It’s that time of year again where resolutions start popping up everywhere. I actually enjoy making New Year’s resolutions, but I approach them like any other goal I may make during the year. I know that I won’t be perfect and that they are things to constantly strive towards–not something to just give up on the moment you slip up.

Right now, I am participating in children’s author, Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas for Writers. In her video today, she said something that I never thought of before. She believes that most New Year’s resolutions come from a place of negativity. That we focus on what we didn’t achieve the previous year to help guide us in making the next year’s goals.

She goes on to give specific examples to support her claim, which you can read in her blog post. It really gave me pause. Every year, I kind of pat myself on the back because I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with my New Year’s resolutions as explained above. But this is a whole new facet for me to take into consideration, and it is awesome!

This couldn’t have come at a better time for me because of how my writing has been the last two months–almost non-existent. I started the year off with a bang and kept going strong until part of the way through October, when I had some personal things crop up. It has left me feeling a bit down about my writing goals for 2018. It is so easy to focus on the negative things that I didn’t accomplish.

But when I sat down and looked at the year as a whole, I was amazed at all the small sucesses that I have accomplished in 2018. I am looking forward to using them as spring boards for my goals in 2019 and beyond.

• 2 published poems in Spaceports and Spidersilk
• 1 picture book manuscript polished and ready for submission
• 3 more picture book manuscripts in various stages of revision
• 1 middle grade novel fully outlined
• 31 rejections (can’t get a yes without lots of no’s)
• Participated in Poetry Madness
• Joined a critique group
• 2 short story manuscripts drafted
• Attended Miami SCBWI Conference
• 48 poems written
• Wrote much more consistently than any previous year
• Posted on my blog regularly
• When asked what I do for a living, I said I was a writer more frequently
• Read 160 books