Writing Resolutions 2014

As far as my Writing Resolutions for this year, I have decided upon a few.

1. Finish what I start.

I have way too many little starts. Little starts are good. But finishing a story feels soooo good. I also have starts on editing multiple projects. Those need finished this year. I know this will take some more planning to be executed, however at this time, without knowing how demanding on my evening hours life and work will be, I feel good leaving this flexible.

2. Trade critiques with another writer.

I know how valuable this is. I won a writing competition because I had others critique my work and I listened to them to make it awesome. I am not ready to trade critiques this month, but I will do it when I feel ready. I will most likely go back to Critique Circle and begin working there.

3. Increase Marketing Platform

I'm not sure how or when I will work on this goal. I have to catch back up on the whole ebook market and look at my image (non-existant) and decide what I can do about it myself. Mostly, it is going to be to write and get things out there. Have things to promote.

NOTE:
I just updated my Sample Writing page here on the blog. Go ahead, click it. You will find the current project I am working on: expanding the ficly series based on a dream I had into something longer.

I am proud of what I have so far, but I am at a place where I need some outlining to flesh out my ideas into motives, morals, and the fibers that make up a good story. I don't even have many character names yet. They don't have past secrets, well, not that they have shown me yet. I have not yet fabricated the tangled webs that will piece together the story into an epic adventure.

They say if you can dream it...

Doing The Impossible: Defining Yourself

In doing some reading up on promotion in self-publishing (Novel Publicity is great!), I realized that I need a smattering of works for sale to give my readers a sense of who I am as a writer.

I need to do two things:

1. Complete multiple books, including covers.
2. Put them up for sale before I create a facebook page that promotes me and sums me up.

But before I can do that I need to figure out who I am!

I guess we are always searching for who we are, and we change as we grow up, so there really isn't a cut and dry answer to satisfy that question. Even if I narrow it down and say, "Who am I as a writer? What genre do I write best?" I cannot answer.

The only unifying aspect of my writing is my 'style'. I am barely able to recognize my own style because it is so close to me it IS me. It's like how you never think you look anything like your siblings, but everyone says you do. You can't see your style because it is how you think in your own head. It is you, whom you are most comfortable with (I hope!).

This means I am promoting myself in all my glory. You can look at a selection menu of styles and pick out what you think you are, but even then, you could be totally wrong. Who am I?

Figuring out who you are takes a lifetime. It really is nearly impossible. You can decide how you want to behave and what to associate yourself with at this given juncture in time in your life, but overall, you are the composition of your lifetime and you choose what legacy you want to leave behind.

Furthermore, people may say you are someone completely different from how you view yourself. Their opinions only matter as much as you make them matter. Impress the people you need to impress. Don't let unflattering behavior in the background spoil it. Find a platform and stand on it.

Which is what I have to do.


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UPDATE
I am thinking about Pinterest, to visually see for myself what I like. Maybe that would give my fans a colorful inside look into my person. It might garner me a few new followers. I could learn from the boards how to mix my interests and tastes into a promotable package deal. Me Business. You'd get to see my book loves, my fashion tastes, the beautiful things I wish I could surround myself with, my teaching interests, my hobbies.

Any thoughts?