Writing projects for 2023: plans and support

[GrandMarnierChocolate]

Anyone else making new plans for creative writing in the new year? My 2022 plans fell apart, as usual 😭

So, 2023 is the year I finally publish something. This was my 2022 goal too… 👀

I intend to log my progress here to keep myself accountable. I’m leaving novels aside for now and am aiming to write a short story every week for the year and to publish at least ONE of those on Amazon so that I can learn the whole self-publishing process. Ideally I’ll publish 12 short stories in the year and, most importantly, get some feedback to help me steer my writing.

Short history: I’ve written about 5 or 6 novels over the last 30 years, taking years to edit each of them, swap critiques with writer friends, revise, polish and proofread, and finally submit to agents, only to abandon them eventually (two requests for fulls in all that time that went nowhere). I know my weakness is plotting, so I’ve been reading how-to books on that, plus I’m armed with Plottr software now, which I’m pretty sure is going to change my life.😜

I’d love some company on my journey. Anyone else ready to check in for support, advice, encouragement, all the things?😅

ooh I love these kinds of books

New joiner here.
I'm writing a non fiction book of my academic work for a non academic audience.

Thank you so much for the encouragement!

At times, I wonder if I'm just shouting into a bucket. But I keep thinking it must be worth doing, and comments like this breathe life back into me. 🥰

I just had a stroke of genius re: planning things!

The thing I find most difficult is getting the detailed timelines right. And somehow I can't get my head round it all in Plottr because I can never quite get exactly what I want to see all on the screen at once.

So the stroke of genius is this: I've created a calendar in Outlook! so I can populate it with events, colour coded (character/theme), and shuffle them around as necessary. Open each "appointment" to make detailed notes. And view weekly, monthly, daily or whatever.

Not sure if this will appeal to anyone else but I am so excited!

Writing is a bit like using a teaspoon to hack away at a coalface and sometimes you need a change of tool.

Welcome @cirillaofcintra Two hefty practice novels you've got there! Good luck!

Hi @Magnoliamarigold What's your subject? How far in are you?

I like your idea, Alcemeg, re. calendar. I'm always looking for new ways to outline (this week I've left Plottr and am back to post-its), although I know deep down that it's because I actually can't plot rather than not having the right tool.

I’m a late joiner.

I really want to write but have never really got very far. I need to ring fence some time for it…

I’ve loved reading through the thread- hoping it will inspire me!

Welcome @rainbowsandcloudyskies !
Do it. Do it... DO IT!!!! 🤓

End of Week 5 update:
Didn't do great this week. I wrote a 2K-word story that's fit for the bin! Am beginning to lose faith in my project because I don't like anything I'm writing. But, I'm happy that I'm sitting down and writing something every day. The theory is that something good will happen eventually.

I'm also aware that this is my greatest weakness – I start out with an idea/plan and am so enthusiastic about it and then I abandon it. Which is why I have a little reminder to update this thread every week. To keep me on track.

Joining this thread…watching with interest.

Hi, thought I would join in to help get some motivation... I can't work at the moment due to ill health/disability, so I've been attempting to do some creative writing now my DC are at school. I haven't been getting very far though, partly because I keep having stupid flare ups in my hands but also because I run out of motivation!

So far this year I've discovered that I quite like writing silly little poems, so I'm sort of building myself up to going back to the stories I started ages ago. That's what I keep telling myself anyway!

I've written two 150k-word manuscripts so far ('practice novels' really as I don't think they're publishable)

Now I'm wondering whether my first manuscript, which I am working on is just a practice novel. I don't want it to be, but it needs a lot of polish. I'm getting bogged down in tense, ing words and too many 'that', 'and', 'she' but I'm not even on that stage of editing yer.

@LuciferRising You learn so much by doing, but knowing what's worth pursuing is hard. I'm still not there. I think everything I write is okay, then awful, then okay, then publishable, then shit. And then I abandon it. This time I'm convinced I'll go further and self-publish and get some honest reviews. Sigh. Still, it's like a drug – gotta keep going.
Would you consider looking for a beta reader or two (there are groups on Facebook) once you've reached the end of this edit?

@Flowerpothouse Silly little poems sound fab! Keep going!

My weekly progress:
I wrote something every day = victory!
I also submitted one 500-word piece in the Flash Fiction February challenge = victory! (I don't care if it's selected to appear in the anthology or not but am so happy to have submitted.)

@Flowerpothouse I carry an old diary around with me - I have it now, I'm in a cafe, I'm away in my campervan for week, I carry it in my rucksack, I've been out walking all day - I try to write a haiku every day - I manage that about a third of the time TBH but some days manage to write 5-6 based on things I've noticed while out walking - having or wanting to write motivated me to look and to think harder and longer about everything going on around me and what I see and later on when I reflect on things while searching for something to write about - writing increased my engagement with life and with myself. I take photographs but my haiku actually mean more to me. If you read around about haiku you'll understand that there is more to them than you might think - they're actually quite difficult to write well but satisfying when I think I captured something well.

It's a little exercise. I have no intention of publishing or sharing them - I do it to practice thinking, writing, making decisions, simplifying, identifying the most important elements, etc.

Sadly, imho, a lot of awful poetry is written around end rhyming and completely misses so many other techniques and important issues - I find that haiku writing helps to work on many other facets of poetry writing.

@larkstar That sounds really lovely, I remember doing haiku in school years ago so maybe I'll do a little reading and give one a go next week. I don't get out much though so it might end up being about a cheese sandwich or something equally mundane...!

I was struggling to get anything written down at all and then remembered that I'd enjoyed poetry as a child and started messing about. My poems are very random, usually about something that's on my mind - some rhyme, some don't, I've even got one where all of the words are completely made up (it's actually one of my favourites because it feels fun to say it!). Like you I don't feel they're for sharing or publishing, just to do some writing exercise, but I'm enjoying doing them and it makes me feel like I've at least accomplished a little something!

@GrandMarnierChocolate that sounds fantastic! What is the "Flash Fiction challenge"? (Sorry if that's a silly question!)

Flowerpothouse, this is the flash fiction challenge: activatedauthors.com/flash/
I'd never heard of them before but am doing their daily prompts (and veering well off course when I don't like the prompts but happy to be writing anyway[.

larkstar, I love the idea of haiku and carrying a notebook.

@Alcemeg I love your idea of the outlook calendar alot!! Brilliant. And hi all, this thread is a great idea. I'm finishing one novel and a couple of chapters in to my second. Both historical romance. :-)

I have a haiku diary! It’s an A6 notebook in a velvet pouch, with a pencil, which comes everywhere with me and I try to summarise the high or low lights of each day in the 5, 7, 5 syllable scheme before I go to bed. I started it because I’m a morning person and read somewhere about the benefits of forcing yourself to write at your ‘wrong’ time of day. Mine are dire examples of the form but I enjoy the process. It’s definitely helping with the day writing, for which I use the Forest app and work in 25 minute bursts. Otherwise the book just keeps writing itself in my head and I have nothing to show for all that mental effort.

Week 7: Wrote a very short story that is really just the beginning of something i.e. not a short story at all. Disappointed that my efforts are getting shorter and less interesting every week. Agh! Really don't want to give up now. On the other hand, I'm still writing a tiny piece of flash fiction every day, sometimes as short as 200 words, but happy about that. I'm sure all the effort of actually writing something will pay off eventually...

Week 8: Wrote 3.6K words about a summer job I had when I was a student. Not sure if it can be made into a proper story but I'll probably continue it later.

At least you are writing! I had a look at the flash fiction and hope there is a march one. I wrote a 200 word one but had to travel for work and was to tired to format and submit.

My novel is going OK. Dragging now. 17 months in.

I don't know if there's a March one but I'm sure you could find something similar. I've managed to write something every day (which was my main goal[ but most of them are going nowhere. I only submitted two so far!

I wish I could help to motivate you to keep going with your novel but the truth is it's so hard! Maybe spend some time trying to write things like a marketing blurb about your book to get you thinking about it in another way and maybe that'll remind you why you wanted to write it?

Have had covid so spent last two days listening to a Udemy course on writing. Just seeing all the exampless flashed up, practicing editing and then seeing the instructors versions was really helpful. Wasn't really for creative writing but will be immensely helpful for both work and my novel!

Oh no, poor you with covid. Get better soon! Udemy course sounds interesting. I'm a huge fan of always learning more. I especially like listening to audio versions of craft books because, even if they all say the same thing more or less, they always seem to apply directly to my current project.

Week 9: closing this week with a story of 9K that's really more like the outline of a novel. This was something I wrote ages ago and just copied/pasted and edited a bit. Don't care. Am counting it! Also managed to submit a third story in the flash fiction challenge on the last day, which I'm happy about – 3 submitted in total.

I'm also in - belatedly - for check ins and support.

Started my 2nd attempt a writing a novel in Jan because an idea popped into my head when I was ill (literally a fever dream) and decided I really want to give it a proper go.

Think I've finally accepted that, yes, writing is hard but unless I sit in front of the computer each day and bang out the words however tortuously I'll never do it.

Have set myself the goal of 500 words a day (most days). Using WriteTrack to motivate myself which is working pretty well so far.

Have realised that all my scenes so far are the 2 main characters talking to each other and not doing anything so that's working less well...

Kudos to everyone knocking out 1000s words a week / writing with toddlers / actually publishing stuff

Just write anything, even if it's bad. Once the words are down you can edit them later.

I am finding ChatGPT useful. I'll paste a few paragraphs in and ask it what is happening, or for a character profile to see if it aligns with what I am aiming for. Even if my novel is a flop, I am content knowing AI gets it.