Beginning the New Year with Sand

There’s nothing like celebrating the New Year at the beach. I will admit, I’m getting old enough that the concept of staying up past midnight makes me balk, but I actually was awake! And out on the freezing beach watching my cousins beat on pots and pans, no less.

And the beach had no internet and cell service to boot, which meant ALL THE READING AND WRITING TIME. Mostly, I read. And edited.

Anyway, I believe it was last year that I read an article on how someone (who I can’t remember) was creating New Year Goals instead of New Year Resolutions. The basic idea was that New Year Resolutions get broken constantly; within the first month or two, most people have already given up. And his premise was that a goal, which would progress over the year, might have a better success rate.

Well, I will say from my experience anyway, I had a very successful 2015, goals wise. Last year’s post on the new 2015 didn’t actually include my goals outside of writing (which look more like resolutions now that I think about it) but I did actually write a list for myself in general.

I hadn’t actually looked at my list I’d made in a few months, but I’d basically memorized what I’d wrote anyway:

Go to three new places

Send out crap load of queries (yes, that is a direct quote)

 Finish Dragon Immortals Book 2

 Read at least 12 books from list

 Get new, interesting jobs to learn from

THE RESULTS: I ended up flying to two new places, not three (the Philippines and Indiana), but I’m still happy with it.

Yes, I did indeed send out a ‘crap load’ of queries. I should probably set an actual number to hit, or a reoccurring event (every other month, for example). Hmm.

I did finish the second book in my series! In between NaNoWriMo and working on it steadily over the year, I finished it. Well. As finished as a book ever is; I’m sure there is more editing needed.

My biggest failure came from reading my 12 books from the list I created. That’s probably due to the fact that I lost my list about a month into 2015. I definitely read 12 books (a lot more than that); just not the poignant, well-crafted, important ones I’d carefully selected.

(Note to self: in future, write down the list on the computer.)

As for interesting jobs, well. I did get involved in two very interesting and educational volunteer programs, but not an interesting job per se.

BUT AS FOR 2016:

My writing goals:

• Finish Dragon Immortals Book 3 (working title Occultum)
• Develop a kick-ass, intelligent marketing plan for Initium (the first book!)
• Consistently query

I won’t include the personal goals. Those are boring. You can guess reading books and getting a career-advancing job is on that list, though. Hey, maybe I’ll even tell you the progress I make for my 2017 post… yikes, scary thought.

It’s very strange looking at this past year. It’s filled with all sorts of ups and downs and weird middle stagnant parts, but I’m surprised how much I’ve grown and how much has changed.

Is anyone else surprised by looking at their past year? Any fulfilling writing accomplishments to report (or hey, even personal ones)?