Wednesday 7 January 2015

IWSG: Goals and Resolutions for 2015



It's the first Wednesday of the month, and the very first Wednesday in 2015 to boot, making it the perfect opportunity for me to wish fellow Insecure Writer's Support Group members a "Happy New Year!" Hope you all enjoyed the holidays. The IWSG was of course started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the acclaimed Ninja Captain himself; you can head over to his blog or the official IWSG website for more information on the group.

As part of our very first post for 2015, members have been asked to introduce themselves. So my short bio is as follows:

My name is Michael Abayomi, writer of speculative fiction and an all-round lover of science fiction and fantasy. My book, Guardians & The Lost Paradise, was self-published serially over the course of 6 months in 2012. I am presently working on a post-apocalyptic superhero serial called Proxies, a book I am hoping to publish sometime this year.

Right. So on that note, I would like to move on to the next item on the agenda, namely my goals and resolutions for the new year. Last year, I made a point of not setting any specific deadlines or goals, other than a general desire to be productive and more proactive. But the problem with that approach is that it leaves little room for any form of accountability.

At the same time, I really don't want to commit to a course of action that I know I would not be able to realistically carry out. That is, I must also put into consideration the time and effort needed to write, edit and publish, not to mention market. All that said, I have decided to settle upon a single writerly goal for 2015, and that is to:

Goal #1: Finish the Darn Thing!

The thing in question is of course the aforementioned book, Proxies, a sizable chunk of which remains to be written. The book is being written in individual episodes, and I am almost tempted to publish some of the earlier ones, if only to force myself to finish what's left. But I'll stay my hand away from that shiny red button for the moment, at least until a time when such drastic measures would need to be taken.

Goal #2: Be Happy (No Matter What)

This is equally important, and remains a staple of my yearly goals. Because let's face it, writing a book is one of the hardest things to do. Even harder is all the extra work required to make our stories ready for prime time. So why do we do it? For me, it's the moments of sheer joy interspersed throughout the creative process, moments like when the story takes an unexpected turn, coming out even better than you'd imagined. I plan on taking the time to relish such moments.

And there you have it, my goals for 2015. Not quite as elaborate as previous years, but hopefully this would be enough to set me on the right path to attaining said goals. What about you? What are your goals and resolutions for 2015?

7 comments:

  1. Once you get closer to the end, then you can decide if it will be a whole book or a serial. One step at a time!

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    1. That's right, Alex. I would be in a better position to make the decision then. Thanks,

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  2. Good luck. I'm always rooting for you!

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    1. Thanks, Tony, I really appreciate your support. :)

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  3. I think those kinds of goals are great! Write what you know you can, then if you surpass what you thought you could do, you will feed the other goal of being happy. What a great way to start the new year! Thanks for sharing. Sorry I'm a bit behind on IWSG, but I did make it!

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