January is a magical time to think about and set your writing goals. What impacted you this year?
The new year always makes me think of starting over but before we can get into next year’s writing goals, we must talk about last year.
The biggest impact on my writing life this year was other writers. Being around writers provides my life with such creativity and motivation that what we love to do is important and it’s the right thing for my life. I love telling stories, and I love communicating through the written word. Our community is incredibly helpful to each other and for that, I’m always grateful.
As I reflect on that this December, I look back at my year and how it went.
Writing goals from last year. Ask yourself these questions.
- What did you want to accomplish?
- What did you accomplish?
- How about your biggest writing accomplishment?
- What was the biggest disappointment?
- What are the challenges that got in your way?
In 2019, I finished my first nonfiction book and sent my second off to the editor, who is fabulous!
I wanted to get three books done, so I’m not terribly disappointed by the actual outcome.
My biggest writing accomplishment was reaching #4 in Authorship books on Amazon, right up there with Joanna Penn and other idols of mine. I didn’t stay there long, but that doesn’t matter. The algorithm put me upfront and validated my work. I don’t care if that’s just Amazon pulling for new books or not. It made me feel great.
My biggest disappointment was the lack of time I spent actually writing. We had an unusually difficult year with the family and we moved back to the States from overseas. It was just a super busy, nutty year by comparison to other years.
Starting a writers group at my new location saved me. Writers, no matter what their genre, are super motivating to be around.
After the look back, it’s time to look at two questions for the future.
- What do you want to accomplish?
- What can you do differently to make sure you do?
For me, I always want to finish my next book. I also want to research new marketing techniques. I’d like to blog, send email, and podcast every week of the year. One of these days I might even try video.
I definitely need a schedule. Don’t we all work better with one? I’m determined to implement a better one this year.
So, let’s visualize what you want to do this year.
Do you have access to magazines or photos, glue, tape and scissors? No, we’re not going back to kindergarten, but we are going to create a vision board. Here’s mine from last year:
Studies have shown that if you visualize or have something to look at routinely, you are more likely to accomplish your goals for 2020. Give it a shot. We had a little party with the girls last year and built these, and it was so fun!
I’m planning to do the same this year. We put them front and center in the house so we could see them every day. A nice reminder of our goals. I thought it was a bit hokey last year, but found it worked. We didn’t get a dog but I did lose weight and wrote my books. So yay!
One thing I did think about was impact. My impact on others and where I can be most effective in helping. Having that in my life actually helped me accomplish my goals as well. Figure out where your biggest impact could be for someone else this year. I bet it will help you too.
So in the spirit of the season, bring on the new year and new goals.
Let’s do this!
#OutwriteYesterday