Intentions for 2012

I'm going to try to avoid the trap of setting specific goals, it can become far too discouraging to set a goal and fail it due to circumstances outside my control.

So what I'm going to do is set up my intentions this year, they will guide the decisions that I will make without giving me a binary fail/success state.

To not be ashamed of my work

I have never had much confidence in my own writing. Some of that obviously comes from being dyslexic and the trouble that gives me with spelling and grammar. However if I'm serious about getting better, I can't afford to be precious about it.

I will do this by both pestering close friends and family to look at what I do more, as well as taking a deep breath and politely asking some of the writers who I respect on the net for their opinion.

To write regularly

I'm going to try and make sure I post at least once a week. Pretty much the one piece of advice about writing that is universally agreed upon is that if you want to get better at it you need to do it as much as possible.

To learn a programming language (to a level where it's actually useful)

I've recently started learning Python, it's pretty interesting but so far it's more at the stage where it's an intellectual exercise than a practical skill. My aim this year is to grind through to a stage where I can make practical use of it.

To finish my Boardgame

I was working on my boardgame 'Shadows' most of the second half of last year. I've got to the stage where it's mechanically complete on paper. This year I need to start playtesting it, sort out any balance issues, and then produce artwork for myself or/and talk to other people I know about contributing. Then I need to make the big step of looking for a publisher.