As always, the new year fills me with hope and anticipation. I make my todo lists diligently, and I cross off everything I accomplished during the past year with a sense of achievement (while trying not to feel too bad about the things that didn’t get done). This year is no different, but what I’ve learned during 2022 is to be kind to myself. I still have the drive to get things done, but if they don’t – or if I have to move them out a month or two or three – then that’s also fine. The important things will get done on time, and the rest will get their turn when I have the bandwidth for them.
So, let’s see how things went with the writerly goals I set for myself for 2022. I divided them into primary and secondary goals, just to give myself some breathing room.
2022 Primary Goals
Complete Mythical Menagerie Series 2 and publish by June 2022 (or as close to as possible)
Yes! But also no! I finished the last instalment to go into Book 2 in mid-December (phew) and it’s currently with the beta readers. Having a June 2022 release would have meant compromising on the quality of the story, and I wasn’t willing to do that.
Continue writing a monthly flash fiction piece
Yes! My newsletter subscribers received a very short story every month this year (with one exception – the month in which the new collection was published).
2022 Secondary Goals
Complete 1 standalone short story / novella
No! I tried – sort of – by attempting NaNoWriMo (again!) and failing miserably at it (again!), but I decided the most important thing this year was to finish MM Book 2. Now that that’s done, I can revisit this goal.
Publish a second Reverie Spark flash fiction collection
Yes! The second book in my flash fiction series, A Flight of Reverie, was published at the end of October!
Publish one product for my PIP project
Nope. This goal fell away to make headspace for getting MM Book 2 done.
Continue blogging on my author website (when I have something interesting to say)
Not even a little bit! I was too busy working on MM Book 2 to worry about writing blog posts!
Revive blogging on my travel website (and bring the fun back)
Sort of. I did write a few blog posts in an attempt to document our Balkan Camping 2019 trip, but those posts have been few and far between, unfortunately. I also found it very hard to remember the trip – it’s been 3.5 years already! – and I had even less inspiration to write about travel when I didn’t have any travel prospects in sight.
Continue consuming non-fiction for inspiration (not limited to books)
Yes! I read 12 non-fiction books this year (and countless magazines). I’ll be changing this goal for 2023, though. Although I do enjoy reading non-fiction, I’ve realised that most of my story sparks come from shorter pieces, such as articles in the National Geographic or NG History magazines that I’m subscribed to. Therefore, I’m setting myself a different writerly reading goal for 2023.
All in all, I don’t think it went too badly this year. My primary goals were accomplished, and I even achieved some of my secondary goals. Additionally, I also did the following in 2022:
- My Facebook following grew from 100 to 137 followers
- My Instagram following grew from 198 to 282 followers
- I completed a Social Media Marketing course on LinkedIn Learning
- I took a year of beginner French classes
- I created 4 travel photo books and we went on 8 local South African family vacation trips
- I read 48 books
I mixed some pleasure with the business of writing there, but it all goes towards filling the creative well and helps to keep me sane and influences my writing.
So these are my primary writerly goals for 2023:
- Publish Mythical Menagerie Book 2
- Write and edit 2 instalments for Mythical Menagerie Book 3
- Create a Mythical Menagerie story bible
- Write a monthly flash fiction piece
As secondary goals, I have the following:
- Write and publish 1 standalone short story / novella
- Grow my email (263), Facebook (137) and Instagram (282) following
- Complete the Balkan Camping 2019 posts on my travel blog
- Complete the Maggie Stiefvater writing course
- Read John Truby’s Anatomy of Story (affiliate link)
- Read John Truby’s Anatomy of Genre (affiliate link)
- Read 12 classics
I’m ready for 2023! Let’s make our dreams reality!
How did you do with the goals you set for yourself for 2022? What is the one thing you HAVE to achieve in 2023?
