So, how did I do?
As the year winds down, I take a look back at my goals for 2025
I came into 2025 riding a hot streak as a writer. The previous year had been my most successful, and when I penned my goals for the new year, I was very optimistic. Suffice it to say that things didn’t go quite the way that I envisioned, but I did still manage to hit most of the targets that I set for myself.
I’ll put together some goals for 2026 when we get a little closer to January, but for today, I’ll just recap how I did this year.
Goal 1: Write 300,000 words.
Result: I’ve smashed this one. I currently sit at 313,766 for the year with a couple of weeks left to go. There is a caveat, though. At the end of October, I was hovering around 160k, then I got laid off from my day job. I converted much of the time I spent at it to writing time. Otherwise, I likely wouldn’t have hit the goal.
Goal 2: Finish the first draft of my western fantasy “No Man’s Son.”
Result: Smashed this one, too. Not only did I finish the first draft, but the final novel is complete and was sent to the first publisher for consideration in late November.
Goal 3: Have either “Dreams of Gold and Fire” or “Day of the Dragons,” if not both, published or in the pipeline to publish by the end of the year.
Result: Unless you’re very new here, you know I hit this one. “Dreams” came out in July, and the second book in the series, “Sons of Gold and Fire,” is written and should be out next year. “Day of the Dragons” has been collecting rejections since January and did get a “close, but no cigar” from one publisher. It’s still in circulation, and I’m still hopeful for it.
Goal 4: Publish at least five more short stories in 2025.
Result: Cue the womp-womp-wompwomp sound from “The Price is Right.” I failed miserably on this one, but I also realize it was a bad goal. It was built on factors not within my control. A better goal would have been to write X short stories or submit X short stories. I wrote and submitted quite a few this year, and I think a lot of them were good stories, but they just didn’t land. As of the writing of this, only two of the 18 stories that I’ve submitted in 2025 were accepted and published. There are a couple still TBD. I doubt there will be a short story goal for 2026. I’m planning to move away from those next year as they were a waste of time in 2025. Something may come up that I feel inspired to write for, but the only one I’m planning right now is “It Came from the Trailer Park 6.”
Secret goals
Result: I also had two unrealistic dream goals that I refused to name unless I achieved them, and I did achieve one of them … sort of. Definitely not in the way I intended, though. At the moment, I am writing full time, but it’s not because of the great success I had, but rather the fact that I got laid off in late October. It’s only a partial achievement of the goal because my family enjoys having food and a home (no matter how dilapidated), so unless a lot of people buy a lot of copies of “Dreams” in a hurry, I’ll have to start looking to not be a full-time writer again in January.
On the writing front, at least, 2025 was not terrible even though it still kind of feels like a failure to me on the heels of 2024, where I had the hot hand. But the rollercoaster has its ups and downs. I hit most of my writing goals. Most importantly, I achieved a lifelong dream of seeing my name on the cover of a book, and it did well. “Dreams” spent a month high on the Amazon new release charts in its category, including a few weeks at No. 1. And, I have the second book written and in the pipeline.
Outside of writing, well, the year was pretty much a pile of steaming dung, but no one wants to hear about that, so I’ll close here. I’ll share next year’s goals in a couple of weeks.