New Year, New Writing Goals

I suppose it's a little past the time for making New Year's resolutions, but these aren't exactly resolutions... they're goals. Things that I have solid plans in place for how to achieve them, that I'm reasonably certain I can stick to. Writing goals include:

1. Finishing my editing assignment. I'm working on editing an 86,000 word document as an assignment for my mentor/author friend. It's not something that's going to be published, but at least I'll know that I can edit a full length manuscript over the course of a couple of months. Deadline for this is in two weeks.
2. Writing the first draft of the first book in a series that my mentor and I are working out the details for. This will probably be done sometime in March.
3. Roughing out the plans for the rest of the books in the series, to be done by mid-April.
4. Editing the first book in the series, to be done by the end of June.
5. Submitting the book to editors and/or agents and working on sequels for the rest of the year.
6. Keeping up with writing articles for Weird Worm.
7. Possibly searching for new paying markets, depending on whether I decide to focus my free time on article writing.

At this time, I don't have plans to edit and submit Mechalarum. I'm happy that I wrote it, and I may come back to it someday, but right now I have bigger fish to fry!

Work Continues on My NaNoWriMo Novel Mechalarum

Phew! I've passed by goal of writing 50,000 words in 14 days, and thus officially won NaNoWriMo! However, I've been given a new goal: to finish my entire novel in 28 days! It's a little tricky: I'm not sure exactly how long the novel is going to be when I'm done with it, so it's harder to set a desired word count per day.

Because of this, I've had a few days of pretty low word count - just a couple hundred words per day! Still, I'm intent on meeting this goal, even if it means squeezing in a lot of high word-count days towards the end of November! So, here's to days of many words!

Hope that all of my fellow NaNoWriMos are doing well in their quests. Leave a note to let us all know what you think of the challenge!

For continued updated on my NaNoWriMo novel, check out Mechalarum: A NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Novel.

NaNoWriMo 2010: Mechalarum Synopsis and More

The season is upon us! NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is here, and it's time to polish off your laptop, tablet, typewriter, or pad of paper, and get to writing 50,000 words in the month of November!

My novel for this NaNoWriMo is called Mechalarum. It's basically about a young woman struggling to save people who aren't entirely willing to accept her help, and trying to find her own identity at the same time. For more information and a full synopsis, check out Mechalarum: A NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Novel.

Want to follow my progress, or be my NaNoWriMo writing buddy? You'll find all you need and more on my NaNoWriMo profile page.

Not ready to take on the challenge this month? Click on the link to learn about other novel writing months.

The Ladder Down by Joanne Galbraith - Halloween Writing Contest Winner!

Justin hadn't heard the stories about old Mrs. Klein. Darkness swelled as he trooped along the path toward her black house, sweating in his Yoda costume. He swallowed hard, gazing at the gnarled bushes and slanted stair that led to her door.

"Good evening, young one." The gravely voice startled a peep from him. "You must be new to Crossroads. Most others are afraid."

"A- afraid of what, ma'am?" Justin backed away.

"Why, me of course." She cackled a laugh.

He flinched when she offered a shining apple.

"You are in luck, for I am feeling generous on this beautiful Samhain. Eat the flesh and plant the seeds in a place rich with moonlight. You will find what you have lost."

With wide eyes, Justin snatched the apple, cradling it gently in his hand as he bolted down the path. At home, he found his father passed out, stinking of whiskey. Nothing new. Justin didn't believe in fairy tales, but he'd lost so much he wanted to believe. He closed his eyes and bit into the apple, praying to whatever spirit may be listening.

After finishing the last bite, he moved into the back yard and dug a hole where the moonlight shone. He planted the core, lay down on the damp grass and waited, tears wetting his cheeks.

A sweet voice woke him hours later. A ladder poked out of a narrow hole in the ground beside him. As he scrambled down the rungs, he shouted, "Mom?"

Congratulations to Joanne Galbraith for winning the writing contest!

More from Joanne Galbraith: Joanne Galbraith, Aspiring Writer

Image by Patrick Hoesly on Flickr.

Halloween Is Closing In! Costumes, movies, music and more!

Halloween is almost upon us, and I've been busy over on Squidoo! Feast yourself on a wealth of Halloweeny-ness.

Like Halloween costumes? Then the following sites are for you! Learn how to make homemade Viking costumes, or how to make a homemade Sarah Connor Terminator 2 costume, if that's more your style.

Looking for entertainment? Find a whole list of great Halloween movies to watch, and Halloween music to listen to. After that, you can stop by and vote for the top ten best Halloween songs. If you prefer your entertainment in literary form, there's also a list of Halloween books for you to peruse. And don't forget to choose a story to win the Halloween story contest!

You can find a good little scare while selecting your top ten favorite Halloween monsters. Just don't get too scared!

Pumpkin picture composed using images by viZZZual and Ha-Wee on Flickr.