February 27, 2025
–—–Goals for 2025
a blog post by David T Douglas
–—–
So far in 2025, I have realized two things and set goals accordingly…
First of all, I’ve been a horror fan (stories/movies/tv) for as long as I remember. When I was twelve years old, I wrote my own “scary stories,” then I took them to my grandparents’ house and read them to my younger cousins, who loved and feared the stories. (Sadly, I don’t remember any of the stories now.) Additionally, many of my short stories and plays from the past ~10 years have been horror-adjacent. I readily blend genres of mystery/thriller/romance with a dash of supernatural. And this month I realized: I should lean my stories a little more into the horror genre, which would theoretically: 1) make them more interesting; 2) make them more enjoyable to write; 3) open up new submission/publishing opportunities; and 4) attract a new audience of readers. So that is Goal One: horror author.
Second of all, while I was writing plays in Dallas, I attended numerous staged readings and full productions of plays. And, of course, even founded and led a playwright organization for 3+ years, which had monthly script critique meetings. But now that I plan to focus on writing novels (and short stories), I should also be reading novels, especially horror novels. So that is Goal Two: read 25 books in 2025.
Lastly, Goal Three: join a local horror book club, where I can learn what readers like/dislike in the books they read, and I can potentially meet local people who would want to read my work.
Plus, there are so many interesting horror novels coming out in 2025! It’s a great year to get back into reading! (And writing!)
First of all, I’ve been a horror fan (stories/movies/tv) for as long as I remember. When I was twelve years old, I wrote my own “scary stories,” then I took them to my grandparents’ house and read them to my younger cousins, who loved and feared the stories. (Sadly, I don’t remember any of the stories now.) Additionally, many of my short stories and plays from the past ~10 years have been horror-adjacent. I readily blend genres of mystery/thriller/romance with a dash of supernatural. And this month I realized: I should lean my stories a little more into the horror genre, which would theoretically: 1) make them more interesting; 2) make them more enjoyable to write; 3) open up new submission/publishing opportunities; and 4) attract a new audience of readers. So that is Goal One: horror author.
Second of all, while I was writing plays in Dallas, I attended numerous staged readings and full productions of plays. And, of course, even founded and led a playwright organization for 3+ years, which had monthly script critique meetings. But now that I plan to focus on writing novels (and short stories), I should also be reading novels, especially horror novels. So that is Goal Two: read 25 books in 2025.
Lastly, Goal Three: join a local horror book club, where I can learn what readers like/dislike in the books they read, and I can potentially meet local people who would want to read my work.
Plus, there are so many interesting horror novels coming out in 2025! It’s a great year to get back into reading! (And writing!)
