New Year, New Goals: Here’s to 2022

As I continue adding content to this site, I become more and more aware of the time that this takes from writing and learning craft. It is difficult to update as frequently as I would like (*laughs at the girl who thought I could post weekly*), and with this realization comes the need for some changes. I want this site to act as more of a time capsule: a way to track how I grow as a writer, a place to store future successes, and something that holds me accountable to continue this writing journey even when it is hard.

Because of this, I want to devote most of my time to that writing journey, and will use this site more as a way to post bigger updates/monthly goals, to store stories that are not selected for the market that I write them for, and to celebrate any successes in the future. I want to map out my own writing journey, to track it as it changes and grows, and collect great resources I have found helpful to me as I grow as a writer.

I have set a goal to post once a month, mostly updates or goals that I’ve set for myself. I will continue to post short stories I write separately, but do not know if I will be able to post one a month as I focus on drafting my new WIP. I will post about my process for that as it continues to grow (but since I have as yet finished any of my WIPs and am slowly trash drafting this current story, I do not have much to share). However, I read A LOT. I’ve set a goal to finish 50 books this year, and here it is only January 1st and I’ve already finished 2 (to be fair, I started one yesterday and finished it this morning). I want to track this progress separately, and will write reviews to the books I read on my Goodreads account instead (You can read them here!) In this way, I won’t feel the pressure to choose whether I want to share a book review or short story in the month, and can instead focus on craft. Also, I read too many books to only choose one to talk about each month, and so I can update my progress as I go on Goodreads.

And so here are my goals for the month of January specifically, rather than my goals for all of 2022:
1.) start going to the gym more regularly: I need to remember to take care of my body and not get lost in some of the depression that comes with the continued state of the world. I’m excited to be one of the “new year, new me” people, and hope to last longer than most, making it a regular habit.
2.) finish trash-drafting Act One of my new WIP: I had this past week off for the holidays, and have already made a pretty good dent in this, so I’m hopeful that I might get even further than just Act One, but want to set attainable goals.
3.) Submit a new short story to a competition: looking at Orpheus + Eurydice Unbound from AANP and already have some *ideas* for The Snake (The Attack)/The Death (Eurydice is attacked/bitten and dies, Orpheus is overcome by grief)
4.) Make writing a habit: I’d like to write at least four times a week, and have set a more aggressive goal of at least 1K words a day, which is only possible for me with the trash-drafting phase.
5.) Submit an older story to other mags: try to get used to submitting things that are rejected other places, and learn to collect and appreciate rejections. I think I am going to submit my entry to WoTF 4th quarter (which got an honorable mention!) to a couple of other places just to see. Many people in my writing group are creating little journals of gold stars for their rejections, and rewarding themselves for putting their work out there. I really like this idea, and would like to start practicing submitting places so that I can start collecting rejections (with the possibility of some acceptances!).
6.) Outline a draft for WoTF second quarter: I want to submit to all of the quarters this year (2-4, then 1 at the end of the year), and to continue to challenge myself to learn the shape of stories and the developing of ideas into plot and character. I really like this challenge, and want to strive to be accepted.

It is going to be a busy month, and I want to really dedicate myself to writing this year. I really struggled at the end of last year, spent days without any sort of momentum in any of my WIPs, and am excited to take the jumpstart my vacation gave me to really commit myself to finishing this year with a fully edited manuscript!