2025 Writing Goals

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Happy New Year!

Every January I like to make resolutions/goals for the upcoming year. There are people that will tell you that new years resolutions are stupid or just get broken, but I think that's because people either make unrealistic goals, give up too easily, or fail to adjust throughout the year as needed. A year is a long time and a lot can happen. I will often reevaluate my goals throughout the year to see how things are going and if I need to make some changes. 

In 2024, I achieved a good portion of my goals. I met my financial goals, fell a bit short on writing goals, and did not keep up the exercise routine I started. Some may point to this and say "see? failure", but I don't see it that way. In the late summer and fall, I had some health issues that I am still recovering from that derailed my progress, which is something beyond my control. As well, one of my goals was to reach 500 Twitter followers, but instead I decided to leave Twitter altogether because of the toxicity.

One new thing I'm doing this year is making (some of) my goals public, mainly for accountability reasons and transparency. My health and finance goals will remain private, but I'm going to make my writing plans public and I will report on my progress throughout the year.

Blog and Newsletter

1. Post Every Week

I've generally adopted a "post when I feel like it" kind of schedule, but in 2025, I want to try something different. I am making a resolution to post here every week, specifically on Sundays. Topics will include book reviews and writing updates, as well as the following: Author Profiles, Series Overviews/Retrospectives, more What I Like About..., and more. I will also be reviewing types of media other than books, such as games, television shows, movies.

I have also made a Kofi Page where you can either pay a small amount for me to prioritize a topic (list will be periodically updated) or suggest a brand new topic - check out the commissions section.

2. Send Out Newsletter Every Month

This one is much more straightforward - to continue sending out my newsletter at the end of every month. You can check out the archive or sign up for my newsletter here.

Fiction Writing

3. Novels

I have two novels on the go - 1. Rescued - A thriller about a woman trying to regain a sense of normalcy after being kidnapped and 2. Cosgrove Manor - the murder mystery sequel to the novel I'm currently shopping around with publishers and agents. Both are partially drafted and I would like to have a complete first draft of both done by the end of the year. It may sound like a lot, but I know where both stories are going (for the most part) and both are partially written.

4. Short Stories

This year, I plan to write (and maybe publish) six short stories. I also want to write 12 flash fiction pieces - one per month. The definition of flash fiction can vary, but I, personally, draw the line at 2000 words. 2000 and over is a short story. 

Reading

5. Goodreads Challenge

I have been participating in the Goodreads challenge for several years now. I used to read a lot when I was young, then I went through a period where I wasn't reading as much. I was shocked to learn that I had to retrain myself to read again. The challenge was part of this. This year, I have set a goal of 75 books, a new high for me. My previous record was 70, so I feel this is an achievable increase. Part of this goal is to try and get my to-be-read pile under control (sure I will). You can check out my progress on my Goodreads page, but note that my "currently reading" section isn't always 100% accurate. Sometimes I only add a book when I finish it.

6. Short Stories

Last year, I set out to read more short stories, and I plan to continue on this path. I don't have a set goal, but I've made a list of anthologies, and I will be purchasing and reading individual issues of several indie magazines, as well as catching up on my backlog. I will be posting about favourite stories throughout the year, as well as an end of year wrap-up, as has become my tradition.

If you have a magazine suggestion where I can buy individual issues (I can't subscribe to everyone), please let me know.

Secret Goals

7. Wait and See

That may seem like a lot, but I also have a couple other things in the works that I hope to launch or make significant progress on this year. One is a major project that I've wanted to launch for years, and I think I'm finally ready to move forward with that (more on this in the second half of the year). As well, I've started work on a follow up to Thin Slices, which is unlikely to be out in 2025.

Anyway, that's a lot of goals already, so I think I'll stop there before I overwhelm myself. I'm excited to get going on all of this, and I hope you pop in from time to time to see how things are rolling.

Thanks for reading! 

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