We’re a week into the new year. I’ve given you enough time to stretch, yawn, take two aspirin and down a lot of water. Champagne hangovers can be a real pain, but we’re seven days past it—more than enough to get back into the day-to-day of life. You may have broken a personal resolution already. I ruminate over them for a few days. Not really. I procrastinate for a few days and then make plans I mean to break. One or two things do seem to catch, though. Something in my brain won’t let me fail at everything on the list.

With the knowledge one thing might register in the subconscious, I made the members of my writing group list their three resolutions. Once that was done, someone else in the group assigned a fourth goal to their list. The fourth item had to be slightly different. It needed to put the individual out of their comfort zone. You might want to do the same thing.

Don’t tell me no. I don’t care. You’ve got to start somewhere. Go get a pen and a stack of paper. Run your hand over the first blank sheet. It’s okay. The virgin page is waiting for you. Now, before you go crazy, here’s what I need you to do: write down your three personal resolutions. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend a lot of time doodling bits of nothing on the first page. The second sheet will be crumpled and discarded after the first line, so don’t get too attached. Give yourself time to work through it, but know that the first three things that pop into your head are usually the right things to do. They may need to be refined, but they’re the heart of your desires.

It’s not my problem if you break them all, but you need an idea of where you want to be at the end of the year. If you don’t know your goals, how will you know how to fail them? Kidding. I’m placing my own thoughts on you, and you may very well be goal-oriented. No. Number one on the list cannot be, “to be goal-oriented.” That’s an innate trait.

To get you started, I’ll let you in on my resolutions:

1. Finish the revisions on my current novel.
2. Submit query letters and first pages. (This one will also include a lot of hoping and praying.)
3. Write and submit at least one short story for competition. (More hoping, praying, and a lot of denying that I’m hoping.)
4. Write a Steam Punk genre short story. (This is the one someone else added to my list. It will push the boundaries of my voice and style.)

Now that I’ve posted those publicly, I’m sure to get a phone call from my mother. These will be our primary topic until I’m done. Yippee. Actually, you can put an exclamation point on that one. She will drive me (crazy) to get my revisions completed. It’s the reason I made my critique group write their goals down and hand them over. We can keep each other on target. We won’t hound each other, but the open knowledge of these goals makes them more real. It does no good to write resolutions and hide them. You’re only hiding them from yourself, and it’s sad to not help yourself succeed.

Note: I threatened the group with posting their goals online. This should prove that it wasn’t a threat but a statement of fact on my part. Cheers!

SOL

1. Improve and finalize plot for current novel.
2. Flesh out the characters of the Antagonist and Protagonist.
3. Tie historical story line in novel to modern-day story line.
4. Write short story on the Finnish Christmas tree.

SB

1. Set up weekly accountability.
2. Commit to revision course.
3. Prepare submission of first draft for revision course.
4. Write quarterly serialized story for online publication.

CC

1. Send at least one query letter per quarter.
2. Blog two times per week.
3. Write one article for work per month.
4. Write fiction short story.

GF

1. Write Hero’s Journey for new novel idea.
2. Do two weeks of research for new novel.
3. Write at least 15,000 words toward new story.
4. Write a short story about witchcraft in a modern setting.