A group of my friends from work decided we would do our own month-long “JaNoWriMo,” meeting together for weekly write-ins, encouragement, and to discuss projects we’re each working on. Today we gathered at the Starbucks Cafe in the local Barnes and Noble to get started.

My goal this month, aside from edits I’m waiting on for a couple of stories, is to complete three new short stories, including one for the last anthology I’ve been invited to contribute to. There may or may not be a new X-Wing Lego set that I intend to treat myself to if I complete this goal… Today I wrote the opening scenes for two of these stories.

My overall goals for 2016 are similar to what I hoped for last year: get a short story accepted into a professional-pay magazine, and complete a new novel. Maybe two novels…We’ll see. I definitely have three stories coming out in anthologies this year, which I’ll discuss more as I get more details and publication dates become clearer. (Check out my Works in Progress under the Sarah’s Fiction tab for more info). I’m also looking forward to another year of paneling and presenting at local events. (Check out my Events tab for more details).

Today’s write-in with friends was a blast, and I’m excited for a month of hanging out with these rad authors in the making.

Whatever your own goals are this year, and whatever level you may be at, keep writing! Perseverance pays off. I promise. You can do the things, even the hard things.

#WriteIns