Why I didn't set annual goals this year / Happenings In The Outhouse 20-Nov-2015

Around this time of year, many people set their goals for the upcoming year.

Not me--well, not me this year anyway.  Last month, I set my goals for the next 26 months.  This is the first of the twenty-six months.  It's been going well, even though I gave myself a little head start since I came up with the 26-month plan roughly a month ago.

In the month of October alone, I published three short stories.  In November so far, I've published four.  Two of these four are posted free on my website and this blog.

I am also roughly halfway through the first draft of the third novel in the Central Division Series at 33K words.

Now, back to the matter at hand: why didn't I set annual goals this year?

Because sometimes "stuff" happens.  Take this year for example.  It started out with a bang, and then BANG!  Brief medical hiatus.  Also, I wanted to experiment with something new.  I have LOTS of stories I want to tell and somehow looking ahead over the next 12 months is just too small of a window.

For example, I was waiting in line at the convenience store in town when I noticed a young man ahead of me with a big bottle of orange juice.  When I saw him go into the store before (he parked right in front so it wasn't too hard to notice) there was a young lady in the front passenger's seat.  Now, most people I see in the store here buy pop or snacks or, if they happen to buy juice they also buy something to eat, like pizza.  This young man did not.  Just the big bottle of orange juice.  Now, why would this seem so odd?  Why would he need the orange juice for?  Why, probably to mix with a drink, of course.  I can't assume so, but I am probably right.

The reason I mention this is because my imagination went into overdrive.  What if someone standing behind the young man received a premonition that something bad was going to happen?  That night, the questions surrounding this situation and story idea wouldn't leave, so I wrote them down.  Future story?  Time will tell . . .

In the end, with this experiment, I wanted to leave open the possibility of publishing new works as I think of them, if the idea is strong and my desire to write them is equally so.