Actually, they’re mostly the same goals.
In 2014, I graduated from college. I was third runner-up for the Dell Award, and my first story was published. I finished drafts of two novels. I was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, and I traveled to Assisi and began my year in Italy. I applied to creative writing masters of fine arts programs for next year.
But now, 2014 is over, and 2015 is upon us.
This year, my goals are simple:
- By the time I return from Italy at the end of June, one of those aforementioned novels will be edited and ready to start submitting:
At this point, I’ve got three novels on my computer in varying states of desperately-needing-revision. So I’m going to revise. I’m going back to the small child magician novel, which I set aside before my senior year of college in order to work on my honors novel. I will definitely have this novel in submittable condition by June, possibly sooner at the rate I’m going. Maybe I’ll even get back to the honors novel too. But one thing at a time.
2. I will keep this website updated on a semi-regular basis:
Really. I swear. It’s going to happen. I made myself a calendar of posts, and I always stick to my calendars.
3. I will actually use my Twitter account and tweet on a semiregular basis:
Last year it was Facebook. This year it’s Twitter.
4. I will continue writing and submitting short stories:
Pretty self-explanitory. I’m already doing it. So my goal is to continue doing it.
5. I will make some decisions about what I want to do with my life:
I’ve had some experiences in the last few months that have changed my ideas about this. I’m not sure I want to get a doctorate in comparative literature anymore. I’m not even sure that being a fulltime writer is the best decision for me, even though it’s been my dream since I was little. Not that I wouldn’t be able to be productive, but I’m very close to being a full-time writer now, because I only teach in the mornings, and I feel like if all I was doing was writing, I might go insane. This doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep writing, because of course I do. And this also doesn’t mean that I don’t want to get an MFA in creative writing. I still want to do that, for myself and for my writing. But I need to make some decisions about what I want to do after that.
I have two other goals that are worth mentioning:
- To be accepted into an MFA program.
2. To have another story published.
These are both obvious, based on what I already said. These goals are also out of my control. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take steps to accomplish them.
So here I come, 2015!