New Year's Resolutions & General Update

Welcome to the Tramway,

Hello readers. Thank you for reading today's post for Tug & Tram Blogging. Did you have a safe new year’s eve? I hope that, however you celebrated, you had a fun, but safe, time. 

Firstly, I want to give a big thank you to everyone who has read my Lady Luck novella preview. In case you missed my last post, as a Christmas Eve "gift" I published the first chapter of Lady Luck for FREE. You can still go read it, to get an idea of what the novella will look like.

While the project has another round of editing to go through, this time from my school's publication board (the Pinchpenny Press), I feel confident about the novella. Thanks as always to my friend and colleague Cristina Jantz of tidbitediting.com for her editing and feedback.

Moving on to our next topic, I've noticed that writers often post writer’s new year resolutions. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, here’s new year writing resolutions.

1. Work more on short stories. 

Goal No. 1 is to work on/write 5 short stories before the end of 2021. I normally work on long form writing, and struggle with short stories. Given how long it takes to get something published, it's a good idea to work on short stories so my name can get out there, while working on my longer projects.

While talking to a friend about my writing, I realized that I tend to not like writing stories that end open endedly. My first two short stories suffer from me trying to give them a fully wrapped conclusion. So while working on my short stories, I want to learn how to better structure them. Speaking of my short stories...

2. Get one story/piece published

I have been trying for a while now to get my short story, Ticket to a Wrong Time, published. While the rejections have been frustrating, it's a part of the writing process. And part of that is submitting, which I want to do again.

My plan is to try and submit more when I have time, and hopefully get at least one piece of my writing published this year, excluding my posts in my school newspaper. 

3. Publish Blog Posts More Often

I suffered from burnout/over extension during the last part of 2020. I wasn't motivated to post, and half considered ending the blog all together. However, I've had some time to work on bigger projects that needed to be done (ie. my Senior project) and I want to start up again here. While I may not have started out as a blogger at heart, I do enjoy it. 

A few mini goals regarding Tug & Tram Blogging are to publish 5 book reviews, and post more regularly, say 1-2 times a month. I prefer to post weekly, but I don't know if that's manageable while in school.

Speaking of blogs, I also want to revive The Occasional Express. I haven't published there in months for a few reasons. One was I felt I wasn't doing a good job as a reporter. Having worked for my school paper, I've learned what mistakes I was making, and improved my copy editing.

I'm still trying to decide what to do with the Occasional Express. Perhaps I will turn it into a features post blog, and leave the breaking news to the professionals at Trains Magazine, RailFan Magazine, etc.

 

4. Do more Pre-Writing Research

One of many lessons I learned from my senior project is how important pre-writing research on projects are. If I had done more research before writing Lady Luck, I would have had less stumbling blocks during the editing. For example, I sometimes had modern slang slip in, which my excellent editor Cristina caught. (Thanks Cristina).

Also, as I write “historical” fiction (I’m not sure if all my writing counts as true historical fiction) getting the facts straight is important. If facts are incorrect, or characters use modern slang, it will pull readers from the story. 

However, it doesn’t just apply for writing set in the past. I also want to work on doing more research for projects that have characters who don’t share my heritage. There are lived experiences of Black/People of Color, Asian Americans, etc. that I don’t have, and I want to represent those cultures accurately. 

Now, is research going to do that 100%? No, hence the need for sensitivity readers. But that’s a step for the future. Before I begin writing, I want to ensure I get into the habit of doing studious research into various topics. Thankfully, I’ve taken a lot of history classes, and know how to research.

5. Work on Author Website/Mailing List

My last goal is to get my author’s website better formatted and in a state of completion. You can check out my website here, which is (hopefully) going to be different depending on when you click the link. 

I’m planning to reach out to some professionals with website platform skills/knowledge and get help to present myself in the best way. 

Part of that is looking into creating a mailing list. While I appreciate you faithful blog readers, my research shows that mailing lists are the best way to maintain a following. So look out for that in the (hopefully) near future.

I’m still learning a lot about the writing process and how to market yourself as a writer. If you have any experience with writing marketing, feel free to leave some suggestions in the comments on here, or my various social media accounts. 

Thank you all for reading today’s blog post. Did you make any new year’s resolutions? What were they? Feel free to share them with me on here, or any of my social media accounts. 

You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Links can be found on the blog sidebar, or here at authorpatricktwebb.wordpress.com. Thanks again for reading, and I’ll see you again on the Tramway.