Do I Even Know How to Write Anymore?
Well, damn, it’s already the end of January 2024, which means we’re headfirst into another year with a load of…whatever. Honestly, some years are better than others, and the last four have been a whirlwind for everybody. It’s just crazy that, three years ago, time seemed to be crawling by for everyone while we were under lockdown and isolation. Now, time has gone back to its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace and it’s hard to keep up.
For me, I’ve finally gone back to getting some writing done, even though I’m not always the best at actually posting things. For example, when I came to share the linked writing vlog and to do a post about it, I came across my unpublished 2024 writing goals, so I’ll go ahead and just let that be the rest of this post.
Enjoy the vlog, and I’ll be back soon for more!
Here are my 2024 writing goals:
1. Finish A Book
So, this is one of the ones for me that repeats on the first of every year. I head into each year with bright eyes and full of hope that I’ll get a manuscript of something that I’ve written to enough completion that I feel comfortable submitting my work.
Or that I can get enough money to pay for a professional editor to get it in better shape.
Or that I join more in-person or online writing groups to get feedback… which really only doesn’t happen because I don’t have time to return the favor, which is another thing I’d like to make more time for.
There’s just so much that goes into making a book, especially one that is both good and stands out from the crowd. I’m fully aware of that, and I’ve spent a lot of time on the ones I have, but I have other ones that would like to be written, too, and I refuse to let them start to come out until I’m ready for them.
In the meantime, I’ve started making little character skits for social media that complains about my lack of work on my books, so feel free to enjoy those in the meantime.
2. Create a Better Work-Life Balance
This actually has to do with a balance between my professional writing and my personal writing. My professional writing obviously covers my freelance career, which is currently paying the bills. My personal writing is more for things on this website and these illustrious books that really are so mad at me for leaving them alone on my hard drive.
I just get overwhelmed, honestly.
Sometimes I have a hard time breaking down my to-do list and getting through it one item at a time as opposed to seeing a hundred things on the list and thinking they all have to get done right now.
I’ve actually started writing out the list on my phone with the little check bubble next to it and feel satisfaction when I mark things off. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t, but here’s to hoping there’s a better work-life balance for my writing in 2024 either way.
3. Elevate My Career Even Further
Here’s the thing, 2023 was actually the first year that the majority of my income was actually made off of my freelance writing. Sitting here in December especially, that is so crazy to me. The W2 work I did this year was literally off of four hours a week at a yoga studio, and I’m currently living in the most expensive city in the country.
Granted, yes, that latter bit of information still makes finances actually really tight, but I’ve still been able to pay everything I’ve needed to (for the most part — thanks for your extra support here and there, Mom!) and it was still the first year that the bulk of my income was made from my writing.
So, moving into the next year, I just want to elevate it even higher with more clients, better-paying gigs, and perhaps even landing a book deal or something if I can circle back to number one and actually make that happen :)
4. Reconnect With What I Love About Writing
This one is actually really important to me, because it’s been on my mind a lot.
I’ve been scratching at stories for as long as I can remember throughout the course of my life. When I was younger, I used to do so as a means of escape. I was bullied, I didn’t really fit in well socially, and my stories were where I went to create whatever world I wanted and allow my mind to wander and be free.
Nowadays, outside of the professional writing I do, I’ve just completely lost touch with what I loved about writing stories in the first place. That’s really the biggest issue when it comes to the “finish a book” goal, because sometimes I feel a sense of obligation. Like I have to do it instead of just wanting to.
No one, of course, is putting that kind of pressure on me but me, but going into 2024, I would love to be able to reconnect with what it was that I loved about creating stories so much in the first place, so that editing them feels less like a chore and more like something I “get” to do verses “have” to.
5. Keep Persisting, No Matter What
This is always my last goal, just like finishing a book is always the first.
At the end of the day — at the end of the year — all that really matters is that you try. You don’t have to succeed, but you just have to try. I may not have “finished a book” this year, but I certainly worked on more than one. I may not have landed all of the clients I wanted or commissioned all of the pitches I sent, but at least I reached out to them.
Being a writer is hard. Being a creative of any type, really, is hard. But those who push through all of the bullshit are the ones who see the level of success they set for themselves. Remember, too, that you are the one who decides what that level of success actually means, and only you can determine if and how you get there.
Regardless, in the end, just keep persisting. Keep following your dreams and keep putting your best foot forward. I’m talking to “you,” whoever “you” are, just as much as I’m talking to me here, because we’re all in this together.
