Belated New Years

Happy new calendar, everybody!

I'm still working hard on my next novel. It's at 42,000 words at the moment but I'm taking a break to say hi and check how things are going for all of you.

Sorceress' Blood, by the by, was 50,000 words. That's short for a novel. My current novel is nowhere near it's climax so that's kind of exciting for me. I'm probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the way done on the first draft. I really hope I can get it all out by early February.

So how's things? Looking forward to 2013 and all it has to offer? I know I am. This is going to be a very good year for me. How do I know? Because I've already decided it will be.

I don't usually go in for new years resolutions. I think every time of year is the right time to be resolute and make changes and commit to new plans. As it happens, though, the new year coincides with the resolutions I would have made, regardless so I'm calling them my new year's resolutions! Yay!

So, here's what I'm planning for 2013:
Write more, talk less. It is so easy to get distracted for anybody who is passionate about something. You just want to talk and talk and talk about what you love. But sometimes I find I am spending all my time talking about writing that I stop writing. So I need to shift that ratio around a little bit. I'm not abandoning dA or the forums and I'm still going to work on my series of writing guides but I just plan to spend more time actually writing.
Finish two novels. I've set my goal to be two completed novels by the end of this year. That's a huge leap from doing one novel in three years but I think I can do it. Hell, I'm half way done on the first one! Okay, so I started that before this year begun but I'm still counting it. When I say finished I mean written, edited and ready to publish. The second novel I plan for this year is in the planning stages but I already know what it will be. That makes it easier and gives me reason to be confident.
Stay optimistic and don't forget to be awesome The saying "Don't forget to be awesome" is the catch phrase of John and Hank Green - internet personalities I stumbled across this year and am immensely impressed by. It's not only their work that impresses me but their unstoppable commitment to being positive and optimistic and wanting the world to be more amazing. I think creative people are prone to being insecure (or maybe insecure people are prone to being creative) and the only cure for that is positivity. External affirmations are all well and good but the best kind of optimism is the kind you breed in yourself.

Those are my commitments from here on out. And you know, if I can do them then so can you! I'd like to see all my fellow writers striving towards a positive attitude, further dedication to their craft and the completion of a couple of big projects in 2013.

All the best, my brothers and sisters and don't forget to be awesome