Sunday, January 01, 2012

A More Specific Beginning

Beginnings are one of my favorite things. The beginning of a week (Sunday, people, Sunday), the beginning of a month, and especially the beginning of a year. And today happens to be all three of those. Why do I like beginnings so much? I'm explained it before so I won't waste words.
"...everything is suddenly fresh, like everything has been wiped clean and I can just start over. It also sort of feels like a jumping off point."
-A Hopeful Beginning (January 1, 2011)
Of course, beginnings lead to endings (right after middles) lead to beginnings. And seeing as the post quoted above was a beginning and this post is a beginning, an ending had to occur in there somewhere. The ending of 2011. With that ending comes the fact that the year to accomplish the resolutions I expressed last New Year's is over. Before I move on to 2012, I would like to wrap up all things 2011.

I will be using the same format I used at my Midway Point report.
  1. I will write everyday. I didn't do this. I didn't even build up to doing this. However, I have greatly improved my writing habits. With The Chrysalis Experiment I have managed to write every week excluding a few in the summer. With NaPoWriMo and NaNoWriMo I wrote everyday in April and November. And with Camp NaNoWriMo I wrote the majority of days in August. B
  2. I will write a blog post or in my journal every day. I'm just going to give up on the journal. I've never been able to keep a steady one going and I hate what comes out when I write in them. Journaling just isn't for me. Blogging is more my style and, while I haven't done it everyday, I have erected a schedule for every third day (even if I kind of fell of the wagon the last month or so). Also, I have 169 posts for this year, just shy of a post every two days. B-
  3. I will learn to vlog. I made two videos the whole year. Two. And only one of them was a vlog. I tried to make another video, but I failed because I didn't have the right editing software or knowledge. Editing is very essential to making good videos, vlogs or otherwise. D
  4. I will become more organized with when and what I write (or edit). I really don't know how to assess how I did for this one. At the beginning of the year, I was pretty persistent and organized about how I "edited" THINKING OF YOU. I knew when I was going to write poetry (NaPoWriMo) and when I wanted to focus on a solitary project (ie. Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo). But, I don't think I really accomplished what I was going for. C
  5. I will become better at critiquing others work. Not only am I still a part of the blog Unicorn Bell that I mentioned at my Midway Point report, I also have two new critique partners. Steph Sinkhorn and Christina Bejjani. A
  6. I will not give in to peer pressure or do anything that I don't want to do (excusing homework assignments). Haven't experienced any serious peer pressure. N/A
I suppose I didn't do too terribly bad, but I won't dwell on it. Instead I'm going to take those mistakes and achievements and move on into 2012 by jumping straight into my goals with a vlog stating this year's New Year's Resolutions!

And for those that can't see the video:
  1. I will have THINKING OF YOU ready for query. I need to get serious about my writing. I'm focusing on one project, part of that whole "organized" thing. This is the project I chose because I know what direction I want to go with it and I feel closest to it right now. As an add on to this goal, I also want to have a brief outline of the sequels.
  2. I will have two new first drafts. One from Camp NaNoWriMo (probably doing August) and one from NaNoWriMo (November). One being my untitled princess close story (which I've mentioned once) and the other being a dystopian based around marriage. I wrote two new first drafts in 2011, I can do it again.
  3. I will win National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). I haven't written much poetry since I did this last year, unless you count FOREVER, FROG. I really enjoy poetry and want to get back into it, plus this definitely helps with writing habits.
  4. I will submit at least two short stories to anthologies and/or contests. Last year, I submitted my first Chrysalis story to an anthology. I rushed into it, forgot to put a title in my email and used a casual email address. I also entered a contest hosted by Seventeen magazine. This one I put a bit of thought into and I feel like it's turning out much better. It's still going on (my entry here and instructions on how to vote here). I want to continue to do these things and to put myself out there.
  5. I will read at least one hundred books. I've talked before about how many unread books I have. That number hasn't gone down (quite the opposite in fact) and I would really like it to. I will be using GoodReads to keep track of this goal.
  6. I will post at least one vlog a month. This is a more specific goal than last year's and, I feel, easier to keep track of. I've already started on this particular resolution. -pokes video above-
  7. I will exercise. I talked about my lack of muscle in my summer's goals post and since then we have obtained a Kinect. Exercising while playing games is way funner. Those dancing games really burn after a while. This is my more personal goal.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?

10 comments:

  1. Two of my more personal goals are: 1) to do more exercise, and that involves going for walks by the beach on each weekend day, and keeping up with at least one yoga class per week and 2) sorting out at least 100 of my digital photos each week. haha. I also have to sort out all the crap I have lying around my house, which will involve using my scanner to scan documents and then throw them away. But I haven't really figured out how to do this yet. I think I'll just be devoting a few hours a week to it. But before I really get into it I need to buy myself a new external hard drive. Which requires money. Which requires at least a few more pays. haha

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  2. I love your goals for this year! And yeah, I am aiming to read a fair bit this year too, more than last year, but not going overboard with my aims. I would probably fail if I did that!

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  3. Your vlog is very cute, hehe! I haven't done any of those myself...I've thought about it. But I'd probably find it too difficult to 'edit' myself while talking, and then bad words would come out. lol

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  4. Great goals, and so specific! That means you're more likely to meet your goals. Those obtuse goals (lose 10 pounds) don't get people anywhere. The more specific, the better. Best wishes to you in 2012!

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  5. Great list Brooke. You are pretty amazing and smart. I honestly think you can accomplish this and much more easily if you set your mind to it. I love the vlog thing. That way you can reach a wider audience if the video happens to go viral on YouTube and bam...instant celebrity.

    I'm also going to be exercising more. Writers tend to live unhealthy lifestyles because we are sedentary. That's not good.

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  6. Great resolutions, Brooke. You seem very determined and I'm sure you'll achieve a lot in 2012. That's weird that my posts weren't showing up for you- maybe it was because I changed my url? Anyway thanks for stopping by and good luck with your goals for this year.

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  7. Yay for goals! I'm sure you'll do awesome this year.

    As for vlogs ... you are brave to even put 2 out there! I'm not sure if I could ever do one! lol :)

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  8. @Trisha I guess that's why they're goals for the whole year. ^^ I have heard that it's a good idea to keep hard copies of important documents as well as digitized ones. That way if something ever happens to your digital versions, you still have a copy.

    My first initial goal was 200, which would clear my whole TBR list, plus any I might add, but I decided that was too "overboard" as you said.

    Yeah... It took me three starts. I didn't edit this one since I still haven't entirely figured it out. I just had to get it all right with one take.

    @E. R. King That was one of the lessons I took from last year's goals. ^^ Hope your year has started out wonderfully.

    @Michael I could accomplish more, but I'm trying to relieve my stress levels. They've been high since August. I'm trying to teach myself that I'm young and I have plenty of time to get everything done, but I have pretty bad anxiety so it's not so easy. I doubt anything of mine will go viral. XD

    Really, I think even if I wasn't a writer I would need to exercise more. It's who I am. XD

    @Tizzy Yes, that might be it. I'm caught up now anyway.

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting. ^^

    @Chantele Thank you. ^^ I hope we all do awesome.

    I'm still learning how to talk to a camera... and not flinch when I hear myself talk.

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  9. Brooke, your next post should focus on what you did instead of what you didn't do. Your blog is full of writing experiments--short stories, beginnings. And writing everyday for two months is HUGE.

    Writing on your blog everyday is hard. First of all, less readers per post. Second, less creativity to post. As for vlogs, they scare me when I think of doing them, so I don't expect it from anyone else.

    I'm going to send you an e-mail forward with all these links to a bunch of great contests. Good luck!

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  10. I thought I kind of mixed both in on this post in a fair evaluation, but, you know, maybe that would make me feel better. ^^

    You do have points there (especially creativity wise), which is why I've decided to stick to my every third day schedule. ^^

    Thank you so much for the links!

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