Do you have a writing plan for the new year ahead?
Q&A With Shay Each Sunday
I’m back for the next year of Q&As in 2020. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/holiday and a happy new year. It was a nice break during the holiday season and now I’m ready for more great topics. So, in the spirit of the new year, let’s kick it off with a new year related question.
Q: Do you have a writing plan for the new year ahead?
A: Yes and no. I wish I had a bit more of a set plan, but it’s kind of difficult with other factors that come into play—like life, I suppose. I can’t always plan as thoroughly as I intend to with my own writing because sometimes I get really busy with editing work and I don’t feel capable of putting as much time and effort into my own writing during those periods. Then, there are times where editing is slower and I feel I don’t capitalize on the moments of calm by taking advantage and writing a ton. So, that’s one thing I’ll be aiming to do this year—write, write, write during the slow editing spells.
As far as an actual plan, I’d say one of the main “tasks” I’m aiming to accomplish is to publish my novel Fractured finally this year. I started it five years ago. I haven’t worked on it thoroughly for five years because I’ve taken many breaks and come back to it with more edits and revisions so many times I’ve lost count. But, instead of editing to death and continuing to “dawdle” which definitely feels like an appropriate word at times when it comes to this book, I plan to put it out into the world, whatever method it may be by. I’m finally instilling a deadline. I don’t have that deadline at the moment, but I’ll be devising my plan of action for publication within the next few months, and the book should definitely be out before 2021. This probably seems like a very long time from now, but I think a lot of non-writers don’t understand how torturously slow the publication process can be. I also don’t have a ton of experience with independent publishing other than my poetry book, so I have to take a lot of time to research and plan for that aspect as well. I hope to improve my knowledge on the topic and have more of a process when it comes to publication in the future.
As for my next book, I have somewhat of a plan for writing it but I can’t say whether I’ll complete it this year or how far I’ll get with it at all. The same thing goes for my first novel Crashing Waves. I plan to take that one apart a bit and rebuild it, and I’m aiming to have that finished in 2020, even though it might not be published in 2020. For my third book, which does not currently have a title because it’s hardly written at all, I’m planning at least a first-second draft completed—aka the whole story out, though will probably still need much editing in the months to follow. I recognize that I need to get better about instilling personal deadlines, but I’m definitely plagued with perfectionism and I’d hate to force myself to call something completely finished and set to be published if I thought I could improve it after letting it sit for some time.
I’d also love to get better at planning these blog posts. I used to write them and have tons of topics further in advance, but have progressed into getting pretty last minute with them. I do have a queue of topics, but actually getting them written more than a week to a few days in advance would be nice. I have gotten better with procrastination over the last few years, but it still hangs on in some areas of my life.
Even though my plans are pretty loose right now, I’m just really trying to keep myself motivated with doing my own writing and working on my own projects. As I said, this can be so hard with also editing for others, so I’m working on a way to block out some time for myself each week even when I don’t feel like it.
I sort of started hating the idea of new year’s resolutions because they have always felt so false, almost like lies we tell ourselves. I purposely did not phrase this post with “resolutions” in the title because I feel like a plan for the year ahead is a little different than that. Of course there are a ton of things I want to accomplish, habits I want to break, things I want to do more of and stay more motivated about, but I also can’t 100% say it’ll be a reality just because I state it at the start of the year when everyone is vowing to be better.
New year’s resolutions are a pretty valid tradition, I must admit, because the new year comes at a time where we have all had time off for Christmas and holidays, we have spent time relaxing with friends and family, and we have eaten VERY poorly. So, naturally, when the new year comes directly after we’re ready to “get back on track.” However, this mindset is usually pushed aside pretty quickly after we vow to change things on the first. I like to think in terms of having intentions for the new year, but I also don’t want to beat myself up for slipping or for not being as adamant as I was right after January 1st. I’d like to strive for betterment in everyday life and alter my habits to suit my development constantly, not just at the beginning of the year.
So, basically, this probably all sounds like I have no real plan at all, and maybe that is the case to an extent. But, keeping my goals in mind and knowing what I need to do to execute them can sometimes be the first step. I’m not going to plan every day and every week, but I’m going to do what I can and look to produce as often as I can without forcing it or berating myself when I don’t accomplish what I hoped. I will keep more promises to myself about my intentions and plans when it comes to writing, but I’ll slip, too.
Do you have any plans ahead that are set in stone? And what do you think about new year’s resolutions?
