Obligatory New Year's Goals/Resolutions Post

It's really hard to believe it's been a year since I last made major goals for my creative life. And what a year it's been. I've switched jobs (so has my wife, but through less stressful circumstances), and God has seen us through financial hardships small and large. Lorehaven magazine launched.  My life has been a lot busier and less restful of late due to work being so full the last couple of months. Add on doing Inktober and NaNoWriMo, and holiday travels . . . I'm bushed. But I'm going to try to get back into the habit of blogging and being creative in other ways.

But before I set myself some goals for this year, let's take a look at last year's goals.

Writing:

  • Edit Albion Apparent and get it to the publisher. During the first half of last year, I spent a large portion of my writing time on this. However, I stalled out for several reasons I can't go into. When there's news on this front, I will share it.
  • Finish writing "Paper and (T)horns". This . . . hasn't had any progress made. Still an ongoing goal.
  • Write/edit/complete 1-3 other short works. I wrote two short stories this year and started a few others thanks to a writing group at my local library. One of those stories is even available now in a collection put together by the writing group I've been attending for 3 or 4 years. You can get either Kindle or paperback editions (or both).
  • Finish my Fisher King cycle of Arthurian poems. I didn't finish this, but I did complete a poem-a-day challenge in April, so that's something.

Art:

  • Design 100 Myths. Since this wasn't a "get it done in 1 year" goal, I'm a bit more successful than my writing goals. Last count of Myths drawn is: 36. At this rate, just 2 more years!
  • Try new things. I did try new things, including drawing with thicker lines, and doing more prep sketches and drawings; I even did a scale prep drawing for one of the AprilFae challenges.

Reading:

  • Read 75-100 books. Done and done. Mostly thanks to library books and reading LOTS of graphic novels.
  • Read more than 20% of my bedroom shelf. Ha! I don't think I came close to this, but that's because I didn't keep the shelf stable. It's possible I did better than I realize.
  • Clear out some of the Kindle to-read pile. Nope. Didn't even touch it most of the year.

Blog:

  • More reviews of all kinds. I did mostly reviews in my blog posts last year, so consider this a win.
  • A new series going through rereads (and first reads) of Shakespeare's plays. Didn't get past the first play. I'm so good at this. 10 points to Dumbledore.
  • Finish the Osten Ard and O'Brien read-through series. I finished rereading Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn but haven't read The Witchwood Crown yet. Honestly, after finishing To Green Angel Tower I needed a break from epic fantasy and haven't been brave enough to start such a big tome again yet. As for O'Brien, I still have A Report from Group 17 to read and review. It's still on the list.

For this year, I'm going simpler on my goals. Not necessarily easier, but simpler.

2019

  • Write at least 1 novel, plus however many short stories and/or novellas I can. I definitely plan on writing at least one short story this year, for the next Crazy Buffet collection. Beyond that, I'm just teeming with ideas, so I need to get them on paper.
  • Edit at least one novella or novel, new or old. I have comments back on There's No Place Like Home? and Albion Apparent, so it's just a matter of sitting down and doing the work.
  • Read as much as possible. I'm already working on several books, including Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver and Mercedes Lackey's The Wizard of London.
  • Be creative (almost) every day. I acknowledge that there will be days that I don't have the time or energy to work on art or writing or whatever. But my goal is to say that I have kept my creative muscles in tone. I will include blog posts, writing for the above goals, drawing and painting, and any other creative endeavor in this (such as knitting/crocheting).
  • Blog once a week. Even if it's just a "Here's what I'm reading/listening to/experiencing" type post, it'll keep me on here and help me be accountable on my goals.

What about you? What are your goals for the new year?

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