Beautiful Books: 2017 Writing Goals

It's time for the third beautiful books, hosted by Paper Fury and Further Up Further In. Without further adieu, let's get to the questions.

1. What were your writing achievements last year?

I started a blog! That's an achievement in itself. I also started pre-writing a novel, drafted two novels, did a first edit on two novels (not the same two, though), and completed the first drafts of a few short stories/novellas. What can I say? I like to write.

2. What's on your writerly "to-do list" for 2017?

One of my biggest is to start building my author platform. Which means I need to come up with a publishing plan and actually figure out what I'm doing with my books. I'd also like to finish editing two novels. I have way too many things waiting to be edited. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. I just have to keep reminding myself that there's plenty of time to get it all done.

One of my problems is I'm multi-creative, so I want to do lots of different things at once. I want to write, blog, and sell from Etsy all at once. Which I can't do without not doing a good job at all of them. Right now I'm working on figuring out how to be more focused on one thing at a time.

3. Tell us about your top-priority writing projects for this year!

Top priority this year would probably be Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog, The Girl with The Sword, and Return to Wonderland. It's so hard to pick just a few to focus on.

4. How do you hope to improve as a writer? Where do you see yourself at the end of 2017?

I hope to get better at coming up with my own editing process. Pre-writing and drafting I'm good at, editing not so much. I'd also like to get better at blogging.

As for the second question, I have a hard time looking to the future. I just don't know where I'll be. Ideally, I'd love to have figure out how to edit, have an author site up, and be selling from my Etsy shop.

5. Describe your general editing process.

Flail. Do something with the novel. Flail some more. Have a panic attack because I have no idea what I'm doing and this will never get done and I'll never be published.

But really, I haven't figured out what editing process works for me. I'm working on it. I'd like to do a first edit, a plot edit, a character edit, and a polish, but I don't know if that will work or not. We'll see.

6. On a scale of 1-10, how do you think this draft turned out?

(Note: I'm going with Goggles, Corsets, and Cyborgs here.) Probably 7 1/2. I thought it came out well, but could have been better.

7. What aspect of your draft needs the most work?

Lots of the characters need work, as well as parts of the plot. The ending was horrible, as was the beginning. And I didn't have enough steampunkness in it. Ah, first drafts.

8. What do you like most about your draft?

I love my characters, especially Elle. I also like the world I made.

9. What are your plans for this novel once your finished editing? More edits? Finding beta readers? Querying? Self-publishing? Hiding it in a dark hole forever?

Once I've finished editing, I'll find some people to critique it, then send it out for beta readers. Then I'll think about my publishing plans.

10. What's your top piece of advice for those just finished writing a first draft?

It's going to be horrible. You'll look at it after a few months and wonder what possessed you to write it. But remember, you were just mining the diamond. Now you've got to cut and polish it until it shines. Always keep in mind the end vision you have for your novel.

What are your writing goals? Do you have too many projects going at once? Let me know in the comments.