I’ve been a terrible blogger. In my defense, I’ve been off getting sick, getting pregnant, writing a book in a month (helloooo, Nano), getting sick again, and generally being occupied by the tragedies and triumphs of a life lived.

I have things to say, though, and I’m pretty sure my Facebook circle grows tired of my epic rants. So, here I am again.

I’m not much of a NYE resolution sorta girl. I figure we should always be self-analyzing our place in the world and if it matches our goals in life and adjust accordingly. It just happens that NYE brings with it all kinds of inspirational suggestions and one happened to strike.

I need to write. To write well, I need to practice. To build my business, I need to be visible. To feel whole and happy, I need to get my thoughts out on a page, digital or otherwise. To achieve all of the above, I need to establish good writing habits. Here’s how I’m going to tackle establishing those habits:

  • 5-Year Journal. I picked up a slow but gradually improving habit of journaling from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. (Which, btw, I highly recommend for anyone involved in anything vaguely creative. Which is all of you. Go forth and read it. It’s sort of a workbook on how to recapture your inner muse. It’s got a spiritual bent, but generic enough to be non-offensive to us non-Christian sorts).  However, I find her 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness writing to be a tad tedious for me. I would like to consistently write a page or two a day. To accomplish this, I’m mixing a bit of my own wandering musings with a daily journaling prompt.

    "Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row." -- Ray Bradbury, Freedom With Writing
    Bradbury has spoken.
  • Daily Blogging. I have enough to say that I can pull something out, even if it’s just a quick rant on a current event, every single dang day. So I’m going to. I have an uncharacteristic fear of sharing anything I write for myself that isn’t a social media response or copy/research writing. I need to get over that. The best way to do so is to force myself to put my words out there where the world can poke at them. Which means I am also going to boost my daily posts on social media. Meep.
  • Nanowrimo. I ‘won’ Nano for the first time in 2015. I learned a lot from the experience. Not only am I capable of writing over 50,000 words in less than a month (I beat it before turkey day!), I found the daily writing discipline far easier than I imagined it would be, and discovered new ways to inspire myself. I am ready to tackle Camp Nano and Nanowrimo 2016 and I fully plan on winning both.
  • Bidding. I’m a freelancer. I have no ‘real’ day job. My partner and I support our family of 5 (about to be 6) solely on the income we make writing copy, blogs, and whatever else someone wants to pay me to compose. I need to get better about hunting down new, private clients so I can grow my income. In order to do that, I have to stick my foot in doors and ask for jobs. That’s harder for me than it should be. So, to fix it, I’m going to bid for one 1-3 new clients a week. That number is subject to change based on my work availability, current income, and ability to coherently smash words together.

 

So, here’s to consistency and furthering my wordsmithing skills. What commitments have you made for your upcoming year? What helps you stick to the goals you set for yourself?

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