stories
• Submit those stories for the remaining 3 quarters of WotF
• Polish my HM and try submitting it somewhere outside of WotF
• Do any amount of writing on my novel, seriously, any amount of getting un-stuck will do for me 😅

Those are amazing goals @bootzenkatzen ! - Nothing modest about them, you should be proud to achieve all that. 

The thread is meant to be inspirational/aspirational,  to give us energy and accountability in the best ways. But we all have things happen. And we all also know how we respond to goals - I like 'stretch goals'. Ones where they push me beyond my normal limits. But those are bad for anyone that gets stressed by pushing or down on themselves for failing. But the point is always to help provide the structure that helps each of us - so, awesome goals! Give us updates periodically if that helps. Or wait till this time next year if thats more your speed

Posted by: @ease

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• Write/edit every day (one word minimum) - FAIL - did okay for ~3 months, then got caught up/stressed out moving house.
• Finish cyberpunk WIP novel - FAIL - got 95% of draft 0 done, and 40% of draft 1.
• Query cyberpunk novel - HAH!
• Improve day-job income/reduce day-job hours (little bit out of my control as I'm currently an indentured servant dependent on Trump giving me a Green Card, but after that hurdle it should be easy to reduce 80 hours or increase pitiful income) - FAIL! Got the green card (YAY!) but didn't anticipate the 70,000 ex-federal workers I'd be competing against. Still working on it though 
• Run every month - FAIL. Again, did okay for 3 months, then lost track of that goal but got plenty of exercise digging trenches and fixing up houses.
• Get at least one freaking story published in a pro-market - FAIL. Can't say I really tried to be honest. I have one piece that's been with a great magazine for almost 2 years, but they're facing challenges at the moment. 

This year will have more modest goals: 

• Get back into writing: 2000 words a month. 
• Continue persuing a more writing-friendly day job. 
• Stay healthy.

Posted by: @chwalter

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Be open to opportunities.

 

The key to life! 😉

Posted by: @ease

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Posted by: @ease

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• Write/edit every day (one word minimum) - FAIL - did okay for ~3 months, then got caught up/stressed out moving house.
• Finish cyberpunk WIP novel - FAIL - got 95% of draft 0 done, and 40% of draft 1.
• Query cyberpunk novel - HAH!
• Improve day-job income/reduce day-job hours (little bit out of my control as I'm currently an indentured servant dependent on Trump giving me a Green Card, but after that hurdle it should be easy to reduce 80 hours or increase pitiful income) - FAIL! Got the green card (YAY!) but didn't anticipate the 70,000 ex-federal workers I'd be competing against. Still working on it though 
• Run every month - FAIL. Again, did okay for 3 months, then lost track of that goal but got plenty of exercise digging trenches and fixing up houses.
• Get at least one freaking story published in a pro-market - FAIL. Can't say I really tried to be honest. I have one piece that's been with a great magazine for almost 2 years, but they're facing challenges at the moment. 

 

This year will have more modest goals: 

• Get back into writing: 2000 words a month. 
• Continue persuing a more writing-friendly day job. 
• Stay healthy.

 

You forgot:

2025: Be a great guy, a supportive writing friend, have stories brewing inside, dedicating time to being a dad and spouse (you can check outside sources for these two), and fix more windows and dig more trenches than I can imagine

SUCCESS!

It's okay for not all the seasons of life to be harvest. Some need to be fallow, so that Harvest will come again. And I'm sure it will with you.

Happy 2026 @ease !

Posted by: @bootzenkatzen

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Wow.  All of you are so ambitious! I'm usually terrible at setting goals, and get discouraged really easily if I find myself getting behind, so I'm going to try and be exceedingly realistic.  I've got some things in my life that really limit what I am physically able to do, so don't judge my low bars too harshly plz and 10q 😆  

2026 goals

• Finish 3 short stories
• Submit those stories for the remaining 3 quarters of WotF
• Polish my HM and try submitting it somewhere outside of WotF
• Do any amount of writing on my novel, seriously, any amount of getting un-stuck will do for me 😅

We're all here to try our best is the way I see it, and different approaches work for different folks. I've been building on my goals for a few years, with a couple of years enforced break in between.

Maybe I'll fail at my 2026 goals, but there's that famous saying I'm about to paraphrase: "Shoot for the stars, and if you miss, you'll at least reach the moon."

Last year my goals were more realistic and achievable, so this year I'm trying something different. When I started submitting stories, I aimed to win WotF and/or pro out within 4 years and have an anthology of my own stories illustrated by myself published within 5 years. That was almost 8 years ago, and I've sold one story at pro rates (flash, so doesn't count towards disqualifying me from WotF).

I'm nowhere near the moon yet, but I feel I'm getting closer!

I thought I was also going to have fairly modest goals for the year due to personal stuff. Then I wrote things out and realized I do have ambitions. No idea how much I'll actually achieve. 

• Revise novelette to submit to WOTF. No particular quarter in mind for a deadline, to allow for multiple revisions as needed.
• Polish short story for a different contest
• Rehaul extremely niche short story for niche market. 
• Produce 2 videos/podcasts of me narrating previously published stories (semi-professional payments, so don't count towards disqualification for WOTF)
• Take video editing course to learn how to create above videos. 

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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SUCCESS!

Naw, you are too kind, @gideonpsmith! Happy 2026 to you and everyone else here!

Happy New Year everyone! (If it's not too late to say that).

Thank you for the prompt @gideonpsmith . I had to dig out my 2025 goals, which I've copied below with my end of year report.

Posted by: @joel-c-scoberg

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Great idea! My 2025 goals are:

• Write more and find more time to write. I'd say I achieved this, I did write more than previous years. Though my acceptance rate was lower, though I aimed principally at pro rate markets or markets I am particularly fond of.
• Read more and find more time to read. Yes, and I am now a member of a book club (first book discussion is tonight as it happens).
• Write a novel (first draft). Nope!
• Find a home for my WotF stories that received a SHM or HM. Fine tune them, reevaluate what worked and what didn't, trim them down and get them submitted. Yes! I sold one of my WotF HMs. The others have all been rejected, though one has garnered a lot of personal rejections so hoping that 2026 is the year for that one (actually got a R from WotF in 2021!)
• Write a fresh story (probably flash or less than 3,000 words) at least once a quarter. I figure this may be a nice creative outlet alongside writing a novel and editing my "back catalogue" of unsold stories. I'd say yeah. I wrote 5 short stories though not one in each quarter but I'll average it out across the year.
• Sell at least one story. Yes! "The Swampton Shuffle" was published in Gwyllion Magazine last May.
• Get a website. Yes! joelcscoberg.com (link in signature)

2026 Goals

• Submit a new story to the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest (already achieved but it was one of my goals so...I'm sticking it down so I can achieve at least one this year!)
• Submit a new story to the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award
• Sell at least one story and get paid for it (bonus point for pro-rate sale)
• FINALLY finish first draft of novel (I'm at 10k words but contemplating POV shift which would necessitate a rewrite)

My third child was born just before Christmas so my writing time will be limited this year. I want to set realistic goals and try to manage my own expectations this year. Hopefully my report card this time next year will be big fat ticks next to all the above.

Looking forward to seeing what goals you all set yourselves and how you fared with your 2025 goals.

I read a book! Like, from page 1 to The End. In 2026. Which is precisely one more book than I read in 2025. Thus, I've hit my reading goal for the year. Haha. 

I've only written around 100 new words, so is this like, you can't have everything or what? Need some fusion! Some synergy! 

I've got another one on order from my library. Hope it comes in before this storm arrives. Then I can read and watch football. That was the trick. Because there's only around 11 - 15 minutes of actual gameplay, I was able to read off and on for hours while having the game on (and muting commercials). Not many games left this year, so I'll have to find a new trick until it starts up again in autumn. 

Posted by: @joel-c-scoberg

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Happy New Year everyone! (If it's not too late to say that).

Thank you for the prompt @gideonpsmith . I had to dig out my 2025 goals, which I've copied below with my end of year report.

Posted by: @joel-c-scoberg

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Great idea! My 2025 goals are:

• Write more and find more time to write. I'd say I achieved this, I did write more than previous years. Though my acceptance rate was lower, though I aimed principally at pro rate markets or markets I am particularly fond of.
• Read more and find more time to read. Yes, and I am now a member of a book club (first book discussion is tonight as it happens).
• Write a novel (first draft). Nope!
• Find a home for my WotF stories that received a SHM or HM. Fine tune them, reevaluate what worked and what didn't, trim them down and get them submitted. Yes! I sold one of my WotF HMs. The others have all been rejected, though one has garnered a lot of personal rejections so hoping that 2026 is the year for that one (actually got a R from WotF in 2021!)
• Write a fresh story (probably flash or less than 3,000 words) at least once a quarter. I figure this may be a nice creative outlet alongside writing a novel and editing my "back catalogue" of unsold stories. I'd say yeah. I wrote 5 short stories though not one in each quarter but I'll average it out across the year.
• Sell at least one story. Yes! "The Swampton Shuffle" was published in Gwyllion Magazine last May.
• Get a website. Yes! joelcscoberg.com (link in signature)

 

Wow, @joel-c-scoberg , you killed it last year!  

Posted by: @ease

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This year will have more modest goals: 

• Get back into writing: 2000 words a month. 
• Continue persuing a more writing-friendly day job. 
• Stay healthy.

@ease

2025 sounded like a tough year with a lot going on. I'm hoping 2026 is easier for you and your family (but congrats on the green card!) and these goals will help with that and get you back writing more without, hopefully, undue pressure.

Posted by: @stephanie1980

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I read 113 books in 2025, so I am setting my new goal to 150 books

Readers Digest?

Wackado!

I didn't even watch that many movies.

That's a book every 3 days!

Average, 20,000 words (short kids novel).

48 waking hours.

Say 50.

400 words an hour.

7 words a minute.

Does sound doable, if you have the time, and my math is correct.

But then there's the distractions, the endless rereading of bits, and going back and double checking things.

Sorry if I come off a bit Ian Malcolm, but there are worse things.

I just want to progress in my understanding of the great one.

Not sure why I didn't write that before?

A convo here gave me a revelation and I'm now unlocking it's tiered structure.

Pretty soon I won't need to think as much about writing.

Required questions shall be asked of me, and I will answer.

No more needless information to slow things down, no more cutting or rearranging.

So goes the plan.

I think I'll be using audio books, mostly, as they are already set up for timing, a bane of books I've discovered.

I'm like Indian Jones, but with the morbid fate of Tomb of the Cybermen.

Like the Dwarves who dug too far.

Or Event Horizon.

These things never end well.

But the book sales should be great!!!

Posted by: @nova

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If you posit an average of 20,000 words (short kids novel) and assume 48 waking hours per 3 days, say 50, that means you'd have to read at 400 words an hour. Or 7 words a minute.

Average reading speed is closer to 250 wpm, but if you're a writer you're probably much faster at reading due to the abundance of practise.

And the average book is probably closer to 50k, so it's more likely that she's reading for ~1 hour a day. But that's still awesome and enviable! Go you, @stephanie1980. What was your favorite book?

Posted by: @joel-c-scoberg

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@ease

2025 sounded like a tough year with a lot going on. I'm hoping 2026 is easier for you and your family (but congrats on the green card!) and these goals will help with that and get you back writing more without, hopefully, undue pressure.

Thanks Joel. Yeah, it was tough, but in a good way. Very productive, just not in the realm of writing. Congrats on achieving so many of your own goals! Do you have an inkling about what got in the way of the novel? How is that coming along?

Posted by: @tj_knight

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I read a book!

Congrats Dustin! I knew you had it in you. 😊 😋 

[/qote data-userid="6840" data-postid="59974"]

if you're a writer you're probably much faster at reading

Stereotyping.

Posted by: @ease

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probably

Apparently not.

Posted by: @ease

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due to the abundance of practise.

Wrong again.

Pavarotti couldn't read music, so I'm in a better crowd than some I could mention.

Posted by: @ease

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What was your favorite book?

Cliffs notes?

Gosh isn’t it fun to take bits and pieces of other people’s messages and argue with everything they say?

I wouldn't let his negativity distract you from such a positive thread, @morgan-broadhead. And to be honest, I'm really not that upset by him putting himself down. I feel bad for him that he's missing out on all the enjoyment of reading, and hope that there's a way for him to learn how to read faster than seven words a minute, for his own sake. But his misdirected hostility doesn't bother me.

Returning to the topic of this as-mentioned positivity, I initiated the process of becoming promoted this week. It's not quite the same as getting a writer friendly job, but I'm excited by the prospect of potentially earning a little more. I also opened my draft 0 of my latest novel for the first time this year. Didn't write anything (I was going to, I swear, but then the customer I was with asked me a question), but at least I opened it. I think I'm going to re-read everything I've written so far (no editting!) before I get back into it.

Posted by: @ease

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positivity, I initiated the process of becoming promoted this week. 

For you, me and all of us that fit our writing in amongst the cracks within our lives, fixing our work or optimising the way it helps us (with either time or money) is a huge writing gain, even if it seems tangential on the surface - So, yay, and good luck on the promotion! 👍 

on a personal update note - "c. Speak on panels at a con "

has succesfully been achieved. 5 panels at MarsCon last weekend. 

I even got a post-event email saying they'd "Love to have you back next year" which was nice - I guess I didn't screw up too bad after all  😉 

Posted by: @gideonpsmith

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"Love to have you back next year"

Perhaps that's because your not a C...

How others survive, I'll never know.

Well done.

If your not getting paid, maybe ask for some particular drink or snack, grease the wheels a little.

2026 goals:

• Spend more time with my family
• Submit a story each quarter to WotF
• Achieve a semi-finalist, or higher, certificate from WotF
  • Of course, winning Writers of the Future (Place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd) counts /li>
• Submit previous WotF HM+ stories to other markets
• Have at least one story published and receive semi-professional payment
• Have at least one story published and receive professional payment
• Continue a novel I've started (horror or sword and sorcery)

Posted by: @toddsjones

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• Have at least one story published and receive semi-professional payment
• Have at least one story published and receive professional payment

 

They are goals, but like achievements in WOTF, are mostly out our hands.

Posted by: @toddsjones

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Continue a novel I've started (horror or sword and sorcery)

That's much better, as it's entirely up to you, less any horror misfortune.

Judges and editors have their own new year's resolutions, like binning the most stories.

(True, I've seen their Burning man piles.)

(Lie)

Posted by: @toddsjones

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• Submit previous WotF HM+ stories to other markets

I'd encourage you to submit all your stories if you're happy with them, regardless of WOTF placement.  My sale rate among my RWC/Rs is about the same as my HMs. 

Posted by: @chwalter

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I'd encourage you to submit all your stories if you're happy with them, regardless of WOTF placement.  My sale rate among my RWC/Rs is about the same as my HMs. 

Good to know. I've not sold anything yet, so maybe this is the year.