2022 Goal Wrap-up and 2023 Goal Setting


It’s the last Friday of the year and time to assess my success at meeting my writing goals for the year and set new goals for 2023!
Click my Goals category to read previous goal setting and updates. But I’ll review the previous year’s throughout.

Short Stories

Goal Review
Short Stories Written and Polished in 2022:
In 2021, I made a goal to write and polish thirteen (13) stories and completed seven (7).
In 2022, I made a goal to write and polish ten (10) stories.
I completed and polished four (4) stories and updated one (1) finished last year and started submitting them.
​This goal received an incomplete. ❌
Story Submissions in 2022:
In 2021, my goal was to submit 39 stories and I submitted 40.
My stated goal in my review and goal setting post was forty-two (42.) 
However, pretty quickly, I determined this was not a sufficient goal, as described in my First Update of 2022.
My new goal became a stretch goal of sixty (60) submissions. I submitted sixty-six (66) times. 
This goal receives a succes ✅
Rejections in 2022:
My goal, as before, was 100% rejection rate. That way, I’m successful whether I meet it or get acceptances.
According to my Submission Grinder stats, I had a total of 65 rejections AND one (1) acceptance.
​Calling this one a success ✅
Acceptances in 2022:
I don’t make acceptance goals because I have little control over them. However, for completeness, I report that I had one (1) story accepted and published in 2022, “A Dress of Flowers” published at ZNB Presents.
Published in 2022:
I published three (3) stories in 2022. One (1) was published by a publication, one (1) on my website, and one (1) in my bimonthly newsletter.
Stories under consideration at this moment: Three (3)
After meeting my goal of sixty submission in early October, I ceased my normal resubmission policy in order to focus on two different novel-length projects. The short story submission process was eating into my mental space. Having reached my goal, pursuing more for the sake of more walked a path towards burnout. Instead, I only submitted for particular windows and specific stories.
Goals
Goal: Short Stories Written and Polished in 2023 
In 2023, I will be participating in a story-per-week short story drafting group through Cat Rambo’s Patreon and Chez Rambo Discord Group with the goal of one new short story draft per week. Polished? Unlikely. My goal is one drafted short story (flash through novelette) per week newly written with polishing as many as I can, ideally one per month.
Goal: Short Story Submissions in 2023
90
When I changed my goal for 2022, I plotted out new goals through 2025. This gets me to a large number of submissions in a reasonable manner without burning myself out.
Goal: Short Story Rejections in 2023
90

Novels

Goals for 2022: Were vague. Keep querying. Keep editing. Go with the flow.
I did all of those. Over the course of 2022, I sent forty-five (45) queries. I still have nineteen (19) queries out that I haven’t heard back from nor have marked CNR. I’ll probably CNR a large  number tomorrow to round out my 2022 querying year.
Goals for 2023: 
I am finishing revising another novel, which already has one full request for when the revisions are done. I’ll be sending that out and querying. My first goal of send that full MS is the only quantifiable goal I have for novels at this time. 
​At the end of April, I will update this goal, not just with noting the quantifiable one, but with new goals for the remainder of the year.

Unexpected Goals Achieved!

One of the Discord groups I’m in celebrates 100 short story rejections, which I achieved this year. 
A slightly more positive achievement came earlier in the year. One of my goals for 2023 was to qualify and join the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.)
With my 2021 and 2022 sales combined with the SFWA membership requirement changes, I joined the SFWA in April! This goal has already been achieved!
See you next update!

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