Discussion What are your 2022 Writing Goals?

[Jem Fossk]

I find setting intentions at the start of a year gives me something to circle back to whenever I feel like something isn't sitting quite right.

Last year I focused on the voice and tone of each character, this year I'm working on my flow. I'd like my sentences to become less... lazy and more precise, which right now has me in an awkward middle ground of choppy. as. fuck.

But I like working on it!


What about you? What's a writing skill you'd like to hone on over the course of this year? Set the intention, see where it goes!

 

[Jerec Asyr]

I want all my intros to start with good hooks, not exposition.

I want to decommission the word 'was.'

I want to limit my use of sentence fragments to moments where they'd be impactful. Like right now.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

I want to get another short story or two sent out/proposed for publication, and a heroic fantasy novella written.

 

[Nerd Wizard]

I still have the same problem I did when my writing developed beyond a basic level: I write like Edgar Allen Poe - one run-on sentence leading into another just as bad, and I sometimes qonder if that'll ever change. For some weird reason, too, I SUCK at writing beginnings - anything after a proper beginning, on to an end, flows and come about easily enough, but I'm terrible and blank-out in regards to the starting point of anything,

Finding the time and energy to dedicate to any writing at all would be a miracle in itself, but otherwise I'm just as freshly-devoted to the preservation of the old EU (that way SW will never die no matter what the Mouse does) and with using that old lore to craft my own OCs and, to a lesser degree, technology, even if I only have so little time to get any of the things I want done at the end of my long days at work.

I hope you all can accomplish more and grow, as writers, over this new year, as well.

 

[Dagon Kaze]

not lose a padawan to the dark side : pain :

 

[Beatrice Govan]

Brevity.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

I want to get another short story or two sent out/proposed for publication, and a heroic fantasy novella written.

I keep forgetting to ask - what do you write, short story-wise?

 

[Julian Qar]

I'm def going to focus on repetition and wrangling in some of lore/narrative into something more manageable and not full of fluff. Def another goal of mine is to expand my writing circle and challenge myself with different plot points,etc.

 

[Iris Arani]

Get better at writing an engaging story, and getting my thoughts actually out in my posts. A lot of times I'll start writing a post and what I intended to type out gets lost, so I abbreviate and meh through it.

And write up my dnd adventure to start selling stuff on DMsGuild. Big money here I come.

 

[Easy-G97]

Just get better in general. I feel like I still have a lot to learn when it comes to roleplaying. Especially in the story writing area. Coming from a roleplay community, where it's all about fighting and being the strongest, I feel like I have lots of problems with how to describe a character and play the characters accordingly.

Also, meet lots of new people with all my characters and engage in some nice roleplays and just have fun!

 

[Daedros]

Well, last year my parents didn't agree with me writing and having my mind in my own fantasy world. Before that, I was a great writer and could write with anything but I've last it over a year's time. So my goal is to pursue it again, get as good as I was before, and possibly even better.

Also I would like to start Dming again. I always loved it and had fun with the few people I had to play 1ed D&D. I do have a good quest thought of.

 

[Arlo Renard]

I mentioned this in another New Year's resolution thread, but I want to stay focused on what I have going already, rather than making new characters on a whim. Recently I've felt like I was sleepwalking through most threads, doing the bare minimum just to keep the plot moving rather than putting the extra effort in to make it genuinely good writing. I want to stop doing that - which again, may mean I have to cut down on how many threads and ideas I devote my time to.

I'm also finding that I don't have as much interest in factions anymore, or at least not major factions. Instead I'm moving towards writing with a small group of friends/people I know. I find this more enjoyable and it leads to a better experience overall. MFs can be fun, but it's also a lot to keep track of. Being sick caused me to fall off the bandwagon. I'm not so sure I want to get back on at this point, though I may wind up doing it if my friends all go on extended LOAs or whatever.

Aside from that... I dunno, lol. I used to look at Chaos as a temporary thing, something I was doing to pass the time until the world went back to normal, but I'm not in such a hurry to move on anymore. I like it here, I've made some friends who are good people, and I guess I just want to remember that this year, come what may.

 

[Lief]

1) Actually write!
2) Write quicker/shorter/but still impactful posts
3) Even with the above in mind, have some fun with lengthier, more prosaic threads! Because every once in a while they're so much fun to sink your teeth into
4) Keep working toward fully finishing threads (I think already this year I've been doing a much better job with this one!!)

 

[Bernard of Arca]

Write every day. Be it a sentence or just a few words on some days. Look over the writing every month (fiddling with this interval still) or so to notice areas for improvement (basic stuff like grammar, passive voice, decreasing the use of "was", improving vocabulary, etc.)

Maybe finally get a new keyboard to write with that doen't wallow letter.

 

[Yula Perl]

Less focus on wondering if a post is “good enough”, more focus on having fun writing even if I’m not producing my best work.

 

[Geiseric]

Showing more, telling less

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

I keep forgetting to ask - what do you write, short story-wise?

A little bit of many things! I have two stories in anthologies coming up, one featuring Sinbad getting shipwrecked in Atlantis as part of a shared public domain character universe and the other featuring an all-women’s barnstorming group that is also a freelance spy ring facing against air pirates in 1930s Shanghai. Also a bunch of short stories in a world inspired by post-Roman Britain, King Arthur, and Fae lore, as well as tinkering with some sword and sorcery and space opera stuff.

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Finally deciding between British and American English spellings. To u or not to u. I don't know what I'm doing.

For real, I want to get better at starting stories in medias res. Since I normally begin a thread as close to the beginning of the main action, or even before, as possible, I want to move towards getting comfortable starting in the middle and then filling the plot out from there: in other words, less front-loading narrative, more weaving in explanations.

 

[Junko Ike]

Finally reach 1000 posts in solo training/exploration thread 895/1000 posts as of this morning

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Write more than one character…




But in reality, there are a few things that I would like to work on. Being more descriptive in my writing, using commas a whole lot less, and making longer posts are my main ones.

My goal while writing is to make my post engaging enough that someone who isn’t a part of the thread wants to go and read it. That lets me know that I’m doing something right.