Jeanette Watts's Blog - Posts Tagged "new-year-s-resolutions"
New Year's Resolutions
*The following article is a "reprint" from The Book Cave. If you aren't familiar with The Book Cave, you might want to go look them up! You'll like them. Trust me.
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Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I used to try that, but I kind of gave up. Too easy to make and break promises to myself, so why do that to myself? But this year, I thought I would make a resolution to make a New Year’s Resolution. To be fair, though, it really should be two resolutions: one as a reader, and one as a writer.
But now I am having trouble figuring out which resolution to go with. I’ve created a sort of wish list. Some of them seem too short to qualify as a resolution, others seem much too long. And the whole thing looks to me like a To Do List for 2023…
Next year, I resolve…
As a writer, to
1. Research and write the book set in 1850s Illinois
2. Research and write the sequel to #1
3. Research and write the third book, so now it’s a trilogy
4. Get better at using social media to promote the books I already have
5. Learn how to do a better book launch
6. Launch books #1, 2 and 3
7. Get on my Reddit chat rooms more often
8. Add an episode to my new YouTube Channel once a week
9. Start a podcast
10. Create One Sheets for the books I already have
11. Get those One Sheets sent out to bookstores and libraries
12. Ask my friends to go to their libraries to request my books and audiobooks
13. Write the book proposal for the non fiction book series I started writing during Covid
14. Get back to the research for writing book #3 of the two historical fiction books I already have
15. Convince my girlfriend to do the artwork for the children’s book I wrote for her to illustrate
16. Get back to editing the historical fiction book that I wrote 8 years ago and set aside because it just wasn’t “ripe” yet
17. Find the money to turn more of my books into audiobooks
18. Sew a new Regency dress for Jane Austen events
19. Finish writing the non fiction book series I started writing during Covid
20. Re-release the historical fiction trilogy (once it is a trilogy) with all-new book covers
21. Go to writers’ workshops
22. Write more essays for Book Cave
23. Get more exercise, sitting at the computer working all the time isn’t healthy
As a reader, to
1. Finish all three of the half-read books hiding in various parts of my house
2. Re-read the Jane Austen books I didn’t re-read in 2022
3. Read something that has nothing to do with the research reading for my writing projects
4. Read all the books in the pile for the research for my writing projects
5. Read something in a genre that I’ve never read before
6. Try to buy no more new books than will fit on the To Be Read shelf
7. Read everything currently on the To Be Read shelf so I can buy more books
8. Join more book clubs
9. Find book clubs that might be reading the books on my To Be Read shelf
10. Find the box with all the books of the authors I met at the last book festival, and put all their books on the To Be Read shelf
11. Listen to more audiobooks
12. Learn that I don’t HAVE to finish a book when I don’t like it
13. Every time I read a book, get online and write a review for it when I finish
14. Remember to get on Goodreads more often to post what I’m currently reading
15. Find at least ONE book that I admit I’m never going to read again and donate it to the library’s used book store
16. Put a book on my nightstand so when I can’t sleep, I can just read without getting out of bed
17. Buy those David McCullough books I didn’t know he’d written, put them on the floor in front of the To Be Read Shelf because there’s no more room to put the books on the shelf
18. Remember to fill the water bottle before getting on the exercise bike to read, it’s annoying to have to stop mid-chapter to go get water
19. Stop trying to cook and read at the same time. It never goes well
20. Remember there are things called e-readers, I can have books on my phone for when it’s inconvenient to be traveling with a full suitcase and backpack with no room for books
Ah. Yes, I think I see why I generally don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. This seems like kind of a lot. Wish me luck.
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Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I used to try that, but I kind of gave up. Too easy to make and break promises to myself, so why do that to myself? But this year, I thought I would make a resolution to make a New Year’s Resolution. To be fair, though, it really should be two resolutions: one as a reader, and one as a writer.
But now I am having trouble figuring out which resolution to go with. I’ve created a sort of wish list. Some of them seem too short to qualify as a resolution, others seem much too long. And the whole thing looks to me like a To Do List for 2023…
Next year, I resolve…
As a writer, to
1. Research and write the book set in 1850s Illinois
2. Research and write the sequel to #1
3. Research and write the third book, so now it’s a trilogy
4. Get better at using social media to promote the books I already have
5. Learn how to do a better book launch
6. Launch books #1, 2 and 3
7. Get on my Reddit chat rooms more often
8. Add an episode to my new YouTube Channel once a week
9. Start a podcast
10. Create One Sheets for the books I already have
11. Get those One Sheets sent out to bookstores and libraries
12. Ask my friends to go to their libraries to request my books and audiobooks
13. Write the book proposal for the non fiction book series I started writing during Covid
14. Get back to the research for writing book #3 of the two historical fiction books I already have
15. Convince my girlfriend to do the artwork for the children’s book I wrote for her to illustrate
16. Get back to editing the historical fiction book that I wrote 8 years ago and set aside because it just wasn’t “ripe” yet
17. Find the money to turn more of my books into audiobooks
18. Sew a new Regency dress for Jane Austen events
19. Finish writing the non fiction book series I started writing during Covid
20. Re-release the historical fiction trilogy (once it is a trilogy) with all-new book covers
21. Go to writers’ workshops
22. Write more essays for Book Cave
23. Get more exercise, sitting at the computer working all the time isn’t healthy
As a reader, to
1. Finish all three of the half-read books hiding in various parts of my house
2. Re-read the Jane Austen books I didn’t re-read in 2022
3. Read something that has nothing to do with the research reading for my writing projects
4. Read all the books in the pile for the research for my writing projects
5. Read something in a genre that I’ve never read before
6. Try to buy no more new books than will fit on the To Be Read shelf
7. Read everything currently on the To Be Read shelf so I can buy more books
8. Join more book clubs
9. Find book clubs that might be reading the books on my To Be Read shelf
10. Find the box with all the books of the authors I met at the last book festival, and put all their books on the To Be Read shelf
11. Listen to more audiobooks
12. Learn that I don’t HAVE to finish a book when I don’t like it
13. Every time I read a book, get online and write a review for it when I finish
14. Remember to get on Goodreads more often to post what I’m currently reading
15. Find at least ONE book that I admit I’m never going to read again and donate it to the library’s used book store
16. Put a book on my nightstand so when I can’t sleep, I can just read without getting out of bed
17. Buy those David McCullough books I didn’t know he’d written, put them on the floor in front of the To Be Read Shelf because there’s no more room to put the books on the shelf
18. Remember to fill the water bottle before getting on the exercise bike to read, it’s annoying to have to stop mid-chapter to go get water
19. Stop trying to cook and read at the same time. It never goes well
20. Remember there are things called e-readers, I can have books on my phone for when it’s inconvenient to be traveling with a full suitcase and backpack with no room for books
Ah. Yes, I think I see why I generally don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. This seems like kind of a lot. Wish me luck.
