First of all: Happy New Year! I say that knowing no one actually reads this blog, but I need to hear it, too.
My goal for 2021 is to act more like a writer/writing professor. What does that mean? I am going to try to write more. Not that I don't write a lot: In 2020 I finalized and polished a book of essays and wrote the rough draft of a novel. I also drafted a few poems and essays. I didn't get anything accepted for publication, other than a few random blog posts, and nothing new came out of my workshop. I received some very promising rejection letters, though. So, it isn't that I wasn't writing, but I was writing mostly large projects, and I came away feeling like everything was moving too slowly, keeping me away from the writing community I really love.
The more disappointing part of 2020 was that I hardly read anything. I am sure if I thought about it read hard, I could think of a few books I read, but really, I hardly read any. I read a lot of news articles, alternating subscriptions between The Economist and the New York Times. But very few books.
So, this year, here are two goals:
Re-professionalize myself by reading books about writing theory. Creative writing, composition, business writing, etc. All the things I want to write and teach.
Write at least one blog post each month analyzing the sorts of things I've been reading, watching, playing, etc. Honestly, it doesn't matter what. Just write stuff.
Have a polished, ready-to-submit-draft of my novel by March 16.
Have a rough draft of my next essay collection by the end of the year
Anyhow, I'm aware that these are rough, unspecific goals. But that's okay, because no one reads this and I'm just here rambling.