New Year, Not So New Me
Just to prove that title applies, I don't think it's the first time I've used it.
I read one of the myriad articles about New Year's resolutions in the last days of 2024. One stuck out for me. The idea was not to make resolutions that you don't want to do--that's homework--but to write down things your want to accomplish. The trick, if it can be called that, if to pick very specific things, write them down, and then put them away until next year. That way you're not berating yourself for not sticking to resolutions or dropping them by March.
To add to that, at the very end of the year you can document how much you've completed thus giving you a starting point for the next year. That way you see progress and not black and white success or failure.
To that end, here are a few of my professional goals:
Novels: Last year I tried something new--working on more than one project at a time. Now I can move forward with all of them getting closer to finishing at least one.
Marketing: It's time to admit I have a major deficiency and that's marketing! But now that I have a whole series under my belt I'm going to take my work seriously and not feel bad if I decide to outsource that particular chore.
Blog/Website/Social Media: Less of a bane than marketing, but more of an obligation than fiction writing, it's still important. I may not love the time it takes away from the kind of writing I love, but I do love the immediacy of publishing and getting feedback within a few days. I can commit to one fairy tale/folklore/myth etc. post a month and one writerly post a month.
And now I'm putting this post up and forgetting about it (fingers-crossed) until next year and if I ever peek I'll remind myself it's about progress.
One down!
How about you? Care to make a progress list too?