Usually, I’m not one for New Year Resolutions; mainly, because I don’t believe in waiting for the new year to make goals for change. When I have something I want to change in my life, I create a goal to accomplish it, regardless of the time of year. That said, this time around it just so happens that I had a few changes that I wanted to make and it happens to be the end of the year.
Now, not all the goals I made are writing related, but I decided to share some of the ones that were. Mostly because I’m hoping that by publishing them and then making monthly assessments on how I’m doing with them, I will accomplish them.
So without further ado, here are my writing related goals:
Nurture my Creativity by…
- Reading at least fifty fiction books this year. That is about 1 book per week.
- Spending more time doing fun things with my family and playing more with my daughters, because downtime is therapeutic for the creative brain.
- Unplugging from the electronics on the weekends, unless I’m inspired to write on my current writing-in-progress and I have the time to do it.
Be a better writer and develop my writing craft by…
- Reading at least 5 books on the writing craft this year. I know I have that many or more on my Kindle or in my bookshelf.
- Take at least 1 writing craft related ecourse or workshop before the end of the year.
- Writing and maintaining a work journal each writing day. This will help me track how I feel about my writing that day, what worked and didn’t work, where I left off and where I was headed for the next day, analyze what might help me in the future, and record good ideas and advice.
Be more disciplined in my writing by…
- Writing something every weekday, even if it’s a blog post or a letter (this one could help me improve my handwriting which is a personal goal of mine).
- Not feeling too upset if I don’t write something one day because sometimes daydreaming is working too.
- Writing at least 300,000 new words this year. That’s about 1,100 words each week day. Totally doable!
Finish writing 5 books this year…
- The Warlord’s Daughter by February 1st (about 72,700 words written).
- The Scout’s Captive by April 1st (about 33,800 words written).
- The Lost Heir by June 1st (about 50,700 words written).
- The Empty Throne by September 1st (about 3,100 words written).
- The Rebel Queen by December 31st (about 9,500 words written).
Create an inspiring work space by…
- Creating a slide show of inspiring quotes and pictures for my laptop desktop.
- De-cluttering my office area and desk for better working.
Work on my time management by…
- Using the planners I created and bought. One planner is for tracking what I did that day and the other is for planning what I want to get done.
- Setting writing goals at the beginning of every month and reviewing them daily to see where I can make improvements.
- Sticking with the daily work routine that I created to mesh with my family’s schedules. To be tweaked as needed.
Be a healthy writer by…
- Keeping the daily exercise routine I started. Walking during good weather, and dance or yoga when it’s yucky outside.
- Taking the time to make healthier meal choices and drink more water, especially during my working hours.
- Maintaining my meditation and affirmation practice I started in 2016.
So there you have it! All my 2017 writing related goals. 😀
I would love to hear about your goals for the new year if you’d like to share?