When I made my New Year’s resolutions and my 2018 business plan all the way back in January, I thought I was prepared for how chaotic and anxiety-inducing and stressful this year was going to be. And if you’d asked me at the beginning of 2018 whether I’d appropriately scaled back my expectations for my work and my life and myself given the fact that I’d be getting married in nine months, I would’ve confidently said that I had.
What’s that old saying about hindsight again? Because twelve months later, I’m embarrassed by how wrong I was on both counts.
I accomplished very few of the goals that I set for myself this year, professionally and otherwise. Partially because I decided to take a new direction with a couple creative projects, partially because I changed my mind midway through the year about which of my manuscript ideas I wanted to prioritize, and partially because of how much less time and how much less mental energy I had overall.
I’ve always been the sort of person who likes to decide on a course of action and run with it. Having to abandon or sideline a plan in favor of making a new one often feels more like a personal failure than an acknowledgment that circumstances can change. That’s why I’m so proud of the flexibility I developed this year when it came to my writing, my wedding, and the rest of my life. After months of floundering and flailing and panicking, this new willingness to make changes when needed to is one thing I’m hoping to carry with me into 2019.
I’m planning to publish a separate post listing both my New Year’s resolutions and my business plan for the coming year, but in the meantime, here’s a brief rundown of how this year’s resolutions turned out:
1. Finish one rewrite and one revision pass of my mystery WIP and get it to my CPs for feedback.
I blogged about the decision to shelve my mystery here so I don’t feel the need to go into additional detail. Let’s just say I did not meet this goal and leave it at that.
2. Stay on top of my wedding planning and stay sane in the process.
Although sanity is pretty objective, I did stay on top of my wedding planning and I didn’t have any nervous breakdowns. My husband and I stuck with the long, hyper-detailed month-by-month list that I made and it served us very, very well. I’m calling this a win!
3. Start planning more definitively for my future, especially as far as where we’d like to live.
In retrospect, this was an incredibly vague way to phrase this particular resolution. However, I did make a list of what things I would like from a new place—from more creative job options to people our age—started researching potential moving options, and formulated a plan for visiting a few of them with my husband in the coming year. All told, that’s a pretty good start.
4. Be ready to start drafting a new WIP by November, for National Novel Writing Month.
Although I wasn’t able to start drafting a new WIP at the start of November–or by the end of November, let’s be honest–I did spend the whole month plotting and planning a manuscript that I’m super excited about, and that I was able to start writing in December. I’m not as far along as I’d like to be, but I’m enjoying the story so far and I’m proud of what I have.
5. Begin volunteering again – either for a politically minded organization like Indivisible, or for a local group like the animal shelter.
I didn’t actually begin volunteering in 2018, although not for a lack of interest. The current political climate has me feeling as though I need to be directing my energy toward some kind of activism, but my personal reality is that I’d much rather get back into animal rescue work because that’s what I’m passionate about. I’m still not sure which direction to take going forward into next year, but you can bet I’m going to be devoting a lot more intentional thought–and hopefully time and energy later on–to this now that I’m no longer distracted by wedding planning.
And here’s how this year’s business plan turned out:
1. Finish one rewrite and one revision pass of my mystery WIP and get it to my CPs for feedback
See the above answer.
2. Finish revising my synopsis for Facing the Music and submit the manuscript to one major pitch contest
I shelved this manuscript too, and I blogged about that decision here. Suffice to say that this wasn’t a goal I met either.
3. Complete research reading list for my YA political thriller (Renegade).
I’d planned on Renegade being my next project, but the sheer amount of research and world-building I still need to do made this too daunting a story to deal with this year. I’ve been working on another (standalone) YA thriller, and I’ll save research for Renegade until after I’ve finished a draft—and potentially a revision pass—of that other story.
4. Refine the series arc for the Renegade series.
Nope. See above.
5. Be ready to start drafting a new WIP by November, for National Novel Writing Month.
See my answer above.
Resolutions aside, I also:
Accumulated nine rejections on both Facing the Music and various short pieces.
Performed three different times with my belly dancing studio.
Kept up a consistent workout routine and made a few life changes to further my own physical and mental wellness (namely meditation and trying to stick to a set bedtime).
Took on another professional sensitivity reading gig for a YA novel that’s coming out next year.
Had three nonfiction pieces published on the National Novel Writing Month blog, and on The Financial Diet.
Joined the Breakthrough Writers Boot Camp.
Attended two protests.
Did you accomplish your goals or resolutions for 2018? What did you do that you’re most proud of? Let me know in the comments!