Writing goals for 2018

As I mentioned in my last post, my writing goals for this year have slightly changed. I shall tell you why below.

My main goal last year was to get short stories accepted by women's magazines such as Woman's Weekly or The People's Friend. Well, that never came to anything and I realise why now. The stories I wrote weren't suited for them. I liked writing the stories but I now realise that they weren't the ones I enjoyed writing the most. The one I enjoyed doing the most was the one that did get accepted and published by the overseas magazine eg it had the sense of a ghost in it. So, one of my goals this year is to try to get another story accepted by this magazine.  I also want to get a story accepted by Spirit & Destiny magazine, who publish stories about magical realism topics such as angels and crystals. Just my cup of tea.

So my main aim this year is to write the genre that I enjoy working on, and that is magical realism. I have been writing Book 3 of my Secrets of Singleton series, which has made me realise this is what I like doing. So I want to write Book 4 this year, and continue next year.

I am continuing writing and publishing my Rainbow School series this year. I want to publish Book 3 (Susie) and Book 4 (Qessa) this year.

Also, as I had a few successes again last year with fillers being published in magazines, I am going to work on more of these this year. I have already sent a few off already to magazines and papers. Because of these successes, I have begun work again on the ebook about writing fillers, to include different markets and what they award for them.

One other creative thing I have begun this year is to write poetry. Now that I am not writing stories for womags, it frees up my mind for poems. I have already sent a few to magazines that publish them, which are womags. So I might end up being published in a womag, after all. 

So, they are my main writing goals this year. I shall blog when I get any successes with these. Watch this space....

2017 goals and how they went

I can't believe it's been two months since I wrote here. Probably because come November things went awry at home again when my mum had another bad fall and ended up with sciatica. Anyway, I am back to talk about how my writing goals went this year.

I published the last of my Geraldine's Gems ebooks called 'Birds Flock Together'. It is available on all digital platforms.

I published Charlie in print. It is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charlie-Captivating-Cap-Rainbow-School/dp/1548727415/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514640587&sr=8-1&keywords=Charlie+and+the+captivating+cap

I did hope to publish Susie but I got feedback from an editor in May which I had to work on, and at that time I was writing Qessa's story.

I wrote Qessa and Alistair's stories.

My other main goal was to have a short story accepted and published by a women's magazine. I did, by You (SA). It is based in South Africa so I haven't got to see it in print.

I did have a couple of letters published in magazines, which made up for it, esp the last one which gave me a prize of a natural beauty set worth £120.

Next year's goals will be slightly different. I will explain why next week.

Happy new year - Goals for 2017

Happy new year, everyone. So, I am back posting what my main goals are for this year. They will be more specific this year. Here we go:

1. Republish 'Billy', hopefully on Amazon KDP paperback service now. It appears that Createspace might have it's days numbered now.

2. Publish 'Birds'. Waiting for edits.

3. Publish 'Charlie' and 'Susie'. Need to send second edits to my editor once I get edits for Birds.

4. Write Qessa and Alistair's stories - already started the former.

5. Write more short stories for womags.

6. Get one story accepted by Woman's Weekly.

7. Get one story accepted by The Weekly News.

I would have put get a story accepted by Take a Break's Fiction Feast, but they no longer take stories from new authors. Boo. So, I don't buy that magazine any more.

8 Promote my Asper Fiction more.

9. Read more on the biz side of writing.

10. Keep my biz expenses up to date.

That is it for now. I think they are enough. So, what goals do you have?

Change in my writing goals

If you have been reading my recent FB posts, you will see that my writing goals have changed over the last week. One of my new year goals was to write pocket novels for My Weekly, and I have now decided that this isn't what I really want to do and what I can't really write, after all. Here is why:

Earlier this year I finished the pocket novel I had been writing and had sent a partial of to the RNA's New writing scheme for feedback. I sent it to my editor, who I know is v honest and truthful about my writing. It came back last week via email with lots of comments in the email itself. I've not read the actual edits yet. What the email said was that the ms was too flimsy and not good enough for a pocket novel, which I knew deep down myself. I emailed my editor to ask this of her, and she replied, yes, it's not good enough, but don't waste it. It made me realise that I can't write proper romance, only magical realism with a hint of romance. So, that writing goal has been deleted from my plans. I am going to continue writing the Geraldine's Gems and Singleton stories which are all magical realism with a touch of romance in, as I feel I can write those and I enjoy writing them. Just writing those last few words has also made me realise that I didn't really enjoy writing the romantic part of the pocket novel but I did enjoy writing the mystery bit.

I am continuing writing short stories for womags as I enjoy writing those. My main writing goal now is to be known as an indie children's author, esp about hope and Asperger's.

So, that is the change in my writing goals. The mss I still have upstairs in the cupboards I am keeping and will read them at a later time to see if they can be either made into children's books or serials for womags. So, not wasted.

My motto now is: write what you enjoy doing and what you know you can do.

My writing goals - an update

So, how are you getting on with your writing goals? I think I am coming along well with mine. Here is my progress so far:

Have almost finished the last mermaid story. Have printed it out and reading it out loud to find any errors. Have found a few already. Once I have done that, I shall email it to my editor.

Have finished the pocket novel and my editor is hopefully editing it for me now. Once I get that back, shall read any comments and suggestions for the first 3 chapters, do those and then email it off with a synopsis to the editor of My Weekly Pocket Novels.

Have begun reading and editing the first two books in the Asperkids series called 'The Rainbow School'. Am sticking with that title because someone suggested it corresponds with the autism spectrum, and a week later I saw a rainbow showing as the spectrum in a magazine. Have edited the first one which is about Billy, and have sent off the first two chapters of it for an author to comment on at the retreat. Started editing the second one about Charlie fainting, today. Have plotted out the third one about Susie and her heart problem, to work on at the retreat. All these books are loosely based on my primary school memories as a child with Asperger's and other health problems.

Still writing short stories for womags. Have two still with Take a Break's Fiction Feast, and one with Woman's Weekly which was rejected by TaBFF. Have been rewriting another for WW, from comments I got on the story blog, which were v helpful and it now reads like a story not a set of thoughts.

My client's picture book is finished and with the illustrator to work on again. Should hopefully be ready to publish for end of May. He is excited and so am I.

So, that is how I am getting on. Am v excited about publishing my Asperkids series as they are close to my heart.

Next post will be about having Asperger's, a way to promote my new series before I have published them.

Woman's Weekly Workshop

Yesterday I went to London Bridge, to the Woman's Weekly Workshop on writing a short story. I've been to a couple of them before, but now I am v serious about writing for womags, I wanted to go again and listen properly. As I had been before, I didn't know if Gaynor Davies the Fiction Editor of WW would recognise me. She did and said hello to me. I was chuffed. She co-presented the workshop with Della Galton. We had a theme to go on for the writing exercises, which as Freedom. I remembered something a friend told me in December about being free at last so used that as the main point for a story. We wrote the beginning,  then had to read our first sentence out. We filled in Della's character development sheet, which gave me an idea about the main character and how to end the story. We also wrote the last sentence of the story, which we were all congratulated on, esp me personally by Gaynor when I said goodbye. Before that, we were given handouts about the common ways that stories are rejected eg predictability and solutions to them. We also got the guidelines.
I really enjoyed the day despite being tired and my head doing a spin during the day from thinking.
I shall write the whole story when I have completed the ghost story for a competition. I already have an idea how it will pan out, I jotted notes down during the day.

I can't wait to go to the next one in April which will be on serial writing.

Writing short stories for womags - My journey so far

As well as wanting to be known as an indie children's author, I want to become a short story womag (women's magazine) writer. It is not as easy as some might think. For the last year I have bought the magazines and read the stories, but have only slightly taken in what they are really about and what the magazines like to publish. I continued this way until a couple of months ago when I posted one of my stories on the Strictly blog for comments. Boy, did I get comments or what. A couple of the writers, who have been successful at womag writing, said that I should take the time out to study the stories properly. So, that is what I started doing, one magazine at a time. I have started with Take a Break's Fiction Feast as that is the magazine that most of my stories I have been writing seem to go to eg quirky or spooky, stories that TaBFF publish a lot of. The only magazine that publish those sort of stories. I have been writing the studies in a nice pink book. I will study more later today. I have already sent 2 stories to this magazine; one in December and one last week.

Other things I have found out about writing short stories for womags, the main character has to relate to the reader, and the story has to flow. More linear. I tried one with flashbacks, but now thinking about it, it did take the reader away from the story a bit. It is now more linear, going from day to day.

The next magazine I will study I think will be Yours. They have one story in the magazine every issue, which is fortnightly. I do know they are stories that have families in, esp grandparents and nostalgia. I usually study stories written by regulars (writers who have had more than 1 published) first then the rest of the stories.

Will be back in a couple of weeks to let you know how I am getting on.

Writing diary - Weeks 5-6

So, what have I been writing these last two weeks, and how far have I got.

The pocket novel - I have been adding scenes throughout the novel where the heroine chats to her work colleague about her romance. Also the hero thinking about his past. Word count is now 49,306, so not far now to reach the 50K that My Weekly want for a pocket novel. I still have to revise the synopsis, but now that I know what is added to the story, I know what to add in that.

Short stories - I finished the edits of the Xmas short story according to the first lots of comments I got on the story blog. Put it on the blog again. I got more positive feedback this time, saying it read better. I still have a few things to add, mainly putting more of the senses in for the ghost, which I will do once I've finished revising the story I'm now working on. I am now revising the quirky short story I wrote in November. I put it on the blog and got lots of comments to make me think. One womag writer, Fran Tracey (Hiya, Fran) messaged me her notes on the story inc bullet points ones for me to read and think about. I have been editing the story according to those, and feel more confident about this story now and where it goes.

I have also started writing fillers or letters to magazines again. I emailed a letter to Healthy yesterday, so shall see what happens about that. Have another one in mind to send to another health magazine, which I might jot down later today.

I have also been updating my writing website www.julieaday.co.uk, as I am rebranding myself as a children's author.

And lastly, I have been emailing my lists about plot and what it isn't, along with exercises. This goes with the writing exercise ebook I have been working on for the last few months.

Next post will be something else about writing. Don't know what yet. Need to think about that one. Maybe about writing short stories for the womag market.

Writing diary - Week 4

I wasn't going to write this until next week but fellow womag writer, Jackie Sayle, wanted to know where it is. Here it is, a bit later than planned. I'm starting it from Sunday 24 January (where did that month go?)

Sunday - Worked on the pocket novel. It is now 45,680 words. Getting there.
Also worked on the Xmas story, and it went up to 1515 words. Was told that that is an awkward word count to have for womags so thought I'd cut it to 1200.

Monday - I booked and paid a deposit for the SCBWI writing retreat this year. Can't wait. I get so much writing done during that weekend. Plan to write short stories, start another children's ebook and maybe do some colouring and drawing.

Tuesday - Worked on Xmas story. Cut it down to 1298 words. Put it on the short story blog for comments.
Worked on pocket novel, word count up to 46,078. Feel like I can reach that 50K now.

Wednesday - Author client work day today. Read my client's picture book no 2. Words are simple enough for 5-7s. Emailed lists about plot and what it isn't, with exercise. If you wish to get these ideas and inspiration why not sign up to my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bwuQav

Thursday - Must have worked on pocket novel and story but it's blank in my planner. I think that was the day I got to read the comments on my Xmas story and they were frank and honest. I am grateful for them, as a couple of them gave me ideas straight away on how to improve the story. It is now a ghost story not a magical one. Had been reading how to write ghost stories by Kathleen McGurl who used to write womag stories. Got an idea from that, too. Reading and analysing more Take a Break's Fiction Feast mag now. Feel that is the first mag I want to get accepted by, even if they are the one mag that keeps all copyright of your story.

Friday - Worked on pocket novel and finished that draft. Hurrah. Now comes to 47,111 words. Still have a few thousand to go, so have decided to create scenes where the heroine chats to her work colleage about her new boyfriend and the romance.

Saturday - Worked on another writing exercise for the ebook I plan to publish later this year. These ones were for children's authors and I enjoyed writing them, that I have now decided to focus on writing for children as my main area of writing from this year. That will be the next post on here.

So that is my writing week just gone. Next time I will post about my diary in a couple of weeks as I plan to do it fortnightly from now on.

New writing goals

I have recently decided to have two different writing goals for next year: 1.Write serials for either Woman's Weekly and/or The People's Friend. 2. Write pocket novels for My Weekly. Here is why I have now chosen these goals, esp the latter one when I know I previously said I didn't want to write pocket novels.

I have been working on a first instalment of a serial for The People's Friend serial writing competition, and I really like doing it. You have to write the outline first to work out where the story goes, which I did for the competition. I have lots of ideas jotted down for novels, so next year I might go through them to see which ones, if any, can be used as a serial instead. I have found I really like writing romantic mystery stories, which is what the story I'm working on is about.

I have also been working on a novel, which I originally wrote in 2010, that I want to be a My Weekly pocket novel. I have submitted this already for the RNA's New Writing Scheme. I have a couple of chapters left to read through and possibly work on, then I will let it rest until I get my critique from the RNA. I have a few mss up in my bedroom wardrobe that I had sent to the RNA over the years and not done anything with, and I now think could be worked as pocket novels. So, my plan next year is to work on one of those alternately with an Aspiekid book. There are two reasons I now want to write pocket novels. They are: 1. If you get a pocket novel published, you can then later on get it published with a mainstream hardback publisher who sends it to the libraries. If this happens, you can then apply for PLR. Another opportunity to get money for your writing. 2. If you get a pocket novel published by My Weekly, there is a chance that you can get short stories accepted by them, too. This is the only way I know how to write for My Weekly, as they don't take stories otherwise, only from their established writers.

Along with these two goals, I am going to continue writing and sending short stories to womags. I have yet to get an acceptance this year so far, so my goal for this year possibly won't come to anything. Roll on next year.

Have an alternative plan

For what, you may ask? For whatever you're writing. I have an alternative plan for what I want to do with the entry for the People's Friend serial writing competition, if it doesn't win (which is likely because I know of a few others who are entering it). I really like this story I am writing; it's a romantic mystery. I have a Plan B and a Plan C for it. If it doesn't win, then I am going to try it with Woman's Weekly as a serial. If that doesn't work, Plan C is to put it on hold and write it later on as an ebook, which I will publish myself.

You can have alternative plans for most things you write. If you write short stories for women's magazines, then have an idea which other magazine you could send it to if it's rejected. This is a v good idea as there aren't many womags out there now that take stories.

Also, you can have a Plan B for the novel you are writing. I know most authors want to have their books accepted and published by a publisher, but in this day and age it is so hard to get that. You have to have an exceptional story to be taken on. So, the alternative is to self-publish it, and these days that is easy to do. It is also more mainstream and viable. So many authors are successful with their ebooks. And it's far quicker to get out to the readers.