Tag Archives: new year goals

When Creativity is a Struggle

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This past year has not been a very productive one for me, as far as producing books goes. At this time last year, I’d hoped to have the second book in The Light-Whisperers of Kalevala trilogy published, or at the very least in the final stages of editing and formatting. As it stands now, I’m still wading through the first draft. 

Book writing, and creativity in general, has been a challenge for me this year. The day after Christmas last year, my family moved my elderly father into a nursing home. His Alzheimer’s made it unsafe – for him and my mom – to care for him at home. While dealing with that transition, several other members of my family had various unrelated health challenges during the first part of the year. Then in the summer I put my house up for sale. Autumn brought more changes as my father passed away and I moved into a new place that, while safe and comfortable, wasn’t quite move-in ready and thus required some time-consuming work. Other smaller things also happened this year that were surprising drains on mental energy. 

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New Year, New Goals

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I always like to start out the new year with a list of goals and a renewed vision. I prefer the term “goal” rather than “resolution,” because to me a resolution sounds like something so permanent and inflexible that if you mess up just once, you’re done. A goal, on the other hand, is something that you are always progressing towards. A backwards step is okay, as long as you take another step forwards again.

One of my goals for this year is to blog more. I’ve been blogging regularly once a week for several years now, but I want to do more. So every Monday, I will be sharing a picture, a quote, or a track of music to help inspire you and get your week off to a positive start. Whether you’re looking for story prompt ideas or just an encouraging word first thing in the morning, check out my blog every Monday for my #MondayMotivation!

On the story writing side of things, I’ve got a plan in place to publish several works this year. I just sent my sci-fi novella off to an editor (my first time hiring a real editor! Whee!) I’ll also be rewriting the historical fiction I drafted last year, and also releasing some short stories. Stay tuned for more info as I progress with these stories!

Last year, I got through less than half of my intended reading list (although I did read a few books that weren’t originally on the list). This year I’m going to be more diligent about reading, because every good writer is first a good reader.

So those are my goals for 2017. What are some of your goals for this year? Write more? Read more? Subscribe to my newsletter? 😉 Please share!