*insert fireworks here*
So it's 2014, and for a lot of people, writers and readers included, this means it's ~resolution-making time~
I'm sure there are many of you with weekly word count goals for the new year and/or reading goals.
Maybe you'll write 2 000 words a day and read two books a week. Maybe you'll outline and write a novel or read over 100 books this year. Maybe you'll participate in NaNoWriMo or NaPoWriMo this year!
Maybe you just want to eat healthier or watch less tv or start watching that one television show everyone is always talking about. Maybe you want to go vegan or visit a different country or learn a new language or start a family!
Whatever your resolution or goal may be, I wish you the best of luck. And even if, by the end of the year, you do not reach your goal, I hope you will try your hardest to and I commend you every step of the way!
Maybe you're like me and don't like calling these goals 'new year resolutions'. Maybe they're just goals you happen to start at the beginning of the year. And maybe, just maybe, you don't have a goal right now and maybe you don't want one. That is totally fine and here's a clap on the back, you wonderful person *claps wonderful people on back*
Because you don't have to have a goal or a resolution or a plan. You don't have to read a book a week or birth a child or go to Prague or write a novel. As long as you have a good year and spend it doing what you want to do, that's what is important.
All that said, however, I do have a goal. As I mentioned before, I'm not a fan of calling my goals 'resolutions'. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because calling them that in the past has never worked for me. Perhaps I'd rather call them a goal than a resolution because resolution is a four syllable word and I am just too lazy for that. It doesn't matter, really. But I'll share with you my writing goal/plan for the year, because I have one and making it public on here might help me reach better than if I kept it to myself.
For Christmas in my stocking I got a 2014 daily planner. I'm not in school, and I'm really good at memorizing my work schedule, so at first I was not sure how I would even use it. I could write down my work schedule in it, but that's just not likely. I'd much rather fill it with something more than that, and I'd like to fill it, because leaving it empty would just be sad.
So here's the plan: For each day, I will fill in what writing I did that day or why I did not write anything at all.
This is what I have so far, to give you all an idea of how exactly I'm filling this out:
(I hope to add for today that I worked on my new WIP, but I've yet to. Hopefully I can add that in before I head for bed tonight)
Why am I doing this? Firstly, because why not? But secondly, so by the end of each month (or even each week) I can see how much time I am spending slacking off, or how my work schedule is affecting my writing. I cannot really do too much about my work schedule, but perhaps I can plan ahead. If I know I am working a late shift, I can write extra on my days/evenings off to pre-make up for it. This way I can get things done and see exactly how I am progressing.
I am thinking about writing up a monthly blog post on here to document monthly (or maybe bi-weekly, depending) what my progress is like and my plans to fix it. This will be my project for the year. Maybe I'll be cheesy and alliterative and call it 'Project Productivity'.
Hopefully it will not end up being something like 'Project Procrastination' or 'Project Wow Courtney You Sucked This One Hard'.
I'd rather avoid the last one there. It's disconcerting and potentially inappropriate-sounding. But that happens sometimes.
(I feel like the 'My Life' fits perfectly now that I'm keeping track of my writing progress. Writing is my life. Also books. But that ties into writing, so)
So this begins Project Productivity. So far it's going well enough. Wish me luck!
And good luck to all of you on your resolutions/goals/2014.
If you have any, what are your goals and/or resolutions? Do you have an action plan on how to go about accomplishing them, or are you going to wing it?
And if you don't have any resolutions/goals for 2014, feel free to share why not.
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