2017 Writing Goals

It's that time: the point in the year where I need to face up to whether nor not I reached some of my writing goals and what my writing goals will be for the coming year.

Last year, I had this to say about what I'd do with respect to writing in 2016:

So what's to be done for the coming year? Instead of individual goals, per se, I'm going for one word to encompass what my year will be. And that word? Revision. Revision of The Chocolate Garden, a short story called "Personal Chaos," After We've Fallen, blog posts, you name it, if it needs revising, I'm going to consider tackling it. I haven't quite figured out what will get revised first yet, but I have time to think that through.

Was I successful? I didn't revise The Chocolate Garden much, if at all, but After We've Fallen experienced extensive renovations. I also started the "Draft Makeover" series for the blog posts (meaning I've revised several posts), AND, I revised both "Personal Chaos" as well as a little ditty I call "Ushering Georgia." All revision aside, I published a profile, wrote an essay for Tribe, sucked up my angst over Trump's election, and edited more pieces than I can count. In fact, this past year, I stepped into the role of Senior Editor over at Literary Mama, so I'd say that yes, this year was quite successful, depending on how you look at it.

Which means I need to address what's to come in 2017. But to be honest, I'm not sure.

I feel like this coming year, more than anything, I need to listen to so many things with respect to my writing. And if I listen, I can then make a decision. What does that even mean, you ask? I think it means to live in the moment with respect to my writing. Write because I love to write, but don't always expect something in return. And if a subject comes up and I write a piece that I feel I must submit somewhere, then I will. But I won't pressure myself to do anything that might stifle my creative juices.

I suspect that if I listen to myself, I will eventually make my way through revising the things I didn't get to in 2016 as well as anything new I wrote this year (Just Be, for example).

This photo can be found here.

As for blogging, I'm unsure about that goal, too. The year I wrote every day was one of my best yet...the act of writing really honed my craft and kept the muse alive. But I'm not sure I can go back to that goal this year. I think only time will tell, and there, too, I'll need to listen to myself.

Until then, Happy New Year, and see you in 2017!