Writing Resolutions for 2016

I'm going to work on a poem every day (I won't vow to finish one every day, as I believe in my case that would simply make for 365 bad poems).

I'm going to try submitting some of my poetry for publication, just to see. If I get a publication credit or two out of it, great. I do not expect money.

I'm going to finish editing my damn novel manuscript and submit it.

I'm going to try to do some freelance writing. I don't much like being a lawyer (my favorite part is writing briefs). It would be wonderful to make a living writing, even if it's not much of a living.

1. Write an average of around 200 words a day on my novel. That way it should be written by around summer, ready for editing.

2. Write one short story a month for a short story series that I only had the idea for last night

3. Read more!

4. Find someone to read my stories and can give advice and encouragement. I'm also a terrible procrastinator so to have someone like this in my life would be useful!

I don't make resolutions anymore, as they would be pretty much the same things I wake up every day telling myself I need to start doing, and then kind of fall on my face about by the time afternoon hits.

It would be nice to get somewhere, with writing. I can't resolve anything, because I don't trust myself anymore to keep to my own promises, but . . . er, getting somewhere would be good.

No resolutions for me either, but I am gonna try and take a big step with it. Just have to figure out which direction is best.

Whenever I make resolutions I either ignore them or get flustered by them. So I make lists of reminders instead. Things like:

Write more. Do more art. Launch some selling platforms for the latter. Do more research to help with the former. Be more involved with friends and family. Don't waste time reading bad writing, beyond just enough to verify that it is bad. When reading great writing, tell other people about it.

buzhidao said:

I don't make resolutions anymore, as they would be pretty much the same things I wake up every day telling myself I need to start doing, and then kind of fall on my face about by the time afternoon hits.

It would be nice to get somewhere, with writing. I can't resolve anything, because I don't trust myself anymore to keep to my own promises, but . . . er, getting somewhere would be good.

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+1

Any resolutions I would make would involve dealing with the fears, bad habits, and personal issues that keep me from following through on resolutions.

I set writing goals at the beginning of 2015, blaming amergina in part for realizing the need to do so. Blogged about those goals and next year's goals here.

I've also been paying attention to Dean Smith's Heinlein's Rules series, and I'll be working on applying those rule to my writing.

I didn't make any resolutions, but I did join the Write A Page challenge for the Comics Collab group on Reddit. Comics are usually 22 to 36 pages, so that's what I'm aiming for a month on one of my projects.

The other I'm still hammering out, but it won't be a resolution per se.

1 - Start querying! I was supposed to last year, but wasn't ready. Hopefully, I'll be ready in a month. I've decided to skip a second round of beta reads, just so I can send this out and test the waters. I'm doing my final re-read and edit now, and so far so good. In fact, I'm seeing even more places to add nuance and remove fluff. A lot is going for it, so here's hoping.

2 - Write another book! Maybe a novella too. Honestly, after the tough time I had with book one, every other book I've planned seems easier.

3 - Finish one of my many quirky or spooky short stories. Also write short stories based in the world of book one. Oh yeah, there's plenty to write about.

4 - Consume more media and books to enhance my imagination and story-tellings skills.

5 - Find time for 1-4.

I am superstitious about resolutions, you make them to break them. Instead I have set goals for my writing. I've spent years toying and fantasizing about being a published writer but never taken it serious. I've always made excuses and put it off. This year I refuse to make excuses. I am going to write and going to submit.

Goal one is to write a few short stories each month and submit them for publication.

Goal two is to spend at least an hour per day working on my novel.

Goal three is to produce minimum of one non-fiction article per month.

Goal four is to at least register for a university or college level program related to the writing field. (I am trying to decide between a bachelors or masters in English or just a writing for publication certificate through a local community college.

Due to health reasons my whole career has derailed and I need to find a new direction. No more feeling sorry for myself, 2016 I will make it happen!

I am also going to make more time for reading and spending time with my family. They are after all a large inspiration to me.

Mine are simple: Keep going and finish Book Two and make a decision regarding Book One, whether to seek an agent or just self-publish the sucker. I keep going back and forth on both options.

1. Write. Minimum of 500 words a day.

2. Read. At least a book a month.

3. Get my blog posts back on schedule. A new post ready to go up every Tuesday, even if it's just a book or movie review.

I'm already doing good so far. 647 words down on a new short story that I've wanted to start for quite a while, and I got a Kindle with a $50 Kindle gift card for Christmas. So here's to a good start to the year.

I used to be anti-resolution and call mine goals but dammit...it's the same thing so you know, yes, yes I did make writing resolutions. I have a whole category of writing related ones.

Write every day. Originally I was going to set this one as write 1k words every day but I don't think setting a qualifier like that really works for me.

Write, revise and submit at least 12 short stories. One a month. I could have said as many as 15 including already existing stories but that would be cheating, I think.

Write at least 2 novels. Hopefully I can actually squeeze 3 in since I'm 14k into one already (from 2 years ago but hey...better late than never).

Write a video game. This was on my someday list but through a strange turn of events I am actually working on one with a friend.

Almost forgot about the blog(s). At least 1 post per week in WoG and 1 per week on my personal.

And if you count reading, 26 books this year. It would be more, if I had an income to afford them with.

My New Year's Resolutions are relating to a new writer...
1. Ask my old Literature professor, a good friend of mine now, if she would be willing to read and constructively criticize my stories.
2. Graduate from community college and start university with a degree in English (with a teacher option).
3. Look for an illustrator for my children's book.
4. Write a blog post every Friday.

ShaunHorton said:

3. Get my blog posts back on schedule. A new post ready to go up every Tuesday, even if it's just a book or movie review.

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Are you on Twitter? If so, make sure to tweet your blog posts using the #MondayBlogs hashtag. See http://badredheadmedia.com/what-is-mondayblogs-and-why-you-should-be-participating/ for more info.

(Whoops. Wrong link)

cmhbob said:

Are you on Twitter? If so, make sure to tweet your blog posts using the #MondayBlogs hashtag. See http://rachelintheoc.com/mondayblogs/ fro more info.

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I am, but is there a thing for Tuesday Blogs?

I'd like to finish two books this year: another romance and one of my darker stories I'll be doing under a different pen name.

By the end of this year, I'd also like to have a firm grasp on where I should go from here. I'm torn between querying agents or jumping straight into self-publishing for both books. Being traditionally published has been an honor, but I also find it really stressful and confusing. I don't want anything to affect my joy of writing, especially since I have a good day job, and I'm not really in this for the money. It might be better for me just to self-publish my books for fun, and if someone happens to buy them, great. But I also really love my stories and want them to have the maximum chances of exposure ... so I don't know. It's something I need to think about more.

Other than that, just keeping up with blogging. I've been through a lot, and I have a lot of advice to give about life and love. Hopefully it benefits someone.

I write at a snail's pace, so my resolution this year is to complete at least one novel, conception to final draft.

ShaunHorton said:

I am, but is there a thing for Tuesday Blogs?

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Not sure, but there's no requirement that a #MondayBlogs post actually be posted on Monday. In fact, Gravity authors end up having their post live by Friday at 5 PM PST, so that all of the related streams can get fed in time for Monday. Rachel Thompson runs Gravity Books for Booktrope, and any posts by Booktrope and related authors get fed into over half a dozen Twitter streams. Pretty neat.

Did a quick search, and there is a #TuesdayBLogs hashtag. No clue about the engagement level or support. In fact, it seems like there's a hashtag for every day of the week.

The @MondayBlogs account has almost 14k followers, FWIW.

I only have two things:

Get a professional editor
Promote myself more

Only to keep writing.

brainstorm77 said:

Only to keep writing.

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True that!

I've actually set myself a bit of a crazy goal, for me at least: write a million words. It's not all going to be fiction- that would be far too much fiction writing haha- but instead, it's going to encompass fiction writing, blog content, and all my edit letters and what not for my clients. Essentially, anything that is valuable and improve my writing skills.

Wishing all of you the best of luck in your 2016 endeavors! Hopefully we'll all have a successful year. <3

"Finish the book" won't get it done. Too big. Too scary. Too I'll-do-that-tomorrow.

So I'll say my resolution is to set a schedule -- little goals to hit every couple weeks or so. Maybe even submit my WIP to a friend according to the schedule, to keep me honest.