There is something about this time of year that encourages reflection. It is normal to want to spend a moment or two reviewing the year that was and thinking about plans and hopes for the year ahead. This pocket of reflection allows for consideration of personal and professional goals, and it is good to be able to think about what has been accomplished. It is easy to get caught up in the doing sometimes.
Lately I have been enjoying various posts from some of my favourite bloggers about their blog and book highlights of 2017. At times it can feel that there is so much content out there that it is hard to simply stop and revisit those snippets of writing that really had an impact throughout the year, and the recaps of popular posts are a handy reminder. Some of my favourite book bloggers have posted about a year in first lines (including Whispering Gums and Lisa Hill) which makes me think about the year in reading.
But what of my own year in writing?
A couple of months back I sat down with a notebook and thought about how I was travelling with my writing. I took into account what I had written, what I considered finished and what I still wanted to write. It didn’t take long to assess where I was, or to plan out what I would like to write in the short to medium term, but I found it to be a worthwhile exercise. It can be easy to get caught up in the doing and to lose a sense of direction.
This quick check-in helped to refocus my attention on the areas that I wanted to work on. It is not a one-off event, nor should it be yearly. It is something that I need to do on a regular basis, especially when I feel that I am creating but not completing, or maybe not even creating and I need to revisit what I have already done to help cheer me on for the next phase.
How often do you check in with your creative goals?
[Photo: some of the many signs at Portland, NSW]
jml297 
Hello, thank you for your kind words about my little blog:)
I’m a different kind of writer to you, so my writing goals are quite vague. Probably because I’ve never been much good at goals … when I was teaching there were endless fads for ‘teacher improvement’ but they nearly always included having goals (which naturally had to line up with those of The Powers That Be). I would write them in February and forget about them entirely till my review in December. I was not alone – we were all in a mad scramble to find ways in which we’d done whatever it was we said we’d do!
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My pleasure, Lisa, and thanks for inspiring me to read more books and to consider books that otherwise would have passed me by. Goal setting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and there are few things less inspiring than having to do it because you’re told to! I bet there was a burst of creative thinking in December each year to align the actual work to the goals set in February 😊
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Er, yes, there was. But we got smarter as the years went by and learned to write goals with what we thought was important anyway:)
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Thanks for the mention, jml. I’m glad our posts spurred you onto your own reflections. You’re right about its not having to be annual either!
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My pleasure, and thanks for all of the wonderful book suggestions over the past year and for providing inspiration for ever more reading!
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Thanks for the reminder to look at the big picture regularly. I think of it as my compass. I also keep a daily writing journal where anything can go in here. A joke. A phrase. A story idea. The name of a character that rings true. Good luck with your writing in 2018.
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Thank you, Bill, and all the best for your endeavours in the year ahead.
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