Five Writing Goals for 2023 by Jana Richards

Today it's my turn to list five writing goals for 2023. Most years I have way more than five writing goals, but this year I need to consider my choices carefully. At the beginning of 2022, I put so much pressure on myself to get my many writing goals accomplished that I burned myself out by July. So this year, the only goal I set is to read more. 

But that being said, I do have things I want to accomplish this year. I just want to make sure to give myself some compassion for when things don't go to plan. For example, take last week, when I had planned to work on edits. But then my daughter and her baby daughter Aubrey came to stay with us for three days. Her husband was working out of town all week and the baby was cranky from getting her first vaccinations and wasn't sleeping. So, she stayed with us and we helped with the baby. But it meant I didn't get any writing done. My writing is important to me, but my daughter and granddaughter are more important. So if they need me, writing has to wait.

Just after the New Year, I participated in a planning workshop with Angela James and what I liked most about it was the emphasis on being practical about what you can realistically accomplish. Things like having your daughter and granddaughter unexpectedly stay with you for three days can throw your writing schedule off, but they happen, so you have to roll with it. I have to remember that and not beat myself up if sometimes things don't go exactly how I'd planned for them to go.

Grampa and Aubrey grabbing a few zzzs

So, with all that said, here are my 5 writing goals for 2023:

1. Finish edits on Christmas at Solace Lake, and self-publish it in time for Christmas 2023.

2. Continue work on my time travel romance series. Finish a first draft of book one by the end of 2023 and fully outline the two other books.

3. Continue learning about and creating Amazon and Facebook ads.

4. Explore the possibility of starting a cozy mystery series.

5. Remember to have fun with writing. If I don't enjoy the process of creating characters and the worlds they live in, why am I doing this?

I've never tried sprints before but maybe I'll take a cue from Nan and Liz and try them in 2023!

Overall, my goals, both personal and writing-wise, need to make me happy instead of stressing me out. I wish everyone happy goal achieving for 2023!