Its a new year! That means its time to put down my goals for the year. I’ve been holding off on setting my goals whilst I figured out exactly what I wanted to achieve over the next year.

I took some time after NaNoWriMo to think and process what works best for me. I’ve discovered that I prefer to plan out as many scenes as I can in order to avoid writer’s block. I did a lot of planning in the run up to NaNo in ’22. I found writing so much easier. I was spending less time at my desk just staring at the screen as I knew what I was already going to write. Planning ahead meant I was far more productive, helping me hit my daily goal quickly every day.

I found I had more time in November to see friends and relax in the evenings. Planning ahead meant I could take a day off if I had something else planned that required more of my time without spiralling into a panic. I didn’t have to worry about trying to catch up the next day as I had a plan. This made completing NaNo much easier – don’t get me wrong, it was still difficult and mentally draining. Planning for NaNo ’22 gave me my first goal for the year ahead;

• Finish my first draft of The Shadoagh Chronicles
• Write more often to build my writing habit
• Post more often on instagram
• Brave the world of TikTok
• Research self publishing vs publishing house
• Write more short stories
• Publish blog posts more often

There may be changes to these goals as the year progresses. I plan to add editing the first draft as well as writing the second book. I’m also participating in a couple of book challenges this year with the hopes of increasing my Goodreads challenge. I’ll do a separate post about them next week.

My writer friends and I enjoyed our first catch up of the year. We decided that we all wanted to be more accountable for the goals we want to achieve. Together, we decided to be accountable to each other in order to spur ourselves to keep going. WIn order to do this, we decided it was important to find enrichment in the things we write – whether that be for ourselves or for our readers. Appreciation for the things we achieve will go a long way in helping us remain accountable.

Do you have any goals for the year ahead? Share them below.