This Year I Resolve...

Welcome to 2012! A new year holds such promise. It’s not like anything really changed from yesterday to today other than the 1 changed to a 2, but so many people view the new year as a fresh start. I’m one of those people.


Even though nothing fundamental has changed, the year end seems like a logical time to re-evaluate my life and my goals. I’m not a fan of resolutions. I prefer to work with goals. It just feels like goals are more doable and concrete than resolutions.

Here’s the thing. This year, as with the last few years, I’ve wanted to finish my novel. If I had resolved to write everyday or something along those lines I would have failed in the month of January and might have thrown in the towel.

Photo Source: Renjith Krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Instead, I chose to set a goal of finishing my novel by the end of the year. (I’ve since come to realize that finishing the novel is a rather nebulous goal. Does that mean just write it regardless of what the outcome is? Does it mean shopping it to agents and publishers? Or does it mean seeing it on the bookstore shelves?) When half the year had gone by and the novel wasn’t done and I had studied the craft more I made a concrete goal…

I am going to finish the first draft by the end of 2011

Oh and by the way, I managed to accomplish that goal on December 30! So for 2012 I’ve set a number of writing goals related to my novel. One is to submit the first chapter to the ACFW Genesis contest. The second is to revise the first draft to fix problems and polish it. The third is to write a proposal and have it ready to shop around by about May.

I guess I could say I resolve to do these things, but instead I say they are goals. Maybe it’s just semantics but it works for me.

What about you? Do you make resolutions?