Almost a year ago I created Fictional Tendencies with an idea, a goal in mind to create, and to this day that goal remains very much the same. Looking back, I can honestly say that I set out with a vision in mind, now as times change,  my vision also changed. When 2017 started I had a dedication and drive to write, write and write. And I did just that. Sometimes, I would write when I didn’t feel like it. I forced my ideas or prose. Sometimes that paid off, other times, not so much.

As I reflected on my writing I noticed, at least from my biased perspective, that my writing improved. You can see (hopefully) changes in the rhythm in which my writing flows. At the beginning of 2017 I felt like I was more of a “telling” writer than a “showing” writer. I hope that this is true and I hope to continue to improve upon this aspect of writing.

Somewhere around July or August I felt that my writing sort of hit a stand still. I stopped publishing here. I didn’t stop writing but life happened to call, several times, and these were calls I had to take. While I couldn’t find the drive to make the time to write, my mind found the want/need, to make me make the time to read. In 2016 I set out to read a book a month, I surpassed that goal with somewhere between twenty to thirty books read. As 2017 drew to a close I ended the year by reading six books in the last two months, total books read for 2017 is in the 12 to 15 book range. Not bad for not setting any reading goals.

As the prolific (according to some souls) writer/Author Stephen King has stated, “to become a good writer, one must be an avid reader” or something like that. I think my writing improved because I read more. I didn’t set out to read more in 2017, I set out to write, and I found that reading helped and inspired my writing.

In my January 16, 2017 post, Goals For 2017, I listed 8 goals that I wanted to accomplish. As 2017 progressed I sort of lost focus of my goals and wandered around, you know that thing called “life” tends to happen, but as the year ended I felt compelled to tread the “old” stomping grounds and see where I came from. I found that my goals weren’t so much of a focus as they were guidelines or an outline to keep me in a general area. I also found that I had accomplished 7 of the 8 goals I had set out for myself. I even had accomplished some things that I wouldn’t have even thought of. One of those things was to brainstorm story ideas and eventually edit a collection of Short Stories written by my friend Robert.

If you’re interested you can purchase The Cure for Sleep here.

I also submitted a short story for publication (something I really didn’t think I would do). The story wasn’t accepted but it was still a great learning experience.

I also noticed that my drive to write reviews for video games over at Galoot’s Loot sort of faded. Sure, I still love video games, especially story driven ones but creating was my main focus. I found that when I did write a review I would skip the appetizers and move straight on to the main course. I didn’t want to waste my time and I certainly didn’t want to waste my reader’s time, so, I minimized word count in my reviews and told the honest truth.

If you’re still with me, thank you. Reading back through this post I find that my mind has wandered from thought to thought with no real flow. The only contiguity in this entire post is that I’m talking about myself and my writing. Before the we get too far into the 2018 year I would like to publicly announce my goals for 2018:

  1. Write more.
  2. Read more.
  3. Submit some Short Stories for publishing. 
  4. Continue to develop my story Remedium (Title subject to change)
  5. Continue to develop my story The Garden
  6. Blog on a “surprise adventure” that I help will inspire and further drive my writing forward

Whatever you plan to do with 2018 make sure you have fun, hold yourself accountable, accept and give love and if you have the means to, create.

The featured image was provided courtesy of Carl Garrard.