by Claire Buss

The Pen to Print alumni share their 2020 writing goals.

My writing goals for 2020:

Find an agent/publisher for my first novel (same goal as 2019) – long-term goal is to be traditionally published
Find an agent for my second novel
Find the time to write my third novel, which has been planned since May…and then my son was born. I’ll let you do the maths here

Dan Cross, Online Features Editor

 

My goals next year:

Finish my novel, query agents.
Finish my compilation of gothic horror stories & start a podcast using these.

Donna Thomson

 

I’m always advising people to write every day…so I’m resolving to follow my own advice, bearing in mind writing doesn’t mean moving files around or doing word counts! Also I’m going to knit more!

Eithne Cullen

 

My new year’s writing resolutions are to get off my backside and search for a new agent. Writing comes from the heart and I seriously do that. I will continue to promote Sweethearts of Ilford Lane to my best ability. I will write for myself again.

Farzana Hakim

 

My goal for 2020 is to complete the 12 week course in the book ‘The artist’s way: a course in discovering and recovering your creative self’….

And the second part of that is to enter into the novel competition Pen to Print has up by September!

Holly King

 

H. B. O’Neill writing goals for 2020:

• To treat the New Year as a true new beginning and endeavour to finish (at least some) of the plethora of half-written tomes scattered around my space-depleting flat in Dagenham.
• To stop practicing the Booker Prize acceptance speech and instead finish (at least some) of the plethora of half-written tomes scattered around my space-depleting flat in Dagenham.
• To cancel my Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sky And BT Sport subscriptions and instead finish (at least some) of the plethora of half-written tomes scattered around my space-depleting flat in Dagenham.
• To stop daydreaming and start doing. Ah, but is the inspiration in the daydream… Hmm ??- to stop pondering and wondering and mind-wandering and instead finish (at least some) of the plethora of half-written tomes scattered around my space-depleting flat in Dagenham.
• To win the Booker Prize.

 

I will switch my self editor off when I am trying to write the first draft of anything, otherwise I will never get any writing done. I will sweat the relatively small stuff like word choice and punctuation errors after I have addressed the bigger issues like plot holes and inconsistencies, otherwise my writing progress will be painfully slow.

Juneha Chowdhury

 

L.M. Towton’s 2020 writing goals below:

• Finish redrafting/editing our first novel and then get it out to agents.
• (Longterm goal) [hopefully] Get an agent
• (Another longterm goal) Get traditionally published
• Start work on our “second” novel while the other is out on submission
• As with last year’s “100 Days Challenge” 2020 we will be doing “120 Days of writing” – with no wordcount goals, just with the intention of getting back into a writing routine.
• Play around and look at current ideas and see what will be next.
• Maybe write a few articles/stories for Write On!

 

My writing goals:
To finish The Prophet’s Grace and submit it to agents.
Rebecca Seaton

 

Write more, read more, bake more!
Claire Buss, Online Features Editor

If you’d like to submit a piece of creative work or a writing article, please send it to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk