Happy Hogmanay! Since 2017 is on the way out, it’s time to reflect on the year of covfefe and see whether I kept any of the resolutions I made in my 2016 review…

At the end of last year I said my ideal for 2017 was to put my writing life first. I don’t feel like I really achieved this, to be honest. But I did take a few steps towards it.

The main thing I did was to change day jobs. The one I was doing up until May was completely wiping me out mentally, not leaving much time to read or write. Since then I’ve been through phases of productivity, but I wouldn’t say I’m back in a proper routine. I have, however, bought a wall planner…

And according to Goodreads I managed to average just over a book a week, which isn’t too shabby. In 2017 I read 54 books. 34 of these were by women, 18 by men, 2 (The Good Immigrant and Error) by a mixture of both. Only 10 were by writers of colour so that’s something to work on for 2018. 7 were non-fiction, something else to work on. 2 were poetry, which feels about right.  

How did I do?

My 2016 resolutions were to:

Query some agents. I queried one, so that’s kind of a tick. I’ve not had a response.

Finish that YA dystopia. I did not remotely do that. But I did write a lot more of my Obsidian Buttress series…

Make more comics and videos. I started a few. I need to get the hang of finishing. This is going back on the list for 2018.

Get back to blogging more consistently. I published 21 posts, which is better than 2016’s paltry 14 but not exactly setting the world on fire. (Having said that, my new day job involves writing and editing a lot of blog posts and I’ve done pure loads on there…)

Keep a paper journal for a year in an old school sort of way. Gave up in April, as is traditional.

Get to more networking events like open mics and Lit Salon. I actually got invited to speak at the latter so that’s a tick, sort of. I went to a few. They were alright.

What Does Success Look Like?

As ever, there is room for improvement, but that’s sort of what life is about innit. I’m not looking back on the last 12 months and feeling like it was a total waste of time.

To be honest I feel like I’ve spent a lot of 2017 in limbo, waiting for things to happen that haven’t quite come about. I have had some very lovely times, mostly involving friends and family, and I have had some less lovely times involving stress and anxiety.

I imagine 2018 will be more of the same, because that seems to be what adult life is all about. Still, I am quite looking forward to pressing the mental reset button at midnight, after a few beverages with my loved ones.

Happy New Year to you, and may 2018 be full of whatever it is you want it to be full of.