It’s now December, and we only have one month left before the New Year. I had high hopes for November. I wanted to achieve all of my goals, especially with 2017 nearly being over, but sadly, things didn’t go to plan.
November was National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and for me, it was also National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo). I wrote a post titled ‘NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo – Doing it Differently this Year’ which explained that I planned to do NaNoWriMo differently this year. Instead of writing 50,000 words of a novel I was going to write two short stories and my novella. I also planned to edit 50,000 words of my novel. While I was excited and ready to complete these challenges, life had other ideas, which meant that for the first time of doing NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo I failed the challenge. As well as failing NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo, I also didn’t do so well with my other writing goals.
So, what were my November writing goals? Well, my November writing goals were:
- Writing Goal 1: Novel – edit 50,000 words (part of NaNoEdMo)
Result: This writing goal was a complete failure. I didn’t edit any part of my novel. Sadly, I didn’t have much time to work on my fiction, and when I did have time, I worked on my short stories because they had the deadlines. - Writing Goal 2: Write my psychological horror novella (part of NaNoWriMo)
Result: This wasn’t a complete failure, but it was close. I managed to write 900 words of my novella. The words didn’t flow as smoothly as it did with my short stories and novel, but 900 words are better than nothing. - Writing Goal 3: Supernatural Mystery Series – Plan and finish village building
Result: I didn’t work on my supernatural mystery series. There never seems to be enough time in the evening, and on some evenings I’ve just wanted to sit and do nothing. I am also unsure about whether my next novel should be the first novel in this series, or should it be another standalone novel. I wish I wasn’t indecisive. - Writing Goal 4: Submit 4 short stories & Writing 2 short stories (part of NaNoWriMo)
Result: Okay, now this is one goal I nearly completed. I submitted three short stories and wrote two stories, which were part of NaNoWriMo. I managed to write 1145 words in total. - Writing Goal 5: Flash Fiction Collection – finalise 3 stories
Result: Since writing my flash fiction collection, I never seem to have time to edit the stories. It is a big project, especially when I’m also working on my novel, short stories, and my novella. I’m not giving up on the project, though. I will complete this collection; it’ll just take longer than anticipated. - Novel 4th draft – edit 50,000 words (part of NaNoEdMo)
- Write my psychological horror novella (part of NaNoWriMo)
- Supernatural Mystery Series – Plan and finish village building
- Submit 4 short stories
- Flash Fiction Collection – finalise 4 stories
So, now it’s December, it’s time to create some new writing goals.
My December Writing Goals
I’ve decided to try the NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo challenge again in December. And as you can see, my other goals are the same as last months. I’m still undecided on which novel to plan – I might have to try ip dip.
2017 has been a difficult year for many reasons, but I won’t stop trying to achieve my goals because this writing journey has been the one thing that has given my life a purpose. I would be lost without it, so I must continue and never give up hope.
How are you doing with your writing goals? I hope you’re doing well. Feel free to comment below, either way. I’d love to hear how everyone else is doing.
Keep writing, folks!
Oh, and before I go, if you want email alerts of my latest posts, then please subscribe. And don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter, or like my Facebook page.