So I survived 2014, lol. And yes, I do mean survived. I moved to Cali, released three creative products, took a few trips, had a baby, had a couple breakdowns (REAL TALK, haha!), learned how to be a mom (an ongoing process), and then learned how to mesh my creative career goals with my “be an awesome mother goals”. The primary lessons of 2014 for me were about being flexible, enjoying the moment, and learning better time-management.
Chyah. LOTS of lessons, all of which will be super important as I move forward into 2015 with– again– super lofty creative goals! So as usual, I’m putting a list of my creative goals out into the world, internet, and universe, and I will work my hardest to achieve all of them by December 31, 2015!
Here they are! (And it’s a “short” list, really. I had to keep things reasonable.) 😉
1. Write 12 full prose drafts. Yup. According to my production schedule, I’m literally writing one novel a month. Crazy, right? Chyah, we’ll see what happens! If I’m on my grind like I should be, then this should go pretty ok. (LOL!)
2. Publish 8 novels and market them. It’d take too long to give details on my production schedule, but according to the one I’ve made, I should be able to get out 8 novels this year, including books 2-4 of The Books of Ezekiel series, and books 1-5 of the Books of Rai spin off series. (Again, we’ll see where we are at the end of the year, lol.)
3. Publish 2 novella serials and market them. I’m excited about this one, because I’m trying out a new format (new for me) that many other authors seem to really love. For me, the added benefit here is that I get to emulate what TV writers do on episodic television, so I’m totally LOVING the idea of serialized novels! In addition, these serials really help me to develop TV pilot scripts that I’m working on, so there’s a lot of double duty going on here too!
4. Get another good blogging year under your belt. I’m trying to start off strong by writing this post in the early morn. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post at least 100 different posts this year, most of which will be experiential, educational, or “book-reviewish” in nature, rather than me just announcing a new product of mine. So that’s my goal: 100 unique engaging and educational posts!
5. Write and polish 6 pilots and market them. HA! We’ll see about this one. I might get 2 done this year, and even so, that’s all right for me. I just love to aim high!
6. Write and polish 5 specs and market them. Same deal here. 🙂 I’ll be happy if I get 2 really good specs done, to be honest. Still? Aiming high.
7. Write and polish 3 features and market them. This’ll be a challenge, but we will see what happens here. One feature is just a script adaptation of Ghosts of Koa. The second is a sci-fi thriller, and the third is a sexy little political thriller that I’m itching to finish. (I’ve already started writing all of three of these features; it’s just time to dig in and finish them!) I’m using Pilar Allessandra’s AMAZING book “Coffee Break Screenwriter” to get my scripts done 10 minutes at a time!
8. Write and polish all 12 episodes of survival horror web series. Super excited for this project as well! I think my idea is marketable and will really attract millions of people, including a particular company that’d love to buy it. I want to get the script finished as soon as possible so that I can start pre-production… because YES, I WILL be shooting it myself next year!
9. Apply for as many TV fellowships and screenwriting contests as possible. Although, this is a question mark for me. I do have the goal of applying to TV fellowships… and yet I have to admit that if I ever have a chance of getting in, I hope that such a chance will come for me in early 2017. Not that I want to sabotage my luck or put out fake vibes to the Universe, BUT I do want time to get out my novels, hone my screenwriting craft, shoot and release my web series, and raise my baby girl. So we’ll see! I’m just going to go with the flow on this one!
10. Submit best work to production companies who are accepting them. Once I feel that my work is up to par and BEYOND, I’ll be looking for representation in the form of management. I have a few companies in mind that I’d love to contact, but I want to make sure my portfolio is not only “deep” but the BEST it can be.
11. Finish first year in Game Design uni! I’ve been trying to do this uni for FOREVER, and now it’s time to officially put my foot down, darnit! I have a syllabus, with tasks, lessons, homework, and 
reading broken down into bite-sized chunks, so hopefully, this will help me to finish the first year successfully… just as though I’m enrolled in a Game Design program!
12. Finish preliminary game design portfolio, which includes a fully fleshed out 3D video game, a licensing and concept book with game stories and ideas, a game demo, a game mod, and two game console prototypes.
So, yup, those are my crazy crazy goals! And I have many more, but I decided that I need to focus my energy or I won’t get anything done.
I have no clue how I’m going to finish all of this, but I’m super excited about it! To focus all of this crackling energy, I referred back to my post from last January of 2014 and found myself inspired. It’s called, “Achieve Your 2014 Goals! Action Plans and Systems for Type-A Creatives!“, and it’s helped me to remember the ways that work best for me regarding getting work done. I’ve already taken my own advice, and did all the steps, including step #1 featured above: making my goal list. Now, it’s all about consistency and hustle.
Luckily, I have some free time on my hands now (at least at the moment), even considering the fact that I have a gorgeous 3-month-old who loves to be loved. (And God, do I love loving her too!) This is thanks to my boyfriend, who, after his own deep struggles with being a new parent, is helping the three of us to find a lovely equilibrium for all of our needs; we want the new year to be prosperous for all involved, so we’ll see what happens!
Aside from that, it’s just me and my production schedule, and I can’t wait!
So what about you? What are your goals for 2015, and how do you plan to achieve them? Is there such a thing as having “too many” goals or having goals that are too “high”? Leave your comments and thoughts below! And of course, Happy New Year, and what?…
Keep it indie,
<3 Colby