Tag: goals

goal update

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

I have good news and bad news on the goal front. Good news: I accomplished every one of my school-related goals. Even those pesky tests are finished (don’t ask how they did…*shudder*). Bad news: Not one of my personal goals was accomplished. The kitchen looks better, “Secondhand Rush” is in the middle of an overhaul that might well cut the first couple thousand words (see my next post for details), moles are alive and well, invisible fence is still a worthless underground wire, and the laundry has claimed my bedroom in the name of its king. Most unhappily, not one word of new story has been written. I can use my real job as an excuse again, but the jobby-type job is not going away. I have to do better. I don’t have to do better every week, but my aims were low and I did not achieve them.

Next week will be better after Tuesday.  I’ll even be able to do a bit of writing at school (don’t tell my principal).  My mother and grandmother are coming to visit next weekend, followed by my best friend’s bachelor party. And then: Mother’s Day.   Some combo, huh?  I’ll be bipolar by the end, possibly even schizophrenic.  But that basically gives me seven days to clean the house for Nana (who will try to clean for me if it’s not perfect…clean her way).  We’ll see.  But I vow, writing will be accomplished.

(Drat!  Ended in passive voice!)

Submission streak

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

I have just surpassed my submission total from 2008.  And that doesn’t even include my applications to Clarion or Clarion West.  It is April, right?

I have always been a slow submitter.  I didn’t keep very good records when I started.  I seldom had more than one or two stories in the wind at a time.  Right now I have four.  Okay, three since “Leech Run” is obviously not getting scooped out of the slush at Baen’s Universe.  Still, “Brother Goo”, “Glow Baby”, and “Excuse Me” are all out being considered.  I also intend to send one tentatively titled “How Quickly We Forget” to Every Day Fiction (depending on how it looks when I read it over; it’s a one-draft story right now).  My Kree story is really close to finishing its first draft and its process should speed up soon.

This may not sound like much, but it’s a gushing output for me.  In my own submission defense, I spent a lot of time the past couple years hopping from unfinished novel to unfinished novel, a lot less focus on shorts.  Still, my work ethis was poor and my submission confidence was low.  The community I discovered while applying to the Clarions has helped me greatly.  My good showing on the CW list and my WotF HM (I’d like to buy a vowel) have helped my confidence, too.

My new goal is to surpass my total of documented submissions before December.  That’s just twenty-six including stories I sent to the Critters workshop.  I’ve sent more — I only started keeping track in 2004 — but twenty-six is a lofty goal for me, full time job and all.  Of course acceptances are likely to slow the pace down, them taking longer to process and forcing to write new stuff to submit.  If that forces me short of my goal, I’ll find a way to cope.

-Oso