I’ve been meaning to review my writing goals for 2023 for a while. It was good to look back at last year’s post Writing Plans for 2023 to see what I’ve achieved, what I still need to do and also judge if these goals are still important to me. I have to admit that even though we’re over half way through July, it doesn’t look good for my long list of tasks.

You can also see straight away why this blog has been so quiet – it’s all down to goal 1.

Goal 1 achieved – Get a part time job to bring in some money and support my writing. I’ve been employed for just over 3 months now. It’s been good getting back into the workplace and I’m enjoying my role, but fitting writing into my new schedule has been harder than expected.

As well as working in my new job and trying to keep everyone sane at home through the stresses of exams, I’ve been busy editing Secrets and Love Songs at The Mermaid Hotel (formerly known as Evie’s Song). This leads me to…

Goal 2 achieved – Join the Romantic Novelist Association’s New Writer Scheme. I managed to secure my membership the day it opened in January. Since then I’ve been able to send a full MS off to a professional reader for feedback. I hope to get that report back by the end of the month and then I can decide my next steps. While I wait, I’ve been reading the draft of book two to see where the story needs development. I’m also planning to add in the VP of the hotel owner, especially as part of the storyline for book 2 links back to her past. How I’m going to deal with that is still a mystery to me so there is still lots of work to do. I need to write approx 60K to this draft to bring it close to the word count of book 1. No problem!

An extra achievement – Whilst looking for work at the beginning of the year, I received some 1-2-1 help from A2 Housing Association’s employment service. It played a big part in helping me gain the confidence to apply for jobs and I’ve recently appeared on their website. You can read the news article here.

Delayed goals

My fantasy series The Starlight Prophecy is still stalling and I’m struggling to find my way back into the story. I tried for a month of frustrated false starts that left me feeling deflated. Maybe I need to accept that I’m still not ready to write this series even though it really hurts me to give up on it. I love Delphine, my troubled anti-heroine, and I want to tell her story and share it with the world. Maybe her time will come soon…

A new short story collection – I haven’t written much short fiction, at least not much that is worthy of putting in a new book. This is disappointing as I really enjoyed writing last year’s books, especially A Christmas Wish. Those stories still make me feel good when I think about them and I desperately want to replicate that. I also still want to revisit the world of the Silent Sea Chronicles but again not much has happened there apart from a vague storyline that won’t leave me alone.

Goals that are still in progress… or at least I still plan to do at some point.

Approach libraries to stock my books and see what formats they accept. This will lead on to whether I should publish large print editions of my short story collections and if hardback editions of all books are worthwhile.

Update all books with publication details of the short story collections published in 2022, which also means I need to reformat all books to conform with the new table of contents Amazon prefer.

Contact reviewers

Set up book Ads

The dreaded tax return – this really should be a priority!

Short term plans

Work on the romance series – Decide if book 1 is ready for the next stage. Edit and develop book 2.

I’m enjoying reading a fellow author’s book – ‘Your book won’t well itself: An introduction to writing and publishing’ by GJ Stevens. I’ll share a review here as soon as I’ve finished reading it, but spoiler alert I think it’s a great starting point for those considering becoming an Indie author.

I’ve signed up for an RNA course that runs through September. Led by Jessica Redland, it’s called ‘A series bestseller’s guide to writing a series’. I attended her last course in series settings in March and enjoyed it, so I’m really looking forward to this one. It could be just what I need to get me writing again. Plus I hope to see some familiar faces amongst the other writers taking part as I know a few of the writers on the March course were signing up to this as well.

Now it’s time to leave this update and get on with some writing!

I will try to review my goals again during the last quarter of 2023 and I hope to have some positive news on both the romance and fantasy series I’m writing. Wish me luck.

How are your goals for 2023 shaping up? What have you achieved so far this year?

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories

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