That weird little plant you scraped up from the gutter. That pulsating mountain off the coast of Japan. That collection of body parts you procured for your experiments.
Can you feel the unearthly forces about to burst forth and release the monster that could conquer the world?
On New Year’s Day 2018, I posted New Year, New You, a story about becoming what you truly want to be. Behind the story were horror writing goals I set for myself. I wrote more. I submitted more stories for publication and contests. I applied to writing events. It was scary and hard work, and the opportunities and rejections were transformative.
This year, I want to deepen my connection to horror writing and the horror fiction community. Below are some highlights from my 2019 Horror Writer Goals.
Submit More Stories – I’ve learned I write best when I have a goal and a deadline. The opportunities for horror stories keep expanding, and there are calls for every ilk of dark fiction. Check out The Midnight Society Events page and our Dark Calls for Submission Calendar for a list of publications looking for your darkest stories.
Expand My Craft – I’m very excited to be attending the Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp this year. It’s an intense weekend of writing and critique, after several months of submitting writing samples and reading participants’ work. If you’ve seen me tweeting about reading horror stories for an upcoming workshop, these are the strange and wonderful submissions I’m enjoying.
Read More Horror – This year I’m focused on making time to read, whether it be paper books, ebooks, or audio books. I’m currently reading HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SCREAM and GUTTED: BEAUTIFUL HORROR STORIES, both with dark, gorgeous stories that have haunted me afterwards. I also want to give more horror writers the best gift I can this year: book reviews.
It’s going to be a great year.
Do you have horror writing goals this year? Share them in the comments and let’s celebrate them together with The Midnight Society.
