It’s January and I’m already late with my writing goals for this year. The reason for this is that my focus shifted slightly during my Christmas holidays. I spent a lot of time asking myself what it is that I actually wanted to achieve. It’s a really great exercise to do if you find you’re unsure of the direction you are taking.
2019 Recap – What I Was Up To
Last year I spent a lot of time learning about the different writing techniques and connecting with other Irish writers. The learning was amplified when I secured a weekly column on the writing.ie website. The Really Useful Links Column is posted every Thursday and deals with a different writing topic every week. So far, I’ve covered the different POV’s, description, creating characters, and tips and advice on writing in different genres. I’ve created columns to suit both traditionally published and self published authors and the research required when compiling the links has sparked some great aha moments for me. I plan to continue writing the column for as long as I can as it is a great way to learn as I write.
I also joined the writing.ie private writers’ group for a period of three months. If you are someone looking for expert advice, feedback on your writing, community, and accountability, I can’t recommend it enough. You do have to pay, and the investment will cost you €50 per month.
2020 – What I’m Planning
A lot of my goals last year focused on publishing, but this year things are looking a little different. I still have Winterland to send out to publishers and agents and I am only taking part in two anthologies. One is Little Black Dress and the other is The Dark Romantics based on Edgar Allan Poe. Both have a maximum word count of 15k.
I also have a novel I want to write. This will be women’s fiction and I’m hoping it will be commercial enough to attract agents and publishers. My idea is for a second chance romance and I’m looking forward to starting it.
Success is a Journey
One of the big things I’ve realised over that last while is that a successful writing career is a journey and not something that will happen overnight. I’m okay with that, and my aim for 2020 is to take the time to enjoy every step of the journey. I was very hard on myself near the end of 2019, feeling as if I hadn’t achieved enough, wrote enough, published enough. I was buying into the whole write fast and publish more advice. Over Christmas, I realised that is not something I want to do. I don’t have the time to do it first of all, and secondly, I don’t want to lose the joy that writing brings me.
Social Media Is Killing My Motivation
For 2020 you might see me stepping back a bit and being a lot quieter on social media. I’m intending to enjoy my life, learn as much as I can, and enjoy writing at whatever pace I can achieve. I’m going to be focusing on making the most of my time, whether that is reading new releases or spending time with my family.
One thing I have learned over the course of 2019 is that a lot of my time is wasted on social media and because I work from home, loneliness and isolation can creep in. My life needs more balance and that means stepping away from time drains and motivation killers like Facebook and spending the time wisely.
My 2020 Writing Goals
I am hoping to write a lot more blog posts in 2020, and work on some shorter fiction pieces too.
My writing goals for 2020 are essentially, enjoy the process, learn through doing, and stop comparing myself to others. Write the stories that want to be told and no matter what happens with them, they will be an achievement for me and something to celebrate.
Have you set writing goals for 2020?
Until next time,
Keep reading and writing,
Amanda
Amanda J Evans is an award-winning Irish author and writing coach. Amanda writes adult romance that often crosses into paranormal and fantasy. Growing up with heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, her stories centre on good versus evil with a splice of love and magic thrown in too. Her books have all won awards and her novella, Hear Me Cry, won the Book of the Year Award at the Dublin Writers Conference 2018. Amanda is also the author of Surviving Suicide: A Memoir from Those Death Left Behind, published in 2012.
Very sensible plans that take into account who you are as well as what you want to achieve. Sounds good to me. I’m delighted I wasn’t the only one who was still creating 2020 writing plans during January. Along with standard things like books, stories, and articles to write and publish, I’ve deliberately left a couple of months unplanned so projects can spill over, or new ones pop in. I think leaving space is important. I’ve also planned a half-day “DIY writing retreat” for myself most months this year – writing in a different place or sketching settings & characters or finally listening to writing podcasts and TED talks. A way to wake up my writing and take a new perspective.
Wow, they sound like wonderful goals. Space is very important and you need to have wriggle room because you never know when the next great idea is going to hit you. Best of luck with your writing goals this year.
Amanda