Your Goal

[Ophiucha]

I would like to see people enjoying my work and relating to the characters and connecting with the themes. Making enough money to not need to work full time wouldn't be bad, either. And I can't wait to see all of the coffee shop!au erotic fanfiction.

 

[Ireth]

And I can't wait to see all of the coffee shop!au erotic fanfiction.

Fanfiction is the one thing I'm not really looking forward to, mostly when it comes to pairings. I don't want to see my characters shoved into relationships they'd never so much as consider in-canon, especially if it comes at the expense of their canon sexual orientation. That's why so much of slashfic irritates me.

 

[Ophiucha]

I don't necessarily mind the 'shipping' aspect of fandom - it's harmless enough, most of the time. It can be problematic - with slash fiction, I find a lot of the time fanfiction writers have the canonical female protagonist become villainous or petty in order to justify the male character leaving her for his rival/best friend/whoever they're shipping him with. But romance is so often not a focus of my stories, so even if it makes no sense for two of my characters to get together, it doesn't bother me that my readers could write them together anyway - even if their sexualities don't match (though writing a queer character as straight is a little sketchy from an erasure standpoint). My major problem with fanfiction is how often it erases all of the creativity and purpose behind a work - my sarcastic example of the 'coffee shop!au' is very common, yet it completely rids the canon of its creative worldbuilding and often removes the characters from the context in which they are... worthwhile characters? Like, you can ship Samwise and Frodo if you'd like, but take them out of Middle Earth and plop them into a Starbucks and they are just two dudes with no plot or significance to anything with none of the moral dilemmas they faced or character growth they went through.

 

[OGone]

I want people to be excited for what I'm writing next, once I have people (I don't care how many, just not sincere family types) bugging me on social media and the like to finish my next novel then I'll feel a sense of satisfaction.

Writing for a living is the ultimate, unrealistic goal. I'm going to try and make that happen.

 

[Bear]

I like to write something that is unique. My goal is really sime. To have the reader walk away satisfied, happy, content, ect.

 

[Alex97]

For me it's just to finish a few well told stories. I write as a hobby and cannot say I'm all that bothered about being published, becoming famous or having my face minted on coins... That said getting published and earning a shed load of money would be nice!

Producing quality work and perhaps having a small following on the internet or whatever is enough for me. I suspect that's where I differ from the majority of people on the forum who aim to get published.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

There is a song called Breathe (2 am) by Ana Nalick with a line "It's 2 am and I'm still awake writing the this song; if I get it all down on paper it's no longer inside of me threatening the life it belongs to. And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd 'cus my words are my diary screaming out loud and I know that you'll use them however you want to."

The brutal truth? My goal is to survive the monkey on my back, and have a wonderful time with my characters along the way. Money would be nice, too.

 

[Caged Maiden]

My goals have changed over this twelve-year trek. At first, it was escapism, then it turned into telling stories I liked, in a way I liked them. Now, my goal is to finish my twelfth novel and submit something I'm really proud of and hopefully see it printed. I think everyone who writes or pursues any form of art needs to enjoy the journey, but having goals isn't a bad idea. Just remember to enjoy the scenery on the road, because sometimes, when you've reached your destination, it might not be as awesome as you thought it would be and you could have had more fun along the way.

 

[danr62]

My first goal is to get past the planning stages and actually start working on some narriative.

After that, my goal is to finish the book.

Then I want to publish it and rinse and repeat until I start making some steady money.

 

[Addison]

My plan is to publish a book. Just one book with make me extremely happy and proud and I'd feel....completed.

Fan art or fan fic would be interesting, maybe a little creepy. (I've seen the synopsis for some fan fics, definitely creepy)

But I don't care if the readers don't like it. Like Roald Dahl said, "I don't care if they don't like my book, so long as they finish it." But mainly it's publishing.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I'm of two minds about fan fic. On one hand, amazingly flattering. On the other hand, restraining order time creepy.

 

[Draco99]

As a writer, my goal is to devote my self to getting a book published, nothing big, a goal I can reach and work to by using small steps which will turn BIG.

 

[The Dark One]

Before I was first published I used to fantasise about:

- Being interviewed on the radio by a really insightful person who would ask me a series of questions enabling me to talk on an increasingly profound level about the story, subtexts and creative process;
- Signing away the film rights for a million bucks in an office above Manhattan;
- Being able to quit my day job and live off the proceeds of fiction;
- Answering fan mail;
- Being able to go into any book store and find my book on the shelf;
- Walking through a train (I’m a commuter) and seeing my book being read by a stranger.

Since being published (April 2010) I have achieved the following:

- Numerous radio interviews;
- Film rights optioned (in Sydney, for a sum significantly below a million);
- Still working my day job;
- Have had approx. 100 fan emails and answered every one;
- Seen my book in most bookstores (including airports);
- Never walked through a train and seen a stranger reading my book.

The thing is, I still don’t feel as though I’ve achieved much and yet, looking back, I have to admit I’ve achieved most of my dreams. Dreams grow as you advance up the ladder.

My new book comes out in August and I am desperately hoping that this time I will be walking through the train and…