Bernadette Benda

I already did my 2019 wrap up and goals for 2020 post, so I’m not going to do that again because that would be booooring.

Instead we are going to talk about how we (I) feel about 2020 and how I intent to attack writing this year (spoiler: it will involve neither punches, lances, boiling oil, or dynamite).

2020 is cool. At least the first few days have been treating me alright. It’s abnormally warm, which I guess I’ll take over sub zero temperatures and wastelands of snow (though this means I don’t get to don all my fur and gloves and scarves and became a mysteriously old woman whipping past on my snow mobile). I hope this is a year where I DON’T crack the phone on my screen twice and need it twice replaced (there went my moolah).

I like a new year, I like January. It’s nice to have time to get my ducks back in a row from where they have been wandering in the wilds of Wilderland and back into the Shire where they will be safe and sound.

Last year I wanted to write MORE and I did. I wrote in my journal kinda not every day, I won Nanowrimo (!!!!!!), finished a draft, wrote a half, and wrote a whole one. Overall it was a good year.

I hope for this year to be even more so.

Over the last few years, my itching (Desire? Pull? Calling? The siren out on the rocks that is luring me in to my destruction?) has been growing, and I just want to write, write, write, write, write…..

It’s kinda like if you’re a collector of something (or The Collector for that matter).You just keep wanting more of that thing (white pitchers, spoons, whatever). That’s how I feel about words and stories. I want them to be everywhere in my life.

Ok, now I feel like this is getting tacky. Leeeeeeeet’s move on.

So, for those of you (and me) who want to write more, here are my ideas:

• Make writing a priority, obviously. I’ve been doing this for a while, but I know I could do more (as I learned during last year’s Nanowrimo). I know I could be more organized about it and my life in general, so I just don’t stop suddenly at 2:30 pm like uh…..I’m suppose to do stuff….I have stuff to do…What stuff though???I know there’s stuff I have to do!!!
• Journal MORE. I usually can do this when my night routine stays the same. Because if I get to bed too late I’m too tired to journal and I just fling myself on my bed in hopes of falling asleep.
• Make. A. Plan. What I (and a lot of you other literary people out there) have a problem with is too many projects and wondering what order to do them in. I have usually been pretty good at focusing on one project, but like I focus on that project for a month, and then the next two months I work on another project and then….you see what I am saying. Somehow though, I have managed to get Silver written and edited. Once Silver is in the wind (being queried) I’m going to start editing Lily, which is why I need a plan. I need a more organized way of editing. I’m really going to try with Lily to not rewrite ANYTHING until it’s all planned out and I’ve fixed plot holes and world building and stuff, instead of doing it the haphazard way I did Silver.
• Blog more. I started posting twice a week around October (or….somewhere during the time that leaves fall down). I want to do more blogging, more thoughtful blogging maybe. My mom said she wanted to see more “commentary” though sometimes my commentary can be a little harsh and dramatic but we shall see.
• Switch up the time of day. I’ve been writing in the mornings (and occasionally at night if there is an exceptional situation). But during Nanowrimo I wrote every night and really actually liked it?? So maybe I’ll do more writing in the evening and nighttime. We’ll see.

The one last goal I have is to AVOID BURN OUT. Because I work four jobs plus writing which is basically another job (albeit one that does not make me money at the moment) which is five job. FIVE JOBS. That sound of screaming is just me pulling my hair out.

Anyway. What are your writing goals for 2020? How do you plan to stay more focused on write more? Or are you toning it down this year and focusing on other things?