What's your 2009 writing plan? Poll.

As this year ends, I'm looking forward to my upcoming writing year, and I wondered about what yours has in store for you. Mine's gonna be busy.

First there's the marketing of my writing book, Jump-start Your Novel with Kitty-cats in Action. There are a few more blurbs that I hope will come in, then I plan to print a bunch and let you know about it.

On the writing side, I've a bunch of rewriting ahead of me. My speculative thriller, We the Enemy, is undergoing major surgery thanks to the input of editor Lou Aronica. I've worked out all the plot changes, solved the logic problems he had, and done serious character removal -- took out two key players. Now comes the rewriting. I've managed to pick away and take care of the first half, but next week will be all rewrite all the time, thanks to taking time off from the day job. I'm really looking forward to finding out how I'm going to pull it all together.

Next on the rewrite list is my satire/urban fantasy, The Vampire Kitty-cat Chronicles (no, I'm not obsessed with kitty-cats, their continuing presence in my books is purely coincidence). My queries a year ago got several agents to request fulls, and they all loved the writing. But the story didn't quite get them there. Also, I queried an editor at a publishing company who was interested because of the nature of the query -- it was written by my protagonist, Patch, the kitty-cat in the book -- but said that, at just under 70,000 words, it was too short to be a commercial novel. It's been sitting long enough now that I hope to be objective enough to see the story shortcomings and fix them.

And a third novel is going to get a long second look. I posted the opening of Finding Magic here a while back for feedback, and then got involved with returning the primary protagonist's narrative to first-person. I liked the result, but it causes a key logic problem that I need to solve. If I can, it'll go to market next year.

So what are you going to be writing? I'd love to hear specifics in the Comments section, but at the least take a moment and choose a choice or two in the poll below.

Here's wishing you a hugely successful writing year. Flogging will continue next week.

Best,

Ray

Comments

[Holly]

Hi Ray,
My novel is about half written. I'm going to keep plugging away at it.

Thanks for all your help!! Hope you have a very successful and happy 2009.
Holly

[Jessica]

I'm going to be putting the final touch on a novel you flogged about a year ago. The novel has been through 6 drafts, and is currently undergoing a final polish (so 7 drafts total) in just under 2 years. Thanks to your comments, those of the Flogging Crew, and lots of input from my writing group, I think it might just be ready for the Trail of Tears that is the submission process after that.

Then I'm starting a new novel, that I have outlined. I've submitted the first chapter to your for a flog, so we'll see =)

Thanks, Ray, for all that you've done, and all that you continue to do to help people improve their writing. We might not say it often, but we really appreciate it. You're terrific! And good luck on your own projects. I can't wait to see your two novels on the bookshelves!

Jessica

[Richard Mabry]

Ray,
Sounds like you have a busy year ahead. Best wishes with all your projects.

I'm finishing the first draft of the second novel in my Prescription For Trouble series while waiting for the macroedits from my editor on novel number one. That one will be published by Abingdon in early 2010. The third book currently exists only in outline form. Lots of writing awaits me.

Thanks for all your past advice, much of which was hard to swallow but all of which was on the nose.

[Millar Prescott]

I'll be taken a couple of more writing classes at UCLA Extension with the goal of finishing a screenplay.

Making good bullshit is hard work.

[Crimsonsilk]

Finishing the novel... maybe I'll pop the first page for flogging if I'm feeling brave ;)

Polishing old short stories and writing new short stories.

Perhaps a poem or two :)

[Feywriter]

In the next couple days I'm finishing touching up my first novel, then sending it out next year while I work on a new book.

[AnnG]

What an awesome bunch of projects, Ray! I'm looking forward to seeing their progress.

For me, I killed four chapters of my novel, the first one being the chapter I submitted for flogging, and then carried the story to over 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo. Thanks to the input here and from a storyteller friend, I think it's much improved. I'll offer the new first chapter up for flogging when I run through at least one re-edit! It's a scary 50k right now...

I'm also mulling a scifi novel idea, so 2009 is looking very cool right now. :) Hope everyone's is personally satisfying!

Ann

[Mike]

Sounds like you have your hands full with the three projects. Good luck with all the rewriting and reworking.

I have the first draft of one romance novel that I completed about eight months ago. I'm ready to return to it with a scalpel (or chain saw) to get the first rewrite underway. I'm also at the end of a rewrite of a fantasy novel which I'll be submitting in January. And, as if I don't have enough to do, I'm about 25% through writing the first draft for a noir styled murder mystery.

I wish you and all your reader/authors the best in reaching their writing goals for 2009.

[Cory]

I've got two novels in second drafts to get in good shape and subsequently query agents about. I also want to write and send out a couple of short stories since my last one got published. I'll also probably get at least one or two first drafts finished, but it's not as much a priority as getting the other two novels polished.

I actually have one pre-09 resolution: finish the read-through and surface edits of novel #1 and get it send out to betas. Between the holidays and utter laziness and procrastination, it's taken me weeks just to read the damn thing through halfway, and I refuse to let it seep over into the new year.

[Liz C]

First, I will be buying 'Kitty-cats in Action'. :)

I did NaNo '08 as a lark and it went pretty well. I generated 75K and if you squint, you can almost see a story in there.

Now I've decided I want to learn to write. That's my project for 2009: Learn, see if I can make something out of my NaNo draft, and if not, try to write something else.

[Kami]

Gee, Ray, your pile looks even bigger than mine! I've got about six novels, a non-fiction book and some short stories in various stages, and I'll be working on writing close to full time as well as looking for an agent.

Good luck everyone!

[Sarah Jensen]

Good luck Ray and everyone else, here's to a great year for us all!

I'm querying my first novel, editing two others, and writing four more. Lucky I can do it full time. Well, part time, I do have children and a husband that require my attention on occasion. ;)

I'm hoping to take a writing class again, since it's been over fifteen years, and I also buying Kitty-cats in Action. From what I read, it sounds wonderful. Very helpful!

[Sheila]

Right now I'm rewriting a novel I finished in November, but I voted "other" because mostly I'd like to work on improving my writing. I've learned a lot here, based on your edits and the comments. So, thank you for that and all my best for 2009!