Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!

Today’s topic is: Do you set monthly/yearly goals for your writing? What are your goals for the coming year?

And remember to visit my fellow writers to see what they have come up with. You can find their works here!

Setting goals is something I always struggle with. Let me add some context. I started Chasing Shadows as part of NaNoWriMo 2020, which got me into the habit of writing something every single day. I carried this habit on for a period. Though it became a struggle. I found that on many occasions I was writing something just because I felt I had to, though it suffered when I wasn’t particularly feeling it. It almost became a burden, a chore I had to do every day. So I stopped pushing myself. Now, even if it means taking longer spells out to reflect, and live a life beyond writing, so be it. I come back and feel more refreshed and ready to add words when I do return. So in that regard, I don’t set challenging, exacting goals.

That being said, I do actually have a few goals for this year. I am leaving them intentionally vague so as to not overburden myself.

• Complete ‘As the Crow Flies’ first draft. If possible, I’d love to actually be in a place to release it in 2023.
• Continue to work on and develop my podcast, The Crow’s Nest. Incidentally, if any of you might be interested in listening to current episodes, you can find them here.
• To finish writing a series of short stories set in the steampunk world of Chasing Shadows under the title ‘Tales from Auridia’. Again, if I can, I would love to release this in 2023. For the moment it will likely just be an e-book, but that may change if I can come up with enough material for it.
• I have a range of flash fiction and short stories on my website. I feel like a lot of them have the potential for expansion. I want to take a look at them all in isolation, rework and expand them from flash fiction into short stories. I then want to curate them into an anthology to release in the future. This is not slated for 2023, but I want to make a start.
• To try and post updates to my website more consistently than I have done in 2022. I want to keep potential readers engaged and interested more.
• I want to explore newsletters. I think they are a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with readers old and new. I just don’t know how or where to begin, so I may need to chat with some of the wonderful authors I have come to call friends over the years and see what I can do in that space.

These are merely my writing goals. There are plenty of other interests and things in my life to keep me busy, so we will see where things go in that regard, but I want something to keep me a little bit honest this year.