Six Resolutions To Make 2015 Great!

Last time I'm putting a 2015 pic up. Swears.

I'm doing it again.

I don't know why it's so hard for me to just start up my writing. I always go on forever, and so I obviously have things to say and stories to tell. I always seem much less stressed once I'm done; except, of course, if I'm pushing a deadline. I enjoy myself when I'm in the process of writing.

In short. I love writing. I truly do.

So why is it that whenever I sit down to write - even on days like today when I have an exact idea of what I want to write - I always end up on Facebook or DeviantArt or Cracked or reading other blogs? Why do I stare at my instant messenger or the chatbox on Facebook; waiting for someone to come on and interrupt me? Why do I do everything I can think of to avoid writing? Even my dreaded chores?

You would think that I'm building up to yet another informative, soul-searching post here. Sadly, I truly do not have the answer - I'll have to look in to that - and I really do have a pre-established idea of what I wanted to talk about. So.... I'll have to put those ponderings on the back burner to maybe explore at a later date.

However, if anyone has the same feelings, or has any clue why I'm this way, please feel free to say so in the comments...

Anyway, this post isn't about my weird writing hang-ups. Well, it sort of is, I guess. Because now that I'm FINALLY done with my Year in Review journey - that I wanted posted on December 31st - I can get around to my...

NEW YEAR WRITING RESOLUTIONS! YAY!

I haven't really been doing too well with these in past years, so if any of you fine folks catch me slipping on any of these this year, feel free to poke me in to submission!

First and foremost, a resolution that I've been trying to keep other members of Struggling Writers Society accountable for. Well, aside from this week because I was too busy working on my series of blog posts. Have to get back on to the group...

1. No More Than Three (3) Zero Days In Any Given Week

This allows me to slack off a little. With family and friends and work and illness and messy houses... life gets crazy, and sometimes I just slip. This allows me to slip fairly frequently so I don't beat myself up so much this year. However, it doesn't allow me off the hook too much. Three days off still means four days on. So, the majority of the week is still being used for writing. I doubt I'll have those three allotted zero days most weeks, but it's a nice cushion for when I need them.

2. Read At Least One Book A Month

This is pretty crucial for me as well. This past year I only read three novels. Sure, I read my fair share of online articles - mostly the goofy informative type such as Cracked.com - but I really need to get back to fiction reading. I have far too long of a backlog.

3. Log On To Writers’ Huddle Forum At Least Once A Week

One I'm caught up on all the backlogged posts I may amend this to also state that I'll contribute to the forum in some shape or form at least one a month or every other week. I'm really hoping one of my subscribers - Maria, who is a fellow Huddler - will really keep me on task with this one.

4. Complete At Least One Writers' Huddle Module

Ali Luke comes up with all of these awesome learning modules to help us writers out. I signed up for "On Track" last year, but never did anything with it. I want to change that this year. I want to be able to fully utilize Ali's gift. Truly use all the resources she gave me in order to better my writing.

5. Beta Read And Return Notes Within A Fortnight

This was a major kick in the teeth for me. ChibiSunnie gave me some of her short stories to beta OVER A YEAR AGO, and yet here they still sit. She's BEYOND patient with me, and so once I'm home from work today I am off to FINALLY read her stories. I shall also vow to NEVER allow myself to slip that badly again. As long as the story can be read within an hour, there should be no reason I need more than 14 days to read it. If it does take longer to read, then I shall amend to "each chapter shall have notes sent back within a fortnight".

6. Have At Least Six New Stories/Chapters And 52 Blog Posts Published Before The End Of 2015

Stuff happens, and I may not be able to publish works as frequently as I would like. I need to give myself a little slack here too, but not too much. I need to still push myself, but be reasonable with what I want to accomplish. I'd much rather exceed my expectations than to stress about falling short of them. That's why I'm not going to promise to publish something new every week - like I do during NaNo, nor am I promising to even post once a month or once every other month. I'm simply saying "six times." Roughly assuming once every other month. Although, considering how well I actually DID do last year - contrary to my recollection - I have to say I probably could bump this up to a simple "12 published works this year."
Same goes for the blog posts. I already missed January 7th, but I'm up to 4posts this year. So, I think wanting 52 posts - but not specifying that they have to be weekly updates - is a great way to get a writing rhythm set up so that I CAN say "update EVERY week" next year.

And there we have it. My list of writing resolutions for 2015. Having a half-dozen things seems a bit daunting, but none of them should really be all that hard to achieve - especially #5 if no one sends me anything to beta...

I'm counting on you guys to keep me on point with these! If you catch me slipping, I'm hoping you'll speak up and remind me of my resolutions. If I can accomplish all of these this year I will consider that a win and a great bit of growth. Odd-numbered years always seem to be great writing years for me, so here's hoping 2015 holds to that trend.

Hopefully I'll have something of any true writing significance for next week's post.