Hope everyone had a safe and relaxing holiday season! I wish every day of my life was filled with tinsel and lights, like so:
Alas! It’s on to the New Year. Which brings to mind resolutions, especially of the writing variety. As an author, I actually don’t start fresh on January 1st. Instead, I use a system of constant goals. For example, I have a standalone mystery that I’ve been tinkering around with since last year. Except I didn’t quite make my personal cutoff date for constructing a coherent structure for it.
Then again, that was much of 2021 for me. It was a win to just keep on writing sometimes. A few of my plans took flight, but others plummeted. In the end, everything turned out fine.
Here’s a recap from last year:
PUBLISHED:
1 novel (Mimi Lee Cracks the Code; Sassy Cat Mystery 3)
1 anthology (Midnight Hour)
WROTE:
3 short stories (on submission)
1 novel (Death by Bubble Tea; L.A. Night Market Mystery 1)
SHELVED:
1 YA manuscript
I’m not sure what this says about my planning skills that I have both hits and misses. I suppose it means I should leave room for surprises. (That’s been much of my writing career. I wouldn’t have predicted my trajectory with the Sassy Cat stories or even the anthology.)
Well, I’m still plotting and crafting in 2022…but maybe I’ll cut out the rigid goal-making.
Cheers! Let me know how your 2022 is going and what your plans are!
Happy New Year! I’d say you accomplished quite a bit in 2021.
For my 2022 goals and intentions, I spent a couple of days journaling and planning out quarterly projects. I intend to re-outline a YA novel I shelved six months ago and see if that revives the ms. Who knows, it may work out. If not maybe I can salvage the ms by creating a short story to submit.
Thanks, Mona! Your plans sound superb. I love that part about salvaging manuscripts by making them into short stories–I’ve done that before myself.
I’d say your 2021 was a big success, Jen! Thank you for bringing such wonderful books and stories into the world. Looking forward to more of them in 2022 (no pressure, ha).
Happy New Year, Lisa–and thanks! Well, I have one book coming out in July 2022: Death by Bubble Tea. It’s got two Chicks’ wings up (from Ellen and Leslie), so hopefully readers will love it, too.
I’ve used Jan. 1 resolutions before. But now I also use the system of constant goals. Your successes in 2021 are amazing. Congratulations and happy New Yea.
Thanks, Nicki! All the best to you for this New Year–may you reach all your goals!