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New Year, New Start

During the last couple months of 2014, I decided to take a bit of a breather. Sometimes when you're trying so hard to finish a project or to make something happen (like get an agent, for example) it begins to feel as if you're banging your head against the wall. It's nice to take a step back and allow myself the time to reflect on what I'm trying to achieve.

I don't just want to land any agent and I don't just want to write any kind of book. I want my writing to mean something to someone and I want to find an agent who believes in me.

During my hiatus I also had the time to do a lot of reading, which seems to appear on my list of resolutions year after year. I just finished reading the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth and can't say that my mind has truly let go of that heart-wrenching ending yet: the sign of a really great book.

So for this year, I decided to make a list of Writing Resolutions. I am going to avoid being overly ambitious and focus on realistic goals that I not only can meet but have a strong desire to. Here we go:

  1. Finish the rough draft of my second novel - I'm feeling much more inspired after my break and think I've found a solution to the lull I'd been facing in pace. 
  2. Go back and edit my first novel (again) - I recently made a revelation, which I'll be sure to post about, which resulted in the almost gut wrenching decision to dust off the book and make yet another edit. I think it'll ultimately be the best decision for my first baby if I want her to ever start walking.
  3. Read at least 12 books this year - It probably doesn't sound very impressive, but I find that one book a month is much more realistic and kind to myself and my schedule.
  4. Complete 24 writing prompts - I don't really do this anymore, yet it always brings me back to that raw creativity I often crave. I see so many interesting prompts on Pinterest and save them for that rainy occasion when I want to write yet have no motivation to work on my existing project. This year I aim to make it a habit to sit down and do a prompt twice a month.
  5. Blog - I find that blogging is best when you're inspired, which is why it's hard to put a set number on this one. However I am going to devote myself to it at least once a month. 
And finally, though I really wish I could've topped off this list at 5 because the number seems so much more rounded, my final resolution:

6. Do something out of my comfort zone - Whether it's writing, reading or otherwise, this year I'd like to do at least one thing that doesn't make me entirely comfortable. It's so easy to fall into the same patterns and routines year after year. We make lists and then forget them. This year I'd like to have that one thing I can look back on in years to come and know that I made the most of 2015. 

So that's it for me. Anyone else have any Writing Resolutions?
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