Steven Paul Watson, Author

He held a tight grip on the haft of his dull gladius in his right hand, his spike adorned helmet in his left.  His heart pounded, echoing the sound of the crowd, their stomping and thunderous cheers.  His chest covered in oil meant to make his body gleam and shine in the open sun as it beat down on him making his scarred frame of past events more exposed.  This was his day, he lifted the helmet and placed it on his head, and he had a hunger to hear the masses erupt in victorious merriment and to prove those who wished to see his blood groan in rage.  He saw the open gate across the arena, just as the four hundred pound lion stepped into the sun and glared at the crowd, then to him, the beast had the same appetite.

Setting Goals

It is that time of the year again, 2011 is over and 2012 is here.  I found myself sitting down to write my list a few days ago.  Like a new years resolution, except there is more than one and it is made up of specific goals I’d like to complete in the year.  For 2011 I had a list of nine. Sadly, as of the time I am writing this, only 3 of them have been checked off.  Some of those goals were creative/artistic goals, others were personal betterment goals, and couple others were selfish purchase goals or travel goals.  I can say of the 6 incomplete, 3 of those were so close I still call them wins even if I can’t check them off. 

The biggest creative goal on last year’s list was to complete a rough draft of a novel. I have been writing in one form or another since I was elementary school.  Despite that, I never pushed myself to complete a draft of any of my ideas.  So for most of the year off and on I was working through monthly writing/editing goals on my fantasy novel of a NaNoWriMo from a few years back, thinking I could do it.  Then came September/October, and though the novel was closer to being a complete draft (currently sitting at 90k, about ¾ done), I knew it was highly unlikely I would push through it during 2011.  The closer and closer I got to November, and another NaNo project, I guess I gave up accepting it wouldn’t happen.           Then came NaNo, a completely new story, and basically for the month I blasted through it ending a week from December with a rough draft of the story (sitting at 71k).   

          

Even taking some inspiration after a conversation with a new writing friend of mine, LillieMcFerrin, I finally had a spark of an idea for a Steampunk story.  And putting 5 k down on that story before the end of Nov, and by Christmas I had finished the rough draft of said story, making it my second in as many months.  It is hard to explain just happy I was to meet said goal. 

           

Now to 2012, since I have accomplished what was the number two goal on last year’s list…what about next?  I have been thinking a lot about my writing goals for next year, now I have proven to myself I can push myself to finish a draft.  And I came up with three writing related ideas for my list.  (Side note, there are 12 things on my list I won’t go into detail here)

1 – I plan on spending the first few months after finishing my Steampunk novel doing a lot of editing.  Between the two recently finished rough drafts and my fantasy, I see it a good time to invest in some red ink stock.  I want to have at least one of these three as a fully edited draft; one I’d be willing to try push forward for others to read. 

2 – Another goal I have committed to is the WIP500, basically one writing sprint a night, and considering on average I write over that, shouldn’t be a problem.  Just need to keep myself motivated to do it (can be found on twitter, @ashviper, always looking for #writingsprints).    

3 – A rough draft of a new story currently not in my long list of works in progress…  This one could be the easiest of the three, as I am planning on using my WiP500 for the first few months to work on a new story.  On top of that, there is NaNoWriMo and the fact I will be doing it again in.

To other writers and creative types who may read this or follow my blog, push yourself.  Make a list, even if it is a small one on what you would like to accomplish over the next year.  Even going as far as to make a small list at the first of each month to give you the push to make the over all goal a success.  

He sat with the freshly opened bottle of wine on the counter at his side and the two glasses in hand.  The tick of the old grandfather clock echoed with each passing minute.  The freshly plucked rose petals led from the door to his left and disappeared up the staircase. The fire danced, it was the only light in the room with the exception of the racing Christmas lights of the newly decorated tree.  Mistletoe hung from the doorway, as he waited to taste his favorite poison, his love’s lips.  

He could still hear his old grandfather’s voice in his ear, repeating over and over in his hoarse tone ‘never forget rule number nineteen’.  The memory almost drowned out the current sound, the low rumbling growls and yelps of the coyotes as they were somewhere not far behind.  His ripped jeans cut to the knee on his left leg, sticky and wet from the blood the beasts now trailed and it hurt more than anything he had ever felt in his young life.  The shadows of the forest were growing longer and wider as the sun was setting in the distance, he would not make it back to the road tonight.  In his right hand he held a tight grip on the handle of the six inch knife, rule nineteen, never go anywhere without a knife.

=  First time doing this…thought because I gave her the idea I should participate.  Click the title to take you to the challenge blog 🙂

It’s now into the first week of December, what does this mean?  It means most people are coming down from their Thanksgiving holiday and ramping up for the holiday to come and the New Year.  For some it means they just finished the month of November and what comes with it, NaNoWriMo.  National Novel Writing Month!  50k (words) on one project all to be written in one month, for some that is easy…for others it is reason to pull their hair out and spend all night starring at a computer screen or notepad trying to reach their daily goal. 

First feel I should point out my own history with NaNo, this was my sixth year participating in the event.  Twice a winner, 2006 a Fantasy Novel I am still tinkering with (2 of my unsuccessful attempts were in fact the start of a 2^nd and 3^rd book in this same series) and worked quite exclusively on during 2011 leading up to NaNO (it now sits at 90k and about ¾ done for a rough draft).  So I do plan on one day finishing it and after my experience this year I may have a better idea of just how to go about doing that.

2010 a Fantasy/Horror novel…that just shows how twisted and in the gutter my mind can be and was during the month…it hasn’t been touched since. Three times unsuccessful going into this year.  One of those three attempts was so off I don’t believe I even broke 2k due to real life being in the way. 

Going into the 2011 attempt I did something different, I never did with previous years.  I mean I went into past years with a general story and direction, but this year I went into it with a full on outline.  Full character details (even though there were several new additions during the month), even going as far as having a general idea of clothing the MC would wear during what scene.  I obsessed over plotting and setting up for this NaNo the two weeks before it started.  Yes a lot of it changed during the actually writing as the story took a mind of its own.  But I do feel having this outline helped me greatly in not only achieving the 50 k which I hit on November 19^th.  But also part of the reason I finished a rough draft of the novel in the month (finishing off just over 71 k, and going as far as putting another 5 k down on a Steampunk story before the last day of Nov.).   

Story is another difference between this year’s project and past years.  A lot of my choices in past years were these grand, epic tales. Before October my actually NaNo story idea was a big ensemble post apocalypse/zombie story, which the closer to November I got the less I wanted to do it.  Two weeks before November I switched to a small more singular character based story.  It was an emotional horror/werewolf story about a woman who survives a ‘wild animal’ attack only while trying to recover starts having wild nightmares, hallucinations, and violent seizures.  Leading up to her worst fears about what is happening to her and a violent showdown with her maker.  So guess going for a more straight forward, small story works for me on a time crunch.    

Maybe the biggest reason for my success this year, other writers especially those I met through twitter.  In past years I have had a couple people who I kept up with and talked to from time to time during the month, but this year it was almost a nightly occurrence.  Writing sprints/word wars with other writers on twitter or facebook, giving me the extra push to not just put the minimal to page but to let myself just do what I wanted to do…write.  There is truly nothing more motivational than the encouragement and push you get from other writers.  And I thank you all for that!

Notice I don’t say “loser” for those who don’t successfully hit the goal of 50k.  Simple fact if you wrote during this month with the intention of trying to put the words to page, you are a winner. 

  

Music which got me through this NaNO (as I am listening to something almost always when I’m writing) – Godsmack, Pappa Roach, Sara Berilles, Christina Perri, Dia Frampton, Epica, Rob Zombie just to name a few…