The Basement Office

Welcome Forward Motion members!    You guys gave me such a warm welcome over there, I’m very happy to see you visit!

I’ve been reading, listening and viewing all sorts of media related to writing.  I’ve joined some forums (of which Forward Motion is the only one that really interests me so far), I’ve talked to people.

All this roaming online has given me a lot to think about.  Figuring out what I want from my writing and from this site has been at the top of my list.

Let me show you what I’ve come up with so far.

Goals for my writing:

1 – Write more, write consistently

Duh!  Goes without saying.  Forgive me readers, but I need to put this here because I am a stubborn and lazy individual.  I need to keep this goal in my face.

2 – Try and sell something.

The goal here isn’t to actually sell anything.  I need to simply try.  I’m giving myself a concrete metric for this:  By the end of 2011, I’m hoping to collect at least 5 rejection letters for the manuscript (or another story) I’m working on.

I’ve always feared rejection.  I’m trying to turn it around and thrive on it.  I’m hoping this will work for me.

3 – Complete 2 manuscripts and start another completely different one

I have a first draft complete for a story that I really believe in and it needs some work.  I have a sequel to that manuscript in the works.  I am committing myself to completing both this year (and perhaps get them rejected several times in the process).   I am also committing to start another novel that is not related to those two stories, because I’m ready for something different.

4 – Learn to write short stories

I’ve always been extremely weak at writing short fiction.  I’ve always admired those that can do it well.  I want to spend some time learning to do it better.  I’ll be putting up a few short stories on the site and with luck, I’ll get some constructive comments (or at the very least, they’ll entertain someone).

5 – Serial!

I’ve started a serial.  It’s just a silly little story but I like it.  I’ve been putting up pieces as quickly as I write them without doing too much editting.  I would like to continue this.  In the process, I will try and polish them a little more, craft them a little better as the story continues.  Again, The Expensive Universal Instrument is just plain fun writing, so I hope it’ll eventually be just plain fun reading.

Goals for The Basement Office

1 – Keep it updated

I did nothing for this site in 2010.  This year will be different.  I doubt I can update it daily with my job, my family and various things in my life.  That said, I am committing to updating it at least once a week, if not twice a week.  I’ve got a few ideas for regular posts that I’d like to try out (the weekly prompt is my favorite, but I have others).  It’s my hope that if I’m not writing, I’m at least updating the site.  This will keep me thinking about writing, which usually leads back to me writing.

2 – Spread the word, build an audience

I don’t know if I have anything here (yet) to build an audience with.  I don’t know if what I have to say will be appealing to a large number of people.  I can only try to do my best and hope that someone out there will enjoy what I have to say.  This blog is a conversation about writing.  It’s a conversation with myself at this time, and I’m ok with that.  I’d love it if that changes for the better.

I have a bit of an agenda with all this.  The way I see it, if there are people who come to this site on a regular basis, people who expect me to entertain them, then I will be encouraged to write.

That’s what it’s all about in the end isn’t it?