Been looking at this empty white board I hung up in my office. I cleared it out before the new year began, a fresh start for my brain, you know? I wanted to start looking at all the writing projects I had lined up in front of me with a critical eye, think about what I can try to finish for this year, and, above all, set reasonable goals for myself that are helpful and attainable in the year of our lord, 2024.

When it hit me.

All of the projects I’m working on, be it querying or editing, are from before the twins were born, or (in the case of Project NESS) right after they were born. Meaning they’re all at least 4+ years old, even older for GREY and BIANCA. These are books I started years ago. YEARS. And they still haven’t helped me land an agent. Erasing that whiteboard told me one thing: I need something new.

I want to test myself.

So, beginning now, I’m going to start a book now, go through my whole process (five drafts), and start pitching it this summer. To break it down further: Plan the month of January, write the month of February, 2nd draft red pen edits in March, 3rd and 4th draft rewrites in April, send it to beta readers in May, and finalize all changes in June. Then? We pitch.

That seems…well, it seems rather crazy when I put it into words like that.

Why? Why put this pressure on myself when I don’t have to? A six month turnaround is nuts and difficult for a guy who already struggled last year to find his footing in his writing space.

But to me, it’s all about simulating life as a professional. A deadline, making up something new even when I may not feel the muse, and following through. If I do attain the dream, get an agent, sell a book, sell the second or third book in the series, and then…WHAT? That’s it? No. I need to keep making up things and keep writing things and keep selling things.

Plus, I’m a better writer and a better storyteller than I was five years ago. Doing this challenge would all me to access the part of my writer brain that’s new and fresh, not from five years ago. If you were a pro and your work from five years ago is the same as it is now, are you really growing?

So much for helpful and attainable. We’ll see how this goes.

Thanks for reading,

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