Happy 2016!
It’s that time of year, when my website decides to show me who’s boss. Er, sorry, that time when we make a bunch of resolutions that may or may not fall to the wayside by February 1. Anyway, that’s the reason for this post being a little later than usual. You can read all about how to make small achievable goals elsewhere. I’m a big fan of making small steps that lead to big results, either through daily habits or by taking advantage of reminders on my phone to tell me to do certain things at regular intervals.
Besides the standard fitness and personal development goals I make each year, I try to focus on achievable writing goals, too. A reasonable one for 2016 is publishing Book 2. While I usually hesitate with firm writing deadlines, I’ve got the whole plot worked out and need to do a little rearranging before I finish the first draft. Then I can build on my NaNoWriMo success and write a mere 500 words per day for three months to gain 45,000 words on the draft, which is significantly higher than needed to finish the story, then spend some time on editing for story direction before sending it on to beta readers.
Allowing a month for professional editing, another for fixing the findings, a third for proofreading and a fourth for preparing for publication, I’ve accounted for 8 months of 2016. Somewhere along the way, I’ll need a title and cover art. There, I wrote it down and you guys are going to keep me accountable, right?
In case you’re curious about some of my other resolutions this year, I want to continue learning Spanish (DuoLingo has been an awesome way to build a little learning into my day) and learn how to draw. I found a book that teaches drawing in 20-minute daily lessons over the course of a month, and it’s a skill I’ve always wanted to develop. I’ve started the drawing lessons, and K already finds my shaded, overlapping spheres and cubes quite impressive. There are a few other resolutions, but I always plan to reevaluate and update my plans a few months in. I always like to make sure my resolutions involve some brain exercise—new skills like languages and art are important to staying healthy.
What kinds of resolutions have you made for 2016?