Tag: writinggoals

Happy New Year & 2023 Goals

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As much as 2020 was difficult, and however much I stated 2021 felt tougher, I think that 2022 topped it off. Emotionally speaking it was a tough year for me, but there were some good things that did come out of 2022, and that was mostly writing-related (which I’m really happy about).

2022 GOALS & WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED

My goals for 2022 were to publish my short story collection VICIOUS TRADITIONS: TALES OF TERROR & THE GROTESQUE (which I did). I wanted to write another feature screenplay, which I did, but it was the pilot for CRUSH. I wanted to find publishers for I WANT CANDY (which I did, the novella will be released in September 2023 with D&T Publishing) and GIRL THAT YOU FEAR (which I did, the novel will be released this month with Black Bed Sheet Books). I did find a home for “The Unconventional Tea Party,” as it appeared on the Down the Rabbit Hole podcast on Spotify & will appear in the Stephen King inspired anthology I’m putting together entitled, Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster.

The only goals that I didn’t accomplish in 2022 was to be able to sell Terror! to a producer and finish writing my thriller LA DOLCE VITA.

Extra accomplishments were: My screenplay Terror! was Quarter-Finalist, my pilot screenplay Crush was also Quarter-Finalist, and my short screenplay The Violinist was Finalist, and my short screenplay Baby Teeth got accepted in the Sarah of Horror Film Festival and was also nominated for Best Screenplay.

2023 GOALS

*Write a horror feature screenplay.

*Write a play.

*Complete novella I’m currently working on.

*Complete rough draft of my novelization of Crush.

*Edit my novel, WICKED GAME and find a publisher for it.

*Read at least 50 books (I only read 45 this past year).

*Post more frequently on Instagram.

*Try to merge my author site with this blog site so that it’s all one website.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

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HAPPY NEW YEAR & 2022 GOALS

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I don’t know about you, but 2021 has felt like it was a tougher year than 2020 for me. Or maybe the last four months of the year have felt that way. So much so that I was convinced that I hadn’t accomplished much in 2021, but looking back at the goals I set for myself last year, I actually accomplished them all.

2021 GOALS & WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED

I completed my screenplay Terror!

I completed my horror novella I Want Candy

I finished editing GIRL THAT YOU FEAR

I released Tainted Love: Women in Horror Anthology

I was more active on Instagram

I put together a collection of my short stories

I published the short stories, “Boys of Summer,” “Fields of Blood,” and “Some Kind of Monster.”

2022 GOALS

Release my short story collection, VICIOUS TRADITIONS: Tales of Terror & the Grotesque

Write another feature screenplay

Find publishers for I Want Candy and GIRL THAT YOU FEAR

Be able to sell TERROR! to a producer

Find a home for my short story, “The Unconventional Tea Party”

Complete writing my thriller, LA DOLCE VITA

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

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4 Tips on How To Write A Compelling Query Letter

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If you’re a querying writer nothing makes you want to jump off a cliff faster than having to write a query letter or dreaded synopsis. Now, as painful it is to write one, it’s also the only way to get a literary agent’s attention and your ticket to traditional publishing if that’s something you’re aiming for. Now, I’ve written a myriad variety of query letters for different projects and I’ve gotten full manuscript requests for them, so I have some experience in writing them. I’m not going to say that I’m a full on expert as agents are all different and some may respond better to one type of query than another, but if you’re just starting out or wish to amp your query writing game, then check out below for some tips on how to nail a winning query letter!

TIP ONE. ALWAYS START WITH A SALUTATION.

The classic Dear is fine in this case, followed by Mr./Ms. and the agent’s surname. Please make sure to spell their name correctly and for the love of all that is important to you, NEVER and I mean NEVER open a query with “To Whom It May Concern” unless you want to end up in the rejection pile pronto.

TIP TWO. BEGIN YOUR LETTER WITH A HOOK.

Before you delve into your MS’s plot and amazing characters, you should catch the agent’s attention right away and the best way to do that is by delivering your hook right away. What makes this MS stand out for all the rest? Find out what it is and hook your reader stat!

TIP THREE. NO MORE THAN THREE SHORT PARAGRAPHS TO EXPLAIN YOUR PLOT.

After you’ve delivered your hook, now you can explain what your plot is, what your main protagonists are, and what the main conflict is. This is also where state the GENRE, WORD COUNT, and any comp titles.

TIP FOUR. SUCCINT SHORT BIO AT THE END.

This is where you write why you’re the perfect person to write this book (say if you’re writing about a drug addict and you’re an ex addict or if you’re an own voices author), whatever it is you can state it here but keep it short!

And this wraps up my four tips for writing a compelling query! Let me know if this has helped you!

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Happy New Year & 2020 Goals

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2020

Happy New Year, peeps! I hope that the new year has begun with a bang or at least in a very pleasant way! Just like the years before, I’ve decided to see what goals I had set last year and what I accomplished during the year, and also what my new goals are for the new year.

2019 Goals & What I accomplished

  • Finish writing Girl That You Fear (DONE, just need to edit now)
  • Finish short story Pink Rabbits (Didn’t do, but DID write Fragile Fruit with Erica Ruhe and will be published by Running Wild Press this summer and also have my short story, Good Sister Bad Sister appear in Betty Bites Back)
  • Write Screenplay (Didn’t happen, but DID begin to write a screenplay)
  • Read over 50 books (I actually read 64)
  • I wanted to focus more on book reviews & author interviews and I did
  • I wanted to try more cream-based cosmetics and I did (esp. from Glossier)
  • I wanted to cover more events but didn’t see any that I was interested in, although I did get to cover Comic-Con and Shriekfest.

2020 GOALS

Writing

  • Edit my novel Girl that You Fear & send to agents
  • Finish editing my novel Wicked Game
  • Write a short film screenplay so I can send to Crypt TV
  • Write a feature-length screenplay
  • Complete another poetry book
  • Promote Strange Girls: Women in Horror Anthology 

Reading

  • Read at least 50 books

Beauty

  • I’ll make this the year that I’ll actually give lip gloss a fair chance (been thinking about trying out either Jeffree Star’s lipglosses or Glossier’s lipgloss)
  • Offer new colours for my Nox Girl Cosmetics Shop
  • Sleep more
  • Try new subscription boxes

Blogging

  • More reviews: films, beauty products, & books
  • Increase readership
  • Will continue my Throwback Thursday segments but won’t do it once a month like last year but once every 2 months
  • Will begin a new segment in my blog that will be once a month called “Love or Hype?” where I’ll try out, watch, read or listen to something that is uber popular but I have never given in to and will report back if I DID enjoy it or if it was just hyped up.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

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Happy New Year & 2019 Goals

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2019

Happy New Year, peeps! I hope that 2019 has begun with a bang and that you were able to achieve all (or at least most) of the things you wished to accomplished in 2018. I made a goals list last year and I was very surprised by how much I actually got done.

2018 Writing Goals & What I Accomplished

  • Publish a poetry collection (DONE, you can pre-order BLEED LIKE ME here).
  • Complete my novel Wicked Game (DONE, just need to edit now)
  • Write a screenplay (Didn’t Do)
  • Participate in Pitch Wars (which I DID do)
  • Stick to a consistent posting schedule for my blog (DONE, my blog is now updated on Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Beauty

  • Sleep more (sadly this didn’t happen)
  • Try new eyeshadows or eyeliner colours (didn’t experiment as much as I wished I could have)

Reading

  • I had set a goal of 40 books to read in a year, and actually read 47!

2019 Goals

Writing

  • Edit Wicked Game
  • Finish writing my book Girl That You Fear
  • Finish writing my short story Pink Rabbits
  • Write a screenplay

Beauty

  • Sleep more
  • Been contemplating on cutting my hair short like Lucy Hale, will 2019 be the year of my big chop? We shall see.
  • Try out more cream formulas makeup, like cream blush and cream highlighters

Reading

  • Read 50 books for the year 2019

Blog

  • Since I’ve paired up with NetGalley and received a bunch of ARCs, so you’ll be seeing more Book Reviews & Author Interviews on the blog in the coming year
  • Since I’ve covered some events in 2018 such as Scare LA, Comic-Con LA, and Shriekfest Film Festival, I plan to try to cover more events in the new year

What are some of your goals for the new year?

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2018 Goals

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writing

Happy New Year, peeps! This week I’ve read so many posts on New Year’s Resolutions. Usually I don’t do resolutions because I feel like if there’s a change that needs to be made then you should change it asap, and not wait till New Year’s Day. However, I do believe in setting goals for the year, and here are a few of mine:

Writing

  • Publish a collection of poetry
  • Complete my novel Wicked Game
  • Write a screenplay
  • Participate in Pitch Wars in August
  • Stick to a consistent blogging schedule (I update my blog twice a week but not always on the same days so I’m going to try to pick 2 days during the week and stick to those only)

Beauty

  • Try new eyeshadow or eyeliner colours
  • Sleep more

Reading

  • I plan to read 40 books in 2018. Last year my goal was for 24 and I ended up reading 39.

What are some of your goals for 2018?

By: Azzurra Nox