As is the case each year, January provides a nice transitional time to reflect on the past 12 months and look forward to the year ahead. Last year, I wrote all my creative goals for 2014 in this post:
http://benlanehodson.com/2013-tombstone/
So how did I do?
Well, my overarching goal for 2014 was to get my first book published. That’s where a lot of my creative energy and time went and luckily, I was able to get that published in November. Here’s the list of what I had put down for 2014 creative goals.
2014 Goal Wrap Up
Publish Tales of the Macabre West by April
“Kind-of accomplished” – I did get Tales of the Macabre West published but not in April. It slid to November because there were so many more revisions I wanted to do and then a lot of other prep with the illustrations, book design, editing that were much more complicated than I had planned.
Record a New Album
“Nope” – Totally missed this one. I started messing around with music, meeting with friends to work on song ideas, even learning more about my recording software. After about 3 months of this, I decided I just didn’t have the time to work on it like I should and I wasn’t happy with any musical direction we were going. Nothing was feeling right. So I pushed this one off for the year.
Write Another Short Film
“Yes” – Not only did I write Shadow of the Mountain, but principal photography has already been completed and the film will release this year.
Launch a new Comic Series
“Not quite” – Spent a ton of time last year working on Blood & Glory but didn’t quite get the first issue released yet. My amazing artist Kasey had some life events that slowed her down this past year but the book is very close.
So overall, I’d give the year about a 60% completion rate. Not great. Not where I wanted to be. But certainly not bad at all. And the big consolation is that my biggest goal of a new book being published was achieved.
Looking back at 2013, I can’t help but feel like I didn’t get as much done creatively as I’d hoped. I’m feeling more ambitious for 2015 so here’s a list of my big creative goals for 2015.
2015 Creative Goals
Write 1st Draft of New Novel (December)
I’m working on a new novel idea. The working codename title is: “Utopia” but that will change when it is ready to publish. The story is coming along nicely and I’m currently outlining and researching for the book. I will be writing on it every day this year and plan to have a first draft finished by the end of the year.
Record a New EP Album (November)
This is a carry-over from 2013. I can’t let another year go by that I don’t really dig in on music. A full album is just too much to bit off but a 5 song EP album is doable and so that’s our goal. Write, record, and release a 5 song EP by November. I’m already spending time each day writing new music.
Issue #1 of Blood & Glory Released (March)
Blood & Glory is so close. We are doing coloring and cover design currently. This first issue will release at Emerald City Comic Con in March.
Release new issues of Shutter & 8-Bit (July & October)
We are working on next issues for Shutter and 8-Bit and both should be out this year. Along with this, I also need to finish up on final drafts for the next issues so that’s part of this work item as well.
– Release Issue #2 of 8-Bit Released by July
– Release Issue #3 of Shutter Released by October
Submit Shadow of the Mountain to Film Festivals
Shadow of the Mountain should be completed by early Spring and ready to submit to film festivals. We still need a finalized cut, some special effects work, sound design, and I need to compose the score for the film as well.
Write a New Film Screenplay (May)
We’ve got a new idea for a short film that has a great hook. I will be working on a screenplay this year for this idea and my goal is to have that written before summer.
Write & Draw 30% of “Death & Loneliness” Graphic Novel (December)
I’ve got an idea I feel very strongly about for a full length graphic novel. And I’m going to really push myself to do both the story and the art on this one. I am practicing drawing each day. My goal is to have the script completed before Summer and then work on the art for the rest of the year. I think 1/3 completed by year’s end is a good goal. This is probably the toughest and most time-consuming goal of the entire list so that’s why it is on the bottom. It may have to slide if things get dicey.
2015 is looking to be a crazy-productive year!