Writing Resolutions

No, I’m not going to write a post about going to the gym more often or giving up white sugar. The only truly successful food resolution I’ve ever made was the one vowing to avoid “bad chocolate.” It was easy to keep. There is so much good chocolate out there that it was never very hard to pass on the “bad.”

I have a few writing-related resolutions humming around in my brain — including a fourth Candy’s Monster now in the works. My goal is to have it ready for electronic publishing by the summer of 2013. For now, I plan to keep my other writing resolutions to myself. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be writing them down.

The act of writing is in itself a way to make something REAL. I find that my handwritten resolutions are more difficult to ignore than a document on my hard drive so I’ll be scribbling a few choice notes to myself over the next few weeks.

Weeks?

Yes, I make my annual resolutions on my birthday. As I’m a January baby, I get a couple of extra weeks to contemplate the past year and plan the next. Although I enjoy hearing about resolutions, I sometimes find it dispiriting. All too often resolutions are daydreams, impossible goals or worse — they are designed to fail. Resolving to write a bestseller, to land a major publishing contract, to become a top-rated/popular blogger or to hit the top spot on Amazon’s mystery list are ALL set-ups for failure.

This year, I will concentrate on resolutions that challenge my limits as a writer, but are achievable. Writing is new genres, reworking my big novel, etc. etc. etc. there’s a lot to choose from.

What about you? What are your writing resolutions?

Comments

  1. GO FOR IT !!! 🙂
    As for myself, this year’s resolution DID GET FULFILLED !!! 😀
    I finished and self-published my debut novel, a YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance, “I Kissed a Ghost.”. The biggest surprise I got regarding this, was when I received my PROOF COPY via UPS, and gave my approval for it to be released. Of course it got unto my e-store for it instantaneously, but what AMAZED me most is when I got curious and decided to check Amazon it see if BY SOME MIRACLE it would be there, instead of the several days I’ve had been told; and I FOUND IT THERE. As well as being on Amazon for England/UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
    Now if this Christmas gift already received, the only better one would be finding out I already sold 10,000 copies by Christmas Day itself [5 days]
    For next, I want to finish my 2nd novel, a yet untitled Contemporary Romance, with a paranormal romance back story interlaced with the main story line. I’ve got about 21,000 words already written. And to go out on a limb. I’d love to see myself finishing a third novel [genre=?] as well.
    Click on my name to find out more.

    Wishing everyone here and your families a VERY Merry Christmas and a HAPPY New Year

    • Candy

      Sounds like you’ve made a good start on your second book and resolving to do a third is a positive ambition! Congrats and Happy 2013!

  2. As another January ‘Crappycorn’ I shall make it my resolution to continue getting out of bed in the morning ( increasingly difficult once past 60) and maybe trying to re-start the fourth book again ( harder still).
    I wish you a very Happy Chistmas (Nadolig Llawen) and a Happy New Year ( a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda) with the addition of a Happy Birthday ( Penblwydd Hapus)
    Hugs
    David

    • Candy

      I can relate to the re-start of the 4th book desire. I have a novel that must be re-written AGAIN. I’m contemplating 2013 as the year this gets done.

      Happy 2013 and thanks for the Penblwydd Hapus wishes!

  3. Being grateful and thankful top my list. I know they don’t sound exciting but for someone who isn’t hard-wired to be optimistic and sunny, this will be a worthwhile endeavor. Number two would be to go another year and not miss a weekly blog posting. Mid-January will be the milestone of one successful year behind me.
    Merry Christmas and have a blessed and prosperous New Year

    • Candy

      Congrats on the one-year mark on your blog!

      Being grateful and thankful are a good start toward a more optimistic approach. And both help get those deadlines met and stories written.

  4. I’m working on a short story to turn into a novel (my first). Need to spend more time reading and writing and less time navigating through my email… Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and New Year! Bette

    • Candy

      Thanks for the holiday wishes!

      Turning a short story into a novel sounds like a worthy goal. I’m contemplating taking a novel that didn’t quite work and tightening/shortening it into a novella. LOL — we’re both shifting sizes.

  5. You’re a Capricorn too? That makes 3 of us now. 😀

    I really haven’t gotten around to making resolutions yet – I’m still too bloated from xmas. 🙁 Have you noticed that when you eat too much, your brain becomes flabby too?

    • Candy

      Yes all these Capricorns! We can all make our resolutions on our birthdays and “buy” a little extra time past January 1.

      Flabby brain, umm… it took some will power but I got myself to the gym this morning. Hopefully the bread pudding, chocolate covered fig, wine, cheese, turkey, etc. didn’t have enough time to make themselves at home. My brain? Just a little too obsessed with the year-end to-do list. I’ve managed to make a little headway on my new MONSTER. I won’t force myself to make the final resolutions until my actual B’day so there’s still a little time…