Writing Resolutions and Reflections

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, you either buy into them or not. Most of them fall by the wayside come February despite our best intentions.

Personally, I don't mind New Year's resolutions. I like the idea of starting fresh, of tackling new ideas, setting goals. True, some of my goals aren't always realistic. It really is too late for me to be a professional ice skater at the Olympics and I must let that dream go. Never mind that I never learned to skate in the first place...

As a writer, I'm a big believer in setting goals, but I also feel that it's important to spend time reflecting on what you've accomplished as well. Too often we beat ourselves up if we didn't quite make the daily word count or we didn't get that elusive offer from the super agent of our dreams. It's important to stop and review what you have achieved.

So...let's see. What have I achieved this year...

This year I published a young adult novel through Dragonfire Press and took it on two book tours that were really successful. I got to experience the control of lowering and lifting my book price, being responsible only to myself when it came to promotion, and trying out the KDP Select program (boo!)

On the ghostwriting front, I wrote three novels and got paid well for them. I also signed on to co-write a book with another novelist and that project should be wrapping up soon.

I reviewed and interviewed dozens of authors here on All Things Writing, and really learned a lot through the experience. Writing reviews that are meaningful are harder than I thought and understanding the way a writer interprets your words has been a challenge at times. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity that Innovative Online Book Tours has given me to be a tour host and reviewer for them. It has definitely improved my own writing!

My goals for 2013 are simple: Keep writing.

Everything else will fall into place.