Annual Writing Goal Progress in Q3, 2025 (Finished a Novel Draft!)

We’ve got just under three months left of 2025 … how’s your writing going?

If it’s going well, hurrah! Keep it up!

If you’re struggling with lost momentum (or lost motivation), then check out my Finish Your Novel group. I’m about to open registration next week, on Monday 13th October, for another six-week group. We’ll get you on track to finish your novel – perhaps even before the end of 2025.

Slots will go to current Writers’ Cafe members first, then to the waiting list, before I make any remaining places publicly available. You can get on the waiting list here.

Recap: My Writing Goals for 2025

At the start of January, I wrote about my writing goals for 2025, which were:

1. Write 250+ Words of Fiction Every Day
2. Get a Publishing Deal for Reaper OR Self-Publish
3. Write Six Short Stories
4. Write Weekly Posts and Newsletters

Here’s how those have been working out during the third quarter of the year:

Goal #1: Write 250+ Words of Fiction Every Day

As I wrote in June, daily writing wasn’t working well for me … so I ditched the goal. And spoiler alert, I wrote a lot more. During July, August, and September, I wrote 44,843 words … and finished the rough draft of a new novel on Thursday 25th September.

Here’s how my word count looks across the nine months so far this year:

(There were three weeks in a row in September where I hit 7,000 words, thanks to the support and accountability of the Finish Your Novel group!)

If you’ve tried a daily writing target and it’s not been working for you, maybe a weekly target would work better. Or, you might want to switch to a time-based target if you’re researching/planning/editing.

Next Quarter

I like the momentum I’ve built up with this new novel, which is also a new genre for me (women’s fiction) so I’m going to dig into the second draft of that during Q4. I’m hoping to have a really solid draft by the end of the quarter – this is one I’d like to send round agents again.

Goal #2: Get a Publishing Deal for Reaper … or Self-Publish

I held off on doing anything with Reaper during Q3, because (a) I wanted to focus on the new novel draft and (b) I’d entered in Novelry’s “Next Big Story” competition (it didn’t get shortlisted). I’m still planning on self-publishing it.

I had another form rejection during Q2. I’d planned to find more agents to query but didn’t get round to this, partly because I’m now strongly leaning toward self-publishing Reaper: it fits within the same genre as my other self-published work (contemporary fantasy).

Next Quarter

Same plan for Q4 as for last quarter: one final proofread/tiny edit, commission a cover design, then launch it into the world. I’m going to keep some notes on the process so I can share about that on the blog.

Goal #3: Write Six Short Stories

Once again, no progress on this goal! I’ve been too focused on the novel to work on any short stories. I’m officially striking it off the list. Maybe next year will be a bigger short story year.

Goal #4: Write Weekly Posts and Newsletters

I took the summer off from the blog and newsletters, as usual, but I’m back to weekly now! I’m planning topics ahead of time, but also allowing some flexibility for when I’m inspired by a particular question – particularly when things come up in Writers’ Cafe and the Finish Your Novel group.

Next Quarter

During Q4, more of the same! I’m still thinking about how to make the newsletter as useful as possible, so you may see some tweaks to that over the next few weeks. (As always, if you ever have feedback or suggestions for the blog or newsletter, I’m very open to that.)

What’s Been Happening & What’s Coming Up on Aliventures

I tweaked some of my plans from last quarter (sorry!) I ran the summer sale and brought out Zero to Story, but I changed direction on my offer for novelists, with the launch of the Finish Your Novel group. Editing Essentials is still awaiting its tweaks … anyone who’s bought it already will get the updated version once that’s out.

I also created a set of fillable / printable Character Cards for people on my newsletter list: you can download those for free by joining the newsletter:

During the next three months, look out for:

• The next round of the Finish Your Novel group (registration opens on Monday!)
• More freebies – and I’m still hoping to do a free live workshop for you 🙂
• The annual Winter Sale, where everything in the Aliventures Shop will be half-price

How about you? How were July, August, and September for your writing? Leave a comment below (or email me at ali@aliventures.com) … I’d love to hear how things are going, and what you’ve got planned for the final three months of the year.