I’ve been hearing some talk around the web about writers needing a plan. Working writers have 5, 10, 30 year plans for their careers.
They know what the next couple of books are that they are going to write and they don’t let anything get in their way in writing them.
The idea of not knowing what to write next, has always been foreign to me. I’ve never had that problem.
Same with getting original ideas for new short stories and novels. The problem for me is not where to find ideas, it’s how to cut back the ideas and focus on completing the best of those ideas.
I have always shared my long range writing plans on my this page. It has become rather a complicated document, so let me summarize just the novels. Novels are my top priority for the next ten years. The goal is to publish one novel every year. Starting with SF on odd years and Mystery on even years.
The dates below are publication dates, actual writing start dates are a year or two ahead of that.
2008 – Starstrikers (Galaxy Collision Series)
2009 – Null_Pointer (Joshua Jones Mystery)
2010 – Tyrmia (GC Series)
2011 – Kill -9 (JJM)
2012 – Starforgers (GC Series)
2013 – Return False (JJM)
2014 – Starveyers (GC Series)
2015 – Batch Kill (JJM)
2016 – Nor Alien I
2017 – Segfault (JJM)
2018 – Betweos
2019 – Zero Day (JJM)
2020 – Voton (GC Series)
So that’s a look at the next decade or so of novel writing that I’d like to accomplish. This does not include the occasional short story or flash fiction piece. I have many, many short story ideas and will probably knock a few out every year.
I guess I better get back to Tyrmia and finish that bad boy. He’s due this time next year.