After pitiful gchat statuses, even more pitiful Facebook updates, and still more pitiful flailing in the direction of friends and critique partners, I finally entered a story in the Dell Awards for the last time in my life. I’m not completely happy with it, but more than anything, I wanted to put it out of my head, spend some time with my family, and think about the coming year. So now I have, and I will.
I only have a few resolutions this year, but here they are:
- To keep writing. I’ve tentatively set a goal of around 75,000 words for the year. According to my spreadsheet, I’ve written around 45k in the last four months, so even assuming (hoping!) that I will be significantly busier in 2012, I think this is realistic.
- To read more. I’d like to read at least two books a month (fiction or nonfiction) and at least two short stories a week.
- To believe in myself even when the universe doesn’t seem to agree.
Happy New Year, everyone! I’ll leave you with this quote from Neil Gaiman (which you’ve probably seen, but I thought this poster version was pretty cool):
[The image is by dreamripples and the text is as follows: "May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself. - Neil Gaiman" ]