DISCUSSION : What are your 2019 goals as a writer? šŸŽ‰

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(Iā€™m back :slight_smile: still drowning a bit ) If any of you are like me, and should be studying for finals and are not, this is a little mini discussion thread that can distract you for a bit. I just have few questions for you, you can answer as many as you wish or all.

  1. For 2019, My goal as a writer is toā€¦
    1a. I want to strengthen myā€¦
    1b. Something new I want to try isā€¦
    1c. To achieve these goals I am going toā€¦

  2. Something I achieved this year isā€¦

(Iā€™ll reply to you with a question and a gif, which you donā€™t have to answer if you donā€™t want to >.< )

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1.
a.

I want to strengthen myā€¦ range of stories? I donā€™t really know what to really call this. Basically, I saw Amanda Michelle once say her goal was to have a story in each genre and, not that I think I want one on each genre, but I would like to be able to say I have at least one story for everyone.

b.

Something new I want to try is different ways of updating. Iā€™ve already done an update-in-batches story and an update-randomly-whenever-I-feel-like-it story, so for 2019, I want to do a weekly-updates story and then finally another story in which I release-the-whole-damn-thing-at-once

c.

Ok, Iā€™m on track to achieve my goal for a. I think.
Iā€™ve already got 2 Male POV stories and 2 Female POV stories on the app.
Iā€™m working on a choose-your-gender story, where thereā€™s no romance.
Iā€™ve also got a lesbian MC story in the works, and another where you can choose your sexuality but that oneā€™s a bit further down the track. I think these should keep me busy a while.

To achieve my goals for b. ā€¦ Hmmā€¦ I canā€™t really make the choose-gender-story either of them, because itā€™s a story Iā€™m revamping so is technically on the app already.
The one with the lesbian MC would be the next one to get released because I have it fully planned. So for that I can either do weekly updates or just release it all at onceā€¦ Iā€™ll cross that bridge when I get there I guess :thinking:

2.

Ah, I actually feel like I achieved a lot this year.
Most of this has been achieved in the past few months, but I guess if I think back to how I crap I still was at the beginning of the year, my biggest accomplishment was actually implementing multiple endings. I did it to one story and then I went back and revamped another story to include more endings too. That was aroundā€¦ May or June I think. Iā€™ve come a long way.

What about you Fallen?

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  1. I want to finish the story Iā€™m currently working on

  2. I want to work on the suicide mystery that I thought was too challenging for me

  3. I want to be able to experiment with the more advanced features of episode writing (:

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1. For 2019 my goal as a writer is to beat 144 endings with 145 endings - but in seriousness Iā€™d like to accomplish whatever goal I set myself because I canā€™t think of anything right now. YET Iā€™ve been wanting to write a (re)story with a black-female veteran that returns from war (and deals with mental health issues along with some physical?) but thatā€™s out of my comfort zone plus, Iā€™d have to research for days maybe even weeks, and when I did so prior itā€™s really hard to find topics on PTSD in women.

1a. I want to strengthen my connection to my readers. I know that sounds really weird but I want to get to know my audience better. (Right now some are mad at me because I killed their Dragon ahahah). I donā€™t want to be that author who is ā€œup on a towerā€ (tho I do have a pretty big ego on somedaysā€¦ most daysā€¦). Iā€™d like to read their stories but not be doing it because I am a / will be a ā€˜big authorā€™. I want to be able to be likeā€¦ a fellow author (?) fellow reader (?)

1b. Something new I want to try isā€¦ write a romance story. I already feel someone going like thatā€™s going to end well or maybe thatā€™s just me having little faith in myself. No magic, no killing of thy parents, no siblings returning from the dead - just a basic ass romance story that isnā€™t totally predictableā€¦

1c. To Achieve these goals I am going toā€¦ I have no doubt that I will somehow achieve these goals. I just need to not get distracted. Iā€™m like all over the flinking place.

2. Something I achieved this year isā€¦ I created my alter author ego. This time last year I was still Fallen >.< (I mean, thereā€™s almost nothing wrong with Fallen persona, tho Iā€™ve been almost suspended from the forums twice lol), but I wanted a pen name and consistency with all of my stories.

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Iā€™m doing mine backwards lol.

Something I achieved this year isā€¦
I actually started this year off with a list of goals. They were:

  • Enter at least 3 creators contests. - I only entered two. :x:
  • Start (and complete) at least 3 stories (including seasons 2 & 3 of Hit and Run)- I completed 3 (if the cinematic version of Maternal Instincts counts) but I didnā€™t even complete s2 of Hit and Run :see_no_evil: :heavy_check_mark::x:
  • Start the new year with all my stories complete. - I started 2018 with all my published stories complete and Iā€™ll be starting 2019 in the same way. :heavy_check_mark:
  • Get to 500k reads (not sure if this is possible but eh) - I think I have around 650k now (thanks to a couple contest wins :stuck_out_tongue: ) :heavy_check_mark:

Apart from that, something I achieved is publishing what I personally consider to be my best story so far and definitely my best in terms of character development (Iā€™ve never felt so attached to my own characters before). As icing on the cake, that story just won an Epy Award :slight_smile:

For 2019, My goals as a writer is toā€¦
As above Iā€™ll do a list:

  • Finally publish (and complete) seasons 2 & 3 of Hit and Run and Cyberstalk 3
  • Enter at least 2 creatorā€™s contests (preferably more)
  • Get to 1 million total reads

1a. I want to strengthen myā€¦
Character development.

1b. Something new I want to try isā€¦
While I honestly think Iā€™ve ā€œfoundā€ my best genre, Iā€™d like to try and out some new genres or even new sub genres. I also mostly do short stories and Iā€™d really like to have something longer thatā€™s ongoing.

1c. To achieve these goals I am going toā€¦
Attempt to find more days in a year than 365.

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Ooh, I love this discussion topic, perfect for the end of the year. :slight_smile:

1. For 2019, my goal as a writer is toā€¦

Hmmā€¦ my overall ultimate goal is to learn that itā€™s okay to write again and that Iā€™m allowed to and to keep at it. And to start a project and actually be able to finish it. I also wish to be more active in the community again, get back into the author lifestyle that I missed. lol

A. I want to strengthen myā€¦

Summary

I want to strengthen my focus and ability to code. My coding could definitely use a lot of work, haha. Focus because my procrastination skills literally know no bounds. Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™m the Queen in that area, I could learn how to actually sit down and just force myself to work. And I mean, Iā€™m always improving writing wise. My coding needs work, my characterization, my ability to convert from telling to showing. Being an author is a constant work in progress and I just want to keep improving.

B. Something new I want to try isā€¦

Summary

I want to write a story in Limelight and try to write a good, healthy romance. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::grimacing: Romance is probably the genre Iā€™m weakest in. I donā€™t actually think I could ever do just a straight up romance story. But mostly I just want to try out the Limelight style. Another goal for me is to actually finish my work in progress right now and then start the new story Iā€™ve been thinking about and actually finish that one too. :slight_smile:

C. To achieve these goals I am going tooā€¦

Summary

Actually write? lol This year has been brutal, but I want to actually sit down and DO something. Iā€™m going to actually plan, and make myself write and get over myā€¦ ahā€¦ shoot, whatā€™s the word? Thereā€™s a word that goes here and now I canā€™t think of it. Ummā€¦ road blocks for lack of better term. After being told I wasnā€™t allowed to write and that I canā€™t for so long, itā€™s going to take time to adjust and feel like I can write without getting in trouble for it.

2. Something I achieved this year isā€¦

I actually entered another contest! I told myself after the Haunted contest that I never would, but I did! Iā€™m actually proud of myself for that. I worked hard on it and did well. And towards the end here, I started to learn to appreciate Episode again and the people here.

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1. For 2019, My goal as a writer is to:
Finish both stories that I have going right now and start another one after that.

1a. I want to strengthen my:
Update time. Itā€™s been such a busy time for me this year and I want to get back into the flow again.

1b. Something new I want to try is:
A ā€œpersonalityā€ system for the MC where how the players respond to certain situations in certain ways will affect how people see the MC (think kinda like Dragon Age 2). So if the MC has been sarcastic or funny people will talk about her like, ā€œoh s/he is super funny. S/he always cracks me upā€. Ehā€¦ I suck at explaining but itā€™s something that wonā€™t leave my mind so I want to try it out. :woman_shrugging:

1c. To achieve these goals I am going to:
Keep on writing and coding. :smirk:

2. Something I achieved this year is:
After being a reader for such a long time I actually published a story for the first time this year and I also entered into a contest.

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I just want to publish one (1) story and update it even if itā€™s monthlyā€¦pleaseā€¦have mercy on me creatorsā€¦

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Publish my latest story. Iā€™ve been working on it for a long time, but Iā€™ve never gotten round to getting the first three chapters published. Iā€™ve only ever completed one story on episode, my thriller entry (which was like 3 chapters longšŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø.) Iā€™ve got a lot invested in this story and know how itā€™s going to pan out, so I really hope to finish it maybe by this time next year.

Directing skills. Iā€™m kinda proud of them atm, but I want to increase branching and remembering choices across episodes. Although the story Iā€™m working on is a romance I shouldā€™ve probably included remembering choices across episodes when I wrote my previous thriller stories. I want my readers to feel like they can see that choices do matter in my stories, not just major ones. I hope I can do this, weā€™ll seeā€¦

Writing a romance? Itā€™s what Iā€™m currently doing and Iā€™ve never written romance before. Iā€™m a comedy writer at heart :woman_facepalming: So I want my characters to have real chemistry and compliment each other. Iā€™m not really a sentimental person and writing things like ā€œyouā€™re prefectā€ & ā€œI love youā€ cringes me out. I think Iā€™ve kinda given my MC this view as well in the storyā€¦

Really try not to lose motivation. Another story idea has already popped into my head and Iā€™m subconsciously planning it out. Iā€™ve got to keep on with my current story before I start a new one otherwise Iā€™ll think Iā€™ve got loads to do and Iā€™m so behind blah blah blah and Iā€™ll just stop writing. Iā€™m also going to set aside time to write once I know Iā€™m caught up with all my assignments and revision, Iā€™m the kinda person that feels guilty writing episode cause I think I should be revising more school work, I need to realise that I need a break sometimesšŸ˜‚.

I finished my first ever story! Iā€™ve been writing since like 2014 so it was about time tbhā€¦

I finished my last exam yesterday and safe to say hehehe it didnā€™t go well. Iā€™ve already deferred going to uni for till next year, my grades need to be good cause Iā€™ve got to go at some point!

Watch ā€˜One day at a time.ā€™ The reboot version centres on a Cuban veteran mother with ptsd, specifically the episodes ā€œHello, Penelope.ā€ & ā€œHold, please.ā€ I know it is a tv show so you canā€™t get all your info from it but it is really good to see characterisation. Keep researching, youā€™ll find something! :wink:

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  1. For 2019, My goal as a writer is to become familar with everything
    1a. I want to strengthen my self of being active
    1b. Something new I want to try is a new story one day
    1c. To achieve these goals I am going to do my best
  2. Something I achieved this year is speaking up for my self and speaking my mind
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  • For 2019, My goal as a writer is to actually read some more because a good writer is a good reader as well.

1a. I want to strengthen my everything. ā€¦Just everything needs improvement all the time.
1b. Something new I want to try is a shorter story, not a long ass story like I usually prefer. All these epics. OOF
1c. To achieve these goals I am going to have some damn self control would be nice!!!

  • Something I achieved this year is nothing. LOL, what? Achievements? Pfft, I donā€™t achieve anything. I just try and fail. XDXD
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Ooh, how perfect! I was just thinking about stuff like this :blush:

1. For 2019, My goal as a writer is toā€¦
Experiment with new things to implement in my stories, like mixing spotlight and directing, using tappables, having a story of one-shots, etc. I would like to have all my stories somewhat connected to each other, like a weird MCU type but with interactive stories. Also, just being more active in the Episode community, like talking on the forums and using Instagram. (I swear Iā€™m an old ladyā€¦ I donā€™t even know how to make an Instagram)

1a. I want to strengthen myā€¦
Dialogue. Definitely dialogue.:sweat_smile:

1b. Something new I want to try isā€¦
Write at least 1 story in every genre. Even the cursed romanceā€¦ shudders

As well as having an overall theme of each story from real life, (the current story Iā€™m writing is about classism) and writing from one prompt a day. I can finally dig out my unfinished scripts and ideas, maybe even asking people on here for some too!:grin:

1c. To achieve these goals I am going toā€¦
Work on consistency. Just scheduling 3 hrs a day to writing would suffice. I also need to get better at coding, since the last time I did anything was 2 years agoā€¦

2. Something I achieved this yearā€¦
Since being on Episode from the beginning, Iā€™ve always wanted to write a story. I usually would stop midway through though and have a bunch of unfinished scripts collecting dust on my drive. I also just sort of snooping around the forums and not actually say anything.

But, although at the end of the year, I finally made an account on here, and started writing again. It might possibly be that I got rid of my mentality that ā€œif people donā€™t read it, it isnā€™t goodā€. I decided that when I write, it isnā€™t because of how many views I get, but because I want a certain message to be spread, and to have new refreshing ideas that inspire others too.

Overall, Iā€™m excited to see where the new year takes me!:smile:

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1. For 2019, My goal as a writer is toā€¦ improve my writing and revamp my stories.
1a. I want to strengthen myā€¦ directing skills. For starters I want to find out how to use those freaking overlays properly!
1b. Something new I want to try isā€¦ to be patient and organized. HAHAHA But seriously, I tend to publish and update stories without outlining and I just go with the flow sometimes. Plus Iā€™m pretty sure I should wait at least a day with updating when I finish an episode because even though I review it multiple times, I always find the errors only the next day, when it is already published.
And Iā€™m planning to add more choices to my stories. Maybe some choices that actually have some impact on the story? :thinking: Probably will never happen, but a girl can dream.
1c. To achieve these goals I am going toā€¦ start meditating / buy glasses/invent a time machine/hire a professional coder/I have no idea.

2. Something I achieved this year isā€¦
I completed 3 stories. Well okay, I started writing two of them in 2017 and all 3 stories are quite short, but stillā€¦ I actually would like to revamp at least the first two after I finally learned how to direct better, so it feels like I didnā€™t really achieve anything? :smile:
Ah yes, I did, Iā€™m happy that I managed to put a smile on some peopleā€™s face with my stories.

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To actually publish a story, gosh dang it

didnā€™t notice the questions till now

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  1. For 2019, my goal as a writer is toā€¦
    Correlate scenes better, do more showing and not telling, and improve my directing.

1a. I want toā€¦
Strengthen my dialogue. I feel like it has no impact on my stories, and I tend to compare my writing to other storiesā€¦ This also has to do with my confidence. I feel like emotions impact my story unconsciously, without me knowing. I want to be emotionally well enough to write my stories and have enough confidence to complete it. Plus, I want to do better cliffhangers too. My cliffhangers are so bland.

1b. Something new I want to try isā€¦
Another mystery story. I absolutely love the story that I created for the College Days contest. Or maybe a drama, but something with not-so-much revenge! Aish, novellas and k-dramas are taking over my mind!

1c. To achieve these goals I am going toā€¦
Read more books, look at more shows, and review my own stories as well as others. Try not to get distracted, too.

  1. Something I achieved this year isā€¦
    I actually had a few goals too.
  • Incorporate advanced directing in my stories. :heavy_check_mark:
    Done, done, and done! Iā€™ve used filters, zooms, choices that actually impact the story, the points system, and even started to use spot directing! Well done indeed!
  • Use more diversity. :heavy_check_mark:
    I live in one of the most populated cities in the world, this was fairly simple.
  • Character development. :heavy_check_mark:
    Iā€™ve noticed that in most of my stories, people love the villain and not the protagonist. Iā€™m still working on it, but my characters have come a long way.
  • Enter a Creatorā€™s Contest. :heavy_check_mark:
    I entered 2, ā€œThrillerā€ and ā€œCollege Daysā€. For the latter, I was able to publish my story before the deadline!

I also want to complete and improve my first story, ā€œCruelty of Iceā€.

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Since I can no longer post three times in a row without going through a loop hole, I will have to shrink it onto one long post :stuck_out_tongue:

Amberose

As someone who has done weekly-updates, I find it a bit challenging and not a large ā€˜spikeā€™ but I def keep readers interested :slight_smile: I wish you the best of luck in writing something in every category because I donā€™t think I could. Is there anything you wish you achieved this year?

@amberose

Claudia

A suicide mystery? Sounds entrancing and inviting in mysterious thriller way. Whatā€™s one feature of Episode Writing you want to master in 2019?
@claudiagabrielaa

Elise

I really need that goal to have all my stories completed because I am I think Iā€™m like 5 : 4 right now? (4 are completed xD) Iā€™m going to steal that >:) , congrats on hitting your read goal amount and I bet you are going to get to a Million in no time. Why do you think you need to strengthen your character development?

@EliseC

Moon

The author community missed you too, when I saw you win Epy-Awards I was like FLINK YEAH GO MOON! (dropped my phone in the process but I was hyped xD). The Epy-chatty idk what we are called (discussion stalkers?) will be here when you are back to chat :slight_smile:

Thatā€™s a good goal, to want to work on telling to showing, because some authors struggle with this and itā€™s been talked about on the forums that most readers like to be shown and not told. Do you think youā€™ll enter more contests in the future?

@MoonW13

Iā€™ll be back to do more people in a bit >.<

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http://www.happynewyearsms2019.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/happy-new-year.gif

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Thank you for your insight about the weekly updates thing :slightly_smiling_face:

Something I wish I had achieved this yearā€¦ I wish I had got all my revamps done and dusted. To be fair, itā€™s only one Iā€™m doing that is a major revamp, the other one is basically me adding full stops to the end of every line of dialogue because I wasnā€™t doing that when I first started lol. But I do wish I was ending 2018 with consistency across all my stories in terms of quality

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Oh goodness, :see_no_evil: thank you! Iā€™m really excited to getting back into discussions and talking again! Fresh start!

And I might! I donā€™t think Iā€™ll feel comfortable joining any until I get myself back on track and back into the swing of things though. And itā€™ll have to be a theme that really catches my eye, but I know by now to never say never! lol

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cutlass

As someone who hasnā€™t updated in like three months, I feel you. I really want to start to publish consistently again. I totally understand the personality point system - I recently asked my readers what they wanted to see in my upcoming stories and Iā€™d say at least 1/5 of the comments wanted a ā€˜personality point systemā€™ (!!!) I totally think you can achieve it! Congrats on entering and publishing in a contest (a good majority of people canā€™t make the deadline) . What made you decide to want to try the personality point system?

@cutlass

Elx

sends mercy ---- How are you going to achieve this goal?

@ELx

NeonLeah

I see we are in the same ā€˜I want to write a romanceā€™ boat. I was (somewhat) joking with my readers that if they wanted cough romantic sceneā€™s Iā€™d watch porn to figure out what to write :stuck_out_tongue: Congrats on publishing your first story ! ā€” Iā€™m still not studying for finals and I have one tomorrow :clap: :clap: :clap: xD bookmarks post to remember tip Thank you ! Do you think youā€™d be able to handle writing two stories at once this year?

@LillyR

Sayykim

Familiar with everything, thatā€™s seems like a challenging goal - but Iā€™ll be rooting for you ^-^ , What do you want to be active in? Writing, directing, socializing?

@sayykim

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By hitting the publish button, if I ever write 3 completed episodes :skull:

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