2019 Writing Goals

I have examined my life and taken into account how long it takes me to accomplish things now that I am a mom to two young boys. While I wish I could be more productive like other authors I follow through social media, I have come to accept that at this time in my life, it will be an amazing thing if I can self-publish one book this year.

My main goal is to edit the millionth draft of The Stripper and the Saint (the current working title) and get it ready for publication, hopefully by July of this year. This is not a hard deadline, as I know things will need to change but since I'm not having a baby this year I think this is a goal I can accomplish.

I would also love to get a draft written on another book I'm working on called Homelessly in Love (yet another working title). But as I am currently focusing on editing the novel I hope to publish this year, this project has taken a back seat.

Blogging has never been one of my strong suits so I'm not focused on updating this blog regularly. The direction of this blog will also be changing since for now, I am focusing on my own writing and not on helping others with theirs. There are plenty of other blogs on writing out there that are wonderful resources and I do not need to waste my time trying to come up with new content on the craft of writing.

However, I am hoping to update this blog at least once a month with my progress on current projects so readers may follow along or come back after having read one of my works someday and enjoy seeing my creative process. I enjoy reading about the process of authors I admire and hope you do too.

This week I have learned that editing is not something to dread. I have enjoyed reading over what I have written for The Stripper and the Saint. I originally wrote this story back in 2011 when I was a naive, young, single, college student with too much time on my hands and not enough ambition to do much with my writing.

The version I am working on now involves the same characters I loved from the first draft but I completely re-wrote the storyline last year. I am halfway through my first read through of this new draft and as I said I am enjoying what I've read. As I get closer to the end I find that the story is less tight, less focused which makes sense since I didn't have an outline though I am trying to implement outlining into my process this year. Hopefully, I can find a way to whip the ending into shape in the next few weeks. My goal is to edit and send to alpha readers by the end of January.

Wish me luck,
​K. A. Jairl