2025: Preparing for the Year Ahead

I Consult the Orb of Tomorrow

What’s that guy in the upper right doing?

Time moves ever onwards and while a plan for the year ahead is sure to be derailed it would be too chaotic not to have a single idea of what I want to do. A goal, a vision, an ideal is important to keep one headed in the direction one wishes. Without further ado.

READING - 52 books

This is straightforward. I will once again aim to read 52 books in 2025. And each month I will do a write up of what I’ve read, whether it was paperback, on SubStack, or elsewhere.

Within these 52 books will be more books from fellow SubStackers, some I’ve owned for a while and others have recently arrived while some are yet to be released. I look forward to them all.

Inevitably there will be non-fiction alongside the fiction.

SHORT STORIES - 52 One Shots

One a week. Simple, straightforward. Some will be long, some will be short, some may be two parters. I want to return to writing stories based on prompts, either from writers like

Scoot

, who has plenty over at Gibberish that he has written on, or from places like IronAgeMedia who post a prompt image each month on their website.

If you have any story prompt ideas please do share in the comments!

NOVELLAS - 4

First off I will be finishing Famfrit’s Jewel which has 3 chapters remaining.

The novella after that will be about a mage hunter and delve into the trouble with magic and the consequences of letting such power be freely used. This is in the planning stage and will start end of January/beginning of February. I do not know what comes after this novella, I’m sure ideas will be conjured over Easter.

Long time subscribers might remember the Roman-esque low fantasy story Moves of the Civil War which has been on hiatus for over a year. I want to return to it but it is going to be much longer than my typical 10 chapter novellas, it’s already 11 chapters, which you can start to read here:

As a result of its inevitable length Moves of the Civil War will continue in April on Saturdays and run alongside One Shot Tuesdays and Novella Thursdays.

WORD GOAL - 520’000 words

2000 a day, minus weekends, or 10’000 a week. Have I ever written 10’000 words a week? Yes. Regularly? No, and that is why I must aim for it, it is greater than what I have done before but also attainable, or at least possible but it’s the start of the year so we should be optimistic. These words will be shared between fiction and non-fiction posted here on SubStack and other work that doesn’t get posted, usually abandoned projects or longer term ones that I work on much slower.

I wrote 184’235 words in 2024 so this aim is still more than double and the reason is simple. I have a lot of ideas and the ones that get side-lined are epic novel series that I have started and need to finish in order to edit and publish or new ideas that are fleshed out and need writing, others are standalone novels I’ve half edited or plotted out but haven’t written. Fact is if I’m ever going to complete what I want and get to other projects that are mere thimbles of ideas right now I need to create more.

ESSAYS

I often write essays and never hit publish because I want this SubStack to remain as close to exclusively fiction as possible, but last year I did promise an essay on Aristotle’s Poetics and never delivered. It expanded into three essays, the first is written and the other two are sketched out, I aim to finish and publish them in the first half of 2025.

Beyond that I will see what I want to write on, probably nothing but I will leave the possibility open.

That’s it. I hope this finds you well and not too hungover on New Year’s Day. Happy New Year, do you have any goals, plans, aims, or vague ideas for 2025? Comment below, I’d love to hear them!