I have decided to set myself some New Year's Resolutions to keep my writing and reading on track in 2017.
Hopefully I will feel more incentive to complete them by declaring all five resolutions publicly on the blogosphere! Here we go.
1. Read and review one self-published book each month - I believe independent writers should help other writers. Finding time to read an independent writer's work and honouring them with a well-written review is a noble gesture, one which I did three times in December. Better yet, it could lead to my work being reviewed in return.
2. Read another novel for pleasure each month - I only read 13 books in 2016, which was one of my lowlights. Writers are made better at their craft by reading, so I need to up my page-turning game.
3. Finish Nephos 3 - I have over 80,000 words of my new Nephos novel burning a hole in my Dropbox. I need to write three times that before I am close to finishing the novel. This is the year when I need to make that happen. Two books doesn't feel like a series, which is why this third entry is so important. I will then feel less guilty about taking a break from Nephos and pursuing other projects...
4. Finish Breadcrumbs 2 - This is a little optimistic because I will prioritise Nephos 3, but it would be great to release my second short story collection in 2017. I have enough for half a collection, so I will need to write some original short stories and possibly a novella to bulk out the spine.
5. Enter Room 204 - Once again, I will enter Writing West Midlands' writer development programme known as Room 204. I wasn't chosen last year, despite my lovely application video, but I will try again because it could lead to some fantastic opportunities.
Meet me back here at the end of 2017 to see if the above were achieved!
Sign up to Simon's newsletter to hear more about his reading and writing projects.
Hopefully I will feel more incentive to complete them by declaring all five resolutions publicly on the blogosphere! Here we go.
1. Read and review one self-published book each month - I believe independent writers should help other writers. Finding time to read an independent writer's work and honouring them with a well-written review is a noble gesture, one which I did three times in December. Better yet, it could lead to my work being reviewed in return.
2. Read another novel for pleasure each month - I only read 13 books in 2016, which was one of my lowlights. Writers are made better at their craft by reading, so I need to up my page-turning game.
3. Finish Nephos 3 - I have over 80,000 words of my new Nephos novel burning a hole in my Dropbox. I need to write three times that before I am close to finishing the novel. This is the year when I need to make that happen. Two books doesn't feel like a series, which is why this third entry is so important. I will then feel less guilty about taking a break from Nephos and pursuing other projects...
4. Finish Breadcrumbs 2 - This is a little optimistic because I will prioritise Nephos 3, but it would be great to release my second short story collection in 2017. I have enough for half a collection, so I will need to write some original short stories and possibly a novella to bulk out the spine.
5. Enter Room 204 - Once again, I will enter Writing West Midlands' writer development programme known as Room 204. I wasn't chosen last year, despite my lovely application video, but I will try again because it could lead to some fantastic opportunities.
Meet me back here at the end of 2017 to see if the above were achieved!
Sign up to Simon's newsletter to hear more about his reading and writing projects.