Writing Goals for 2023

[SimonDoom]

This is sort of a follow up to Lovecraft's thread for assessing your writing in 2022. What are your goals for writing, here at Lit and elsewhere, if applicable, for 2023?

I am NOT going to set overly ambitious goals for 2023 in terms of production of stories. I tend to fall far short of those goals and it gets discouraging. These goals seem realistic:

1. I'm going to try to write, on average, at least one full short story (or full short story-sized chapter) per month. That's just an average, not a rigid schedule. This is a goal I have achieved before and almost achieved last year, so it's not unreasonable, especially because I already have a stock of 38 or more partly written stories that I can finish.

2. I have some personal numerical goals I want to achieve in terms of followers and views. It doesn't matter what they are since nobody knows what they really mean, but they mean something to me as markers of progress relative to where I am now.

3. I'd like to publish in at least two new categories.

4. I want to finish and publish my Halloween story once and for all.

5. I want to finish and publish my Valentine's story once and for all.

6. Most importantly, I want to feel by the end of the year that my writing has improved: better prose style; crisper story telling; deeper and more plausible characterization.

7. I want to finish a movie screenplay I've been working on within the first quarter of 2023.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Ooh, fun, making commitments we'll come to regret for a hobby thats supposed to be uncomplicated relaxation. You'd have to be a fool to take part.

1. Finish my novel. Currently 36k words and about half-way and suffering a semi - existential crisis after my first round of beta reading (Odds - actually pretty high, as I still have basic faith in the story)

2. Clear out my drafts folder and get back to writing only one story at a time -ok, tops three. (Odds - dropped the number down from it's highest level of 7 to 5 this month, novel included, but then started a new one yesterday so it's very literally two steps forward and one step back. Having said that I can win at anytime by just doing control-a control-x and then finding my Abandoned folder, so this is a cinch)

3. Write a story in each sensible category on Lit. That is no chain stories, nonEnglish or, given my artistic and rhyming abilities, no illustrated or poetry either. (Odds - I'm already about half way through and my aforementioned new story is in the 'nonhuman' category which had previously been giving me trouble.)

4. Get more than half of my stories with an H rating (Odds - currently at 8/20 so doesn't seem that hard but dangerous to attempt at the same time as experimenting with brave new categories, and I'm bound to shoot myself in the foot by attempting to radically revitalize each genre as I visit it - then again story culling is always a thing...)

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I want to write a bunch of shorter stories (3-5k words). I also want to publish some non-erotic works.

 

[KeithD]

I have two series novellas and a novel that's had some research done on it for two decades in the mainstream that I would like to get to in 2023, setting aside my habit of writing up the erotica first. It would also be nice still to be alive at the end of 2023.

 

[MajorRewrite]

3. Write a story in each sensible category on Lit. That is no chain stories, nonEnglish or, given my artistic and rhyming abilities, no illustrated or poetry either. (Odds - I'm already about half way through and my aforementioned new story is in the 'nonhuman' category which had previously been giving me trouble.)

I have a twist on that. I want to write one story that includes elements from every story category. It’s my “all inclusive challenge“ idea. A family goes on vacation to an all-inclusive resort (see what I did there) where they have quite a wild time.

 

[Omenainen]

I have one non-Lit writing project that I wish to work on. Not that I’d complete it, but at least meaningfully work on it.

Here on Lit I have a goal of hosting my event in the beginning of 2023 and then at the end half of the year to set up the 2024 event. I do hope I’ll write some stories for publishing here, but I’d almost prefer collaborating over my own stories. Anyway I don’t have any sort of goals for that.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Well, if it is possible to actually set such a goal, it would be keeping decent enthusiasm for writing. It has been fun so far, yet I do feel I am losing interest somewhat. Writing takes up a lot of time, especially since I don't see myself ever writing short stories. As I am not writing for any kind of monetary gain, that means that my enthusiasm is partly fueled by the feedback I am getting from readers here... and while the feedback does exist, it is not really that impressive.

 

[GrantBricksly]

This is sort of a follow up to Lovecraft's thread for assessing your writing in 2022. What are your goals for writing, here at Lit and elsewhere, if applicable, for 2023?

I am NOT going to set overly ambitious goals for 2023 in terms of production of stories. I tend to fall far short of those goals and it gets discouraging. These goals seem realistic:

1. I'm going to try to write, on average, at least one full short story (or full short story-sized chapter) per month. That's just an average, not a rigid schedule. This is a goal I have achieved before and almost achieved last year, so it's not unreasonable, especially because I already have a stock of 38 or more partly written stories that I can finish.

4. I want to finish and publish my Halloween story once and for all.

I actually have very similar goals that I have been thinking about. My goal is to have at least one story each month. Ideally something that I can publish right at the beginning of the month, so that it has all month to accrue votes/views toward the monthly contests (assuming they eventually get caught up)

I'd also like to submit at least one story for each Special Contests. I have one I have been working on now since mid November for the Winter Holiday contest. I didn't get it done in time, but am really rolling with it now. And hope to have it done soon. It also happened to inspire a story that will work perfectly for Valentines Day as well. So I'm well on my way there.

My only other goal, is to do better with rating. My last few stories have done fairly well. I have 2 that are "Hot" I would like to keep doing that. I would love to get up closer to 4.8-4.9 range where a lot of the winning stories seem to be.

 

[HeyAll]

Same goals as always.

1) Improve writing quality

2) Find new readers, though I write in the same categories

3) Re-edit old stories

I wanted to venture into Loving Wives because they have lots of favs/votes there, but my last story there (a few months ago) didn't perform that well to compared to others in that genre, so I'm giving that up.

 

[Alitaptap]

I write mostly poems and short work, so my mind can’t look that far ahead, especially when doing something I love. So my only goal is to complete the Pink Orchid challenge, since it’s the longest I’ve ever written. Hopefully, once I reach that point, another goal will spring up.

So my only hope for next year is to write. Even if it’s just a few lines here or there, then maybe it all comes together into something cohesive or even remotely legible. Fingers crossed!

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Last year, I tried to publish a story every month, and only missed one month. I'm going to try again this year, and hopefully I can do twelve in a row. I also want to get better at proofreading. Nothing worse than noticing missing words after a story has been published. Lastly, I want to finish the last few chapters of a few of my stories, hopefully sooner than later.

 

[Seadog777]

Ooh, fun, making commitments we'll come to regret for a hobby thats supposed to be uncomplicated relaxation. You'd have to be a fool to take part.

This was a great reply. Made me laugh.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Writing goal: finish a fucking story.




(Pun intended)

 

[SimonDoom]

Ooh, fun, making commitments we'll come to regret for a hobby thats supposed to be uncomplicated relaxation. You'd have to be a fool to take part.

 

[Seadog777]

Gimli is awesome!!!

 

[Seadog777]

I want to continue to improve as a writer.
I know that I still have much to learn.
I'd like to finish Part 2 to "My Sneaky Wife Jennifer". I'm absolutely stuck.
I'd like to finish all my unfinished, non-holiday stories by the spring.
I'd like to enter more than a single contest in 2023.

Those come to mind immediately.

 

[SimonDoom]

Gimli is awesome!!!

He is, and it's one of the ways in which the movie is better than the book, because he's a far more entertaining character in the movie.

 

[Seadog777]

He is, and it's one of the ways in which the movie is better than the book, because he's a far more entertaining character in the movie.

His quick little quips like that throughout the movies, really helps make them memorable.

I've never read the LOTR books. I personally only know 1 person who has, and he said the same thing.

 

[SimonDoom]

His quick little quips like that throughout the movies, really helps make them memorable.

I've never read the LOTR books. I personally only know 1 person who has, and he said the same thing.

I love the books. I read them as a kid and I've re-read them all the way through several times. I never thought it would be possible to turn the trilogy into a decent movie but I thought Jackson's movie trilogy was excellent. The books don't have much humor, but the movie does a great job using Gimli for comic relief and as you say great quips and quotes.

 

[MelissaBaby]

This is sort of a follow up to Lovecraft's thread for assessing your writing in 2022. What are your goals for writing, here at Lit and elsewhere, if applicable, for 2023?

Job applications, mostly.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Simon, I personally will be content if I can keep out of your slipstream.

 

[Djmac1031]

My goals are simple really.

Write more, and write better.

I'm proud of almost every story I've ever written, but I look back at some and think "what if?"

What if I'd taken more time? Fleshed the story, and / or characters out more?

Then there's the series I've started I've never finished because I simply ran out of ideas. Or got greedy on and tried to continue what should have remained a one shot story.

I have no illusions about writing a novel. I'm a simple man with simple ideas.

But I definitely want to write more complete stories, more in depth, more complex.

 

[Rob_Royale]

My first goal is to come up with at least a half dozen good ideas. I have two. So I'd like to work on getting a year's worth of ideas and begin the brainstorming/outlining process. Then I'll start writing one. I'll pretty much wing it from there.

 

[NightPorter]

1. Continue to improve as a writer.
2. Finish the story I'm currently writing.
3. Finish my long stalled Erotic Horror series.
4. Start and finish a completely different story.
5. Practice on writing something short. (My stories tend to get a little wordy.)

 

[ofbuttons]

1. Get that H! I just started with a few short chapters of a story up, and another series (with a little more substance, I hope) on the way. Both got lowballed immediately before settling around 4.2, so I'm hoping that stories with more care and longer chapters will do better.
2. On that note - longer stories, longer chapters. Only as much as they need, but I want to avoid getting impatient and short changing myself.
3. Get a nice little library of stories up by the end of 2023.

Bonus. Maybe fix my very first story/chapter, which is full of typos. See: impatience.