ISWG: January ~ Happy New Year, 2020 Goals, and The Start of My Writing Journey

All writers are insecure at various times throughout their writing journey and I'm definitely no different. So I've joined in on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. The 1st Wednesday of each month I'll post about the insecurities I've been struggling with and/or conquered, and answer that month's IWSG question.

Happy New  Year!

It's the start of a new year AND a new decade. Does this mean the new goals need to be extra special? Because we need that extra pressure, right?!

I'm a goal oriented person, meaning, I wonder aimlessly without something to work toward. I know, depending on the goal, that I might not make it in the time frame planned, but I also know I won't accomplish anything at all without the goal in mind.

A good example are my 2019 goals:
Publish Diomere's Healer ~ check
Finish writing Diomere's Mercenary ~ check
Lose 20lbs ~ check
Finish writing book 1 of my rock star romance series ~ FAIL. *sigh*

3 out of 4 isn't bad and I knew going in that the list was ambitious for me, but without it none of these things would have happened at all. And that's what I tell that voice in the back of my head that tries to tell me I failed because I didn't get all everything on my list accomplished.

We goal oriented folks are so hard on ourselves.

So on to 2020! Despite that it's a new decade as well as a new year, I'm reining in my need to go big with my goals. I know me, I know my schedule, and I know how disappointed I'll be if I accomplish less than I did in 2019, SO my 2020 goals are:

Publish Diomere's Mercenary
Write Diomere's Siren
Write the last half of Berezan's Sacrifice
Lose another 10 lbs.

How about you? Did you accomplish all your 2019 goals? If not, do you beat  yourself up over it like me? What is your most important goal for 2020? (NOTE: if you don't see a comment box, click "View Original Post" at the end of this blog entry.)

ISWG Question of the Month:

What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher/coach/spouse/friend/parent? Did you just "know" suddenly you wanted to write?

I actually never even dreamed of writing until I was about 28. Two things inspired this dream: I read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy AND I met my friend Ang, who was writing her first book. I've always been an avid reader, but in my mind my favorite authors were these god-like creatures with super-human imaginations. However, after reading the last book of the Mistborn trilogy, I SO badly wanted to be able to make people feel like I did at that moment. I wished so hard I could be as "special" as I believed authors were. Then I met my friend, Ang. She was like me... a stay-at-home-mom. Yet SHE was working on writing her first book. If this friend, an ordinary mom and wife like me, could write a book, then why couldn't I? I started writing that day and everything finally clicked. I'd found my thing and I haven't looked back. That was 9  years ago and I now have 3 novellas and 2 novels published, with a 3rd novel set to publish this year. I'm living my dream.

Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating in ISWG each month by clicking on the Linky List below.