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Welcome to The Literary Pig's blog - a safe haven for all those afflicted with
the unbearable urge to write.

Monday 14 January 2013

Writing goals

I believe if you write stuff down then it will happen, or at least you have a chance of making it happen. This can work well for goals and what you want to achieve. Write it down and you make a promise to yourself. So I've persuaded the Indoor Writer to get on with setting down her writing goals for 2013 - yes she's later than everyone else, but I'll let her off because last week she had to write and submit a story. Here they are in no particular order:

Write1Sub1:
You can sign up to write and submit 1 short story (not necessarily the same story) every week of the year, or just 1 per month. One story a week was too scary but one a month sounds achievable. Which means at least 12 new stories for the pot by the end of the year.

Publish an e-collection of short stories:
Many writers are now e-publishing their work and a collection of short stories should be feasible. The whole process of putting the collection together will be a great learning experience and the final product will be a platform to showcase my writing.

Restart the novel:
I have an adult novel partially completed, which stalled several years ago. My first novel was finished in 2007 and unsurprisingly not taken up by any agent as written long before I had any real experience of writing fiction. The good news is I know exactly where I went wrong, so I'm keen to kick-start the second novel and put into practice what I've learned after 3 years of short story writing. It needs to be completely pulled apart and re-written, but I'm still keen to explore the original premise of the book.

Crack the following:
The Weekly News: I've been submitting stories to this paper for almost 3 years and in 2013 I WILL sell them a story.
Women's Weekly: Only submitted a couple of stories to this magazine without success to date. Must try harder.

Write and sell a serial:
I've had a positive response from a magazine for a serial pitch. Now need to get on and write synopsis, first pages and submit.

Apply for and start an MA in Creative Writing:
The University of Chichester's MA starts in September and I plan to earn (from writing) the first year's module fees before then. Began counting in September 2012 and have earned 40% of the fee to date. But several writer friends have expressed very negative opinions on the merits of a MA in Creative Writing i.e. why do you want to do an MA when you're already getting work published? I really need to think more about this before committing.
Would welcome any thoughts on this one...


Have you set any writing goals for 2013?

15 comments:

  1. Some brilliant goals there! Good luck with them!

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    1. Thanks Simon! Rest assured LitPIg will be chasing me for progress updates :)

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  2. MAs are expensive and exhausting - but I'd still recommend doing one! I've written loads on my blog about my experience, but in short, I learnt more during a year of intensive study than I imagined possible. Doing an MA in creative writing isn't about guaranteeing publication: it's about learning your craft, getting feedback from fellow students and tutors, pushing the boundaries of your writing, exploring different aspects of writing, discovering writers you've never heard of before, finding your voice, gaining confidence, committing to writing every (or most) days, learning about the kind of writer you want to be... I don't yet know whther my MA will lead to success in terms of getting published and making money, but I know my writing is at least ten times better than it was before I started and I know much more about where I want to be

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  3. Got cut off before I was ready... I was just going to mention that, if nothing else, my dissertation has given me an idea for a novel and a short story collection (both of which I'm now working on), and a list of books to read that's as long as my arm! Good luck in your goals and feel free to ask me any questions you have :-)

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    1. Lovely to hear from you Hayley and great to get some balancing positive comments about an MA. Yes I agree my objective for doing one would be primarily to improve and develop my writing. It is the mentoring aspect that I'm missing right now and feel I need something in depth. I may be in touch...

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  4. I signed up to the monthly plan too. So far have sent a comp entry off. Good luck with the MA plan - not something I'm in a position do do (not at present anyway)but a great goal to get your writing to fund it.

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    1. Thanks Lindsay - well done on the submission & hope it does well too!

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  5. Hi Tracy

    These are rxcellent goals, Tracy. I haven't signed up for write1sub1 but I do write and sub one each week. Although I have had stories in the other mags, The Weekly News has never even contacted me and I have stories with them from last May! I would also like to write a serial. Could you contact me via my email on my blog as I'd like to get more details from you about west Sussex Writers (and maybe go this Thursday?)

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    1. Well done Wendy for achieving 1 story a week, that explains your high sales success! Sorry couldn't work out how to email you vial your blog but left a message there. Next WSW meeting is Thurs 14 Feb - sadly you missed Jan meeting.

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  6. Great list of goals, Tracy. I have mixed feelings about the MA in C.W. I almost signed up to do it but I already have a MA in Literature and was fairly well published so thought it might not add much. I did hear some of the courses were very analytical (which I've done). On the other hand, it does give focus and you'd probably get lots of good advice - I do know a couple of people who wrote their first novel through the course.

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    1. Thanks Rosemary - that's my problem I'm getting a lot of mixed feelings and many mixed comments!

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  7. I'm going to submit something somewhere once a week, even if it's only something to a letters page. I'm also going to enter the competition every month in Freelance Market News - even it's poetry (groan.

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    1. That's a really good goal to aim for Julia - submitting something every week - letters are a short, sharp hit too and often with some lucrative rewards for a low word count!

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  8. I'm sure you'll achieve all those things, Tracy - you strike me as a very disciplined & determined lady! As for doing an MA, the idea of it sounds wonderful to me but I wonder if you end up having to read/write some things that don't interest you?

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    1. How sweet Sally :) And you've hit the nail on the head re my concerns about an MA...

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