2018 is here. Happy New Year!

The new year is here!

2017 is finally over. A new year begins for all of us, with new beginnings, new challenges, and new opportunities. There will be new stories to write, new books to read, new movies and anime to watch (including the next season of My Hero Academia) — everything. So many new things to try, and so many rewards to obtain.

That being said, here are my plans (not resolutions):

Give light novels a second look. In an older post, I denounced the Japanese light novel format as dull and poorly paced. However, I had an epiphany — light novels may be written episodically, so the progression will be different. This is done very effectively in the novel Morningwood, showing that such a plot can hold reader interest. Thus, I will read Japanese light novels with new eyes.

Maintain Pulp Speed One. Author Dean Wesley Smith has explained the concept of Pulp Speed, in which a writer writes very quickly with little revision; this was done in the 1930s, when pulp magazines were popular reading material. Pulp Speed One is the lowest of these speeds, at 2,750 words a day. When drafting my story for an anthology on manly virtue, I reached this speed and found that it let me finish rather fast. I hope to keep it up since fast progress is essential, and I don’t like to dwell too long on a single story.

Sell a board game. In November, I built a simple wargame by hand. In December, I played it with a few people. Now, I intend to take this game to game stores throughout my state to see how strangers will receive it. It’s not as high on my priority list as other things, but I want to see where it gets me.

This will be a year to remember, for better or worse. I intend to finish it in a better place than when I started.