Writing Resolutions: 2015

by
Scott D. Parker

So, have you broken your resolutions yet? I jest, but not by much. Odds are that, come 1 February, many folks who make resolutions in the drunken stupor at midnight of New Year’s Eve, will falter thirty-one days later.

I don’t usually do that. I make resolutions that are attainable and trackable. A few years ago, it was flossing. Everyone can and should floss, but how do you go from not being in the habit of flossing to doing it every day? Well, you make it a habit by making a streak. You start small: floss every day for the month of January. After 31 days, if you have achieved the streak, you celebrate. Then you do it again in February. You just keep doing it. I didn't break my flossing streak until after I had flossed over 1,000 straight days.

I had a very successful 2014. I completed one tale begun in late 2013, and then I started and completed four other stories. They should all be published here in 2015. My favorite achievement is the 30,000-word novella I conceived of and wrote in the month of November. I took December off, on purpose, because I have an audacious writing goal for 2015: Write fiction every day.

It should be doable, especially since I now write a lot on my iPod. Here’s the key to my success: no minimum word count. True, I’ll aim for at least 500 per day, a number I can usually reach in 15 minutes, but I won’t sweat it if I manage only 250, 200, or less. Now, I’d like to think that I can eke out more than 100, but I’m not making that rule. If I write a sentence, that counts. If I write 1,000 in a day, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to write the next day. Write fiction. Every day.

That’s one of my two professional resolutions for 2015. The other is to get my books published. Again, I’m aiming to publish more than one, but I’m keeping the goal at one book published this year. Since this’ll be my first ever book publication, it’ll be a major professional achievement. I do it once, it’ll be cause for opening a bottle of champagne. I’m hoping to open more than one bottle, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

What are your resolutions, professional or personal, for 2015.