Writing goals for 2008

I haven't yet been up to write personal responses to everyone who e-mailed me yesterday, but I deeply appreciate the support many of you provided. I'm feeling a bit better now that I can at least see a glimmer of light at the end of the undergraduate tunnel, and I most certainly keep on writing no matter what I do.

On that general topic, I wanted to set out a few goals for myself. Right now what I'm going to be doing this summer is up in the air, and writing for a few hours a day might end up becoming my "job." Even if it doesn't, I definitely want to outdo myself in 2008 and make the most of the time I have when classes let out, so here's a brief rundown of what I want to accomplish;

• My first priority is to finish my book, the first real step being to complete 3-4 chapters, send it around to some friends who have been kind enough to offer their opinions, make whatever corrections might be necessary, and then get an agent to show it around as I work on the rest of it. I really would like to have it completed (and perhaps even published) for the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, but I'm really going to have to work hard to make sure that's the case. Even if it doesn't get picked up, though, I'll find some way to get it to those of you who are interested.

• My second goal is to write a review article about human evolution, most likely for the new journal Evolution: Education and Outreach. I would like to provide a review of the major discoveries of fossil hominids and how they've changed perceptions about human evolution, providing not only a list of important finds but also their historical context. I'm probably more nervous about this than the book, though, as it would be my first "formal" piece.

• My third goal is to write a popular article about paleontology and art for a magazine like SEED. There's a lot of talk about "two cultures," but artistic renderings of Scenes From Deep Time have had a long and important tradition in paleontology, even if such pieces are not often appreciated by art aficionados. Art and science cross boundaries and intermingle with each other, and such an article would be a good way of not only indulging a personal interest but also working against the myth that science and the humanities are separate and don't "talk to each other." (As an aside, I do appear in the latest issue of SEED, impersonating PZ at the 2nd Annual Science Blogging Conference.)

• I may not accomplish any of the above, but I at least want to write an excellent post worthy of appearing in the next edition of The Open Laboratory. Whether I'm able to do that or not, though, will remain to be seen.

As I mentioned above, completing my book is going to be a priority (I've told my wife to prod me and tell me to stop squandering my talent if I start to get lazy), although I have to admit that I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to accomplish all that I would like to do. Being that I don't have much experience as a professional writer I'm still a little unsure and intimidated, but I am thankful that I have the support of so many of you. Classes will end in about a month, and when they do I'm certainly going to make a bigger commitment to establishing myself as a popularizer of science. In the meantime, though, thank you to all who have offered my support, comments, corrections, sent papers, and otherwise convinced me that I have at least a speck of talent.