Musing About 2012, Looking Ahead to 2013

As this year ends and a new one begins, it's an opportunity to simultaneously look back and look forward. That's no small task, as a year holds immense possibility.  The way I see it, 2012 had 366 days, which means there were at least 366 opportunities to do something life changing.  In the year 2013, there will be 365 more opportunities.  If I look at the coming year in this way, I may be proactive in the way I need to be.

I started blogging on January 9th of 2012, and since then I've gone from a virtual no one to having nearly 200 followers.I can't wait to reach that milestone!  I've written just a tad over 300 posts.  This is my 301st post, in fact.  All in all, I don't think that's too shabby.

I'm also rounding out this year with a brand new blog, which is appropriate for the start to a new year.  Thanks to Tara Tyler for designing it for me, and thanks to David Powers King for hosting the blog fest that allowed me to win such a great prize!

I started writing flash fiction in May, and since then, it's become a weekly thing. I post new flash fiction each Friday, and now I also post Five Sentence Fiction on a weekly basis as well. Doing these things forces me to write even when I don't feel like it.  And it's crucial to be able to push past those slow days if you want to be a successful writer.  At least, that's what I hear.  A lot of my fiction has actually been serialized and shared, with the world in flash fiction length snippets.  Through doing this, I've learned a lot about pacing, plotting, and the necessity of letting the story take you where it wants to go.

Of course, when you set goals for yourself, there's always the possibility of setbacks.  I set the goal of self-publishing a book in 2012, but I still haven't done it.  Don't get me wrong.  I have plenty of it ready to go.  I simply underestimated the demands of life at home.  Oh well.  I still intend to achieve this goal.  It'll have to happen in 2013.  The only time you fail is when you give up entirely.  I refuse to quit.

I know that the calendar is largely arbitrary.  Yes, we make our calendar years equal to the amount of time it takes to go around the sun, and that's a smart system to use.  Yet, we could have kept the year the same length and decided the new year began in July.  It would be all the same in that sense.  And similarly, there's no real reason to decide the beginning of the new year is a chance for a fresh start.  That's a meaning we attach to the new year.  As human beings, we're great at filling things with meaning.  We celebrate holidays and anniversaries because we attach meaning to them.

Even so, as a writer, I attach significance to fictional events in a similar way.  In a way, filling things with meaning is what I do.  So, in that respect, I am more than allowed to be retrospective at this particular time.

For now, my goals for the coming year are simple.  I hope to keep up with my blogging, accomplish the goals I didn't complete in 2012, spend time with my family, and keep writing!  I hope my muse sticks with me for another year.

What do you hope to do in 2013?