I can't believe it. It always seems to come around so fast. One minute, it's the promising start to an exciting new year. The next minute, it's all over. How could another year have slipped past so quickly?
At this time of year, it's always a good thing to look back on the writing goals I set myself to see how I went.
All things considered, my expectations should be pretty low. It's been an exhausting year for a number of reasons, both on the personal and work fronts. I'm not even sure how I've managed to find any time for writing at all.
And yet...
When I look back on the goals I set myself at the start of the year, I've actually done pretty well. Here's a quick summary:
1. Publishing
Hope your 2014 was also a good one.
At this time of year, it's always a good thing to look back on the writing goals I set myself to see how I went.
All things considered, my expectations should be pretty low. It's been an exhausting year for a number of reasons, both on the personal and work fronts. I'm not even sure how I've managed to find any time for writing at all.
And yet...
When I look back on the goals I set myself at the start of the year, I've actually done pretty well. Here's a quick summary:
1. Publishing
- I finished and published the third of my Neville Lansdowne stories - Scrawling. It took longer than I originally planned, but the extra effort was worth it. I think it's definitely the best of the Neville stories.
- Thanks to the good people at Evolved Publishing, I was extremely excited to publish my first picture book, Thomas and the Tiger-Turtle. The feedback I've gotten from young readers has been amazing.
- I had my novel Magnus Opum republished by the good people at Booktrope Publishing. Great to see Magnus in print at last.
- Am now in a fairly advanced stage of editing for my next novel, a comic detective thriller titled A Fate Worse than Death.
- I completed several drafts of my YA/MG novel (tentative title Throught the Flame) to the point where I believe it's not far away from being publisher ready.
- I set myself the goal of writing two new potential picture book texts, and I was able to meet it. The titles for these two new stories are Bella and the Blue Genie and Rory and the Rainbow Bird.
- As of this week, I officially made a (very small) start on my long awaited dinosaur story (tentatively titled Dinosaurs).
Hope your 2014 was also a good one.
The one time of year I hated most at work was our annual assessment. I didn’t mind being told how wonderful I’d been and how indispensable I was but I hated setting goals for the year ahead. My response when asked was invariably: “I’ll work my hardest and try my best and you can’t ask any more from me.” Oddly enough that wasn’t enough; they needed something finite. The nice thing about working your hardest and trying your best is that you can never fail. The results may differ but that’s by the by. What I have noticed over the last few years, however, is that it’s been taking me the same effort to produce less and less and that’s been worrying me. I don’t have the stamina I once had and so we have to prioritise which is why next year I’m going to be cutting back on blogging to make room for the important stuff, the writing. I can’t do both. When I was younger and full of energy, yes, absolutely; I’m amazed when I think about how much I used to get done. So make the most of the time and the energy you have. More power to you, that’s what I say.
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