IWSG Day, Goals, Top Ten & Steady

Happy IWSG Day! It’s the first IWSG bloghop of the year. And with many more to come, every first Wednesday of the month. Thanks for bringing us together to share our writing highs and lows goes to ninja extraordinaire Alex Cavanaugh.

The co-hosts for the January 4th posting of the IWSG are: Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin!

Interested in joining us? Click on the badge above. Our Twitter hashtag and handle are #IWSG and @TheIWSG.

So, what’s going on with me this month?

Well, I’ve decided to once again use the method used in NaNoWriMo 2022. Use a random wheel. I’ll be treating each month like a mini writing challenge. As I’m a turtle writer, I’ll be taking things slow and steady, setting my monthly word count goals to 5k words. I’ll be working on 9 WIPs, short stories and novellas, giving them three days each of my undivided attention. So that’s 166 words for 30 days. Until one by one and by mid-year half of the WIPs are fully drafted and edited. Polished and ready for submission or publication. Will decide what to do about novels and how many days to give them my focus going forward. For now, I’ll be working on the first randomly chosen WIP, “Love Lines.” The first novella in the WIP paranormal romance collection.

To help, I also recently purchased a new writing guide. Blank Page to Final Draft by Bryn Donovan. Already have and love Master List for Writers thesaurus by the same author and writer. So I think these two paired together would be a great help.

Anyways, it’s a new year but as for a new me, that’ll take a slow and steady effort as well. It’s not enough to eat better and exercise more. I have to find a lifestyle that suits me best in reaching my health and weight loss goals. Like eating less carbs and sugar. And doing more low impact, joint friendly exercises for 30 minutes and more.

Steadily.

Credit image: Total Shape/pixabay

Now, I can’t start the new year without going over last year’s most popular posts. So here’s the top ten posts of 2022!

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  10) IWSG Day & Once You Do NaNoWriMo At 27 views, it’s the first time this post makes it onto the top ten. Plus it introduces my first ever WIP random wheel. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2022/11/02/iwsg-day-once-you-do-nanowrimo/

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  9) IWSG Day & Getting Back on Track At 32 views, this post is another making it to the top 10 for the first time. This post talks about trying to get back on the writing bandwagon. Sigh, if only I came up with the random writing wheel months earlier.

  IWSG Day & Getting Back On Track

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  8) My Source of Inspiration… At 33 views, posted in 2015, this post is no stranger to the top ten. In this post I feature poetry snippets and photos I created using Canva. I called it phoetry. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/photo-poetry/

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  7) Responsibility, a poem At 36 views, written in 2015, this post is my first attempt at an erasure poem. A poem I created as part of an online poetry class. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/responsibility-a-poem/

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  6) How to Write an Erasure (Blackout) Poem At 39 views, this post is another familiar top ten post. In this post, I feature another type of erasure poem. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2020/01/20/how-to-write-an-erasure-blackout-poem/

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  5) To Love Triangle or Not to Love Triangles? At 46 views, I talk about a popular romance trope, the love triangle. If you’re an Asian drama fan like I am, you see this trope a lot. I also ask my readers their thoughts about the trope. Do they love it? Hate it? https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/to-love-triangles-or-not-to-love-triangles/

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  4) How to Have a Successful #IWSGPit At 159 views, this post is about IWSG first Twitter pitch event. Once again, I won’t be taking part in it, but I’ll be cheering for those who are. Don’t miss this year’s #IWSGPit on January 25, 2023. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/how-to-have-a-successful-iwsgpit/

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  3) Six Reasons Why You Should Read The Hunger Games At 291 views, for Banned Books Week, I reviewed and counter-listed the reasons why The Hunger Games should be read. https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/six-reasons-why-you-should-read-the-hunger-games-a-banned-book-review/

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  2) How to Write an Erasure Poem At 427 views, in this post I provide a simple step by step guide in writing an erasure poem. Want to give it a try? https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/erasure-poem/

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  and drumroll please…

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  1) 5 Reasons Why Neville Longbottom is Just As Cool & Inspiring as Harry Potter At 732 views, this is the third time this post made #1 in the top ten. Although the views dropped from last year’s, this post is still the highest viewed post of all time. Congratulations! https://pavingmyauthorsroad.wordpress.com/2016/07/30/5-reasons-why-neville-longbottom-is-just-as-cool-inspiring-as-harry-potter/

January 4 question – Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year? For instance, in 2021 my word of the year was Finish. I was determined to finished my first draft by the end of the year. In 2022, my word of the year is Ease. I want to get my process, systems, finances, and routines where life flows with ease and less chaos. What is your word for 2023? Why?

My word of 2023 is steady. Even used the word 3-4 times in this post. I used to make big goals I wanted to do but would feel disappointed when I failed to meet them. I was trying to take too much on so that I can reach my long term goals faster. And it didn’t work. Recently, I’ve come to realize that I’m more likely to reach my goals by doing smaller, short term goals. And doing them steadily. Staying steady is the way to go for me. 

What’s going on with you this month? What are your goals for 2023? Do you have a word of the year?

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