Happy 2016!

It’s a new year, and once again I’m reflecting on how I did with the goals I set for myself twelve months ago. In summary – not good.

#1 Back on the diet… again

I’m really good at dieting (although the people I eat with when I’m on a diet find it a pain in the neck). My biggest problem is that I have a lot of weight to lose, and when it doesn’t come off fast enough I get frustrated  and depressed, and start eating badly again. This year I think I’ll aim low and just focus on trying to minimize binge eating.

#2 Edit my novel, and get it ready to query

I tried doing this twice: neither time did I get more than a few chapters in. I still have hopes that it will happen though…

#3 Write another novel

If you are a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that NaNoWriMo is a wonderful thing, and I now have a second draft to edit in addition to my 2014 novel. Honestly, I think the second one has probably benefited from my 2014 experience, but it also has a lot of issues to iron out.

#4 Actually enter the competitions I’ve picked out

Hmm… I did better at this in 2015, because I actually entered a writing competition this year. (True, it was in the middle of December, but that still counts, right?) I have a massive list of competitions I’d like to enter in 2016, and a couple of drafts on the go… I just have to make sure I finish them this year!

#5 Spend some more time hanging out with people in the real world

Again, NaNoWriMo is a wonderful thing. I actually had a social calendar in November. Pity about the rest of the year…

2016 Goals

Umm… I’m not doing so well on the following through part, so I think this year I’m just going to try to do better at accomplishing 2015’s goals. I do hope to be more consistent with this blog though, even if it means scheduling posts in advance for times when I’m not going to have internet access. This year there was almost a six month gap between posts in the middle of the year – I don’t intend to let that happen again!

Happy 2015!

Another year is over, and it’s time to evaluate. What went well? What didn’t? Last year I posted a list of New Years’ Resolutions, with a brief summary of why I was setting each one. So, how did I go?

New Year’s Resolution #1: Figure out a way of blocking out distractions and just getting on with it…

Tick. I moved my laptop into my bedroom in November, which seems to be working so far. I also bought a tablet so I can work when I’m out of the house.

New Year’s Resolution #2: Get invited to some parties…

Umm… My social circle didn’t increase quite as much as I’d hoped this year, but I did go to a few good parties, and I met some awesome people during NaNoWriMo. I should probably keep a variation of this one on the list for 2015.

New Year’s Resolution #3: Enter at least four writing competitions (that’s a minimum, twice as many as last year).

Ba-Bow. Things got away from me, and I only ended up entering one competition for the whole year. I have some fantastic competitions picked out for 2015 – now I just have to write some fantastic things to enter.

New Year’s Resolution #4: Write a novel.

Big tick. Thank you NaNoWriMo!

New Year’s Resolution #5: Keep off any weight I happen to lose!

The less said about this one the better.

And what about 2015? What are my goals for this year?

#1 Back on the diet… again.

#2 Edit my novel, and get it ready to query.

#3 Write another novel.

#4 Actually enter the competitions I’ve picked out

#5 Spend some more time hanging out with people in the real world

Happy New Year!

So…apparently I’m a little late, but ‘better late than never’, right? I’ve noticed a trend over the past few days of bloggers reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the next. Might as well add my two cents then 🙂

I was shocked to realise the other day that it has been over a month since I last posted anything here. I’ve written a few draft posts, but have never found the time to polish them enough for publication. I don’t want to make excuses, but there were a lot of distractions in December that prevented me from sitting down and blogging.

1. Extra days at my paid job.

Money = good, but it did leave less time for writing.

2. Family.

I love my family, but sometimes they can drive me mad…and for some reason I have real trouble writing when the house is full of other people. New Year’s Resolution #1: Figure out a way of blocking out distractions and just getting on with it…

3. Christmas.

All that extra shopping and cooking…and it’s not like I even went to any parties… New Year’s Resolution #2: Get invited to some parties…

 

As for the rest of the year, it wasn’t as productive as I had hoped. While I did start this blog, I only entered two writing competitions (and I had planned to enter a lot more). New Year’s Resolution #3: Enter at least four writing competitions (that’s a minimum, twice as many as last year).

Also, although I did a lot of planning, I didn’t actually get pen to paper (fingers to keyboard??) on either of the two novels I have in my head. New Year’s Resolution #4: Write a novel.

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On a personal note, I begin the new year as I always do, resolved to lose some weight…I had thought about starting a separate blog for this, but who’s got the time?? I will say that usually I find losing the first couple of kilos is easy, but then Easter comes around and for some reason all my resolve goes out the window. New Year’s Resolution #5: Keep off any weight I happen to lose!