Changing Goals is OK!
When I started out 2021 I had hopes of making this year better, writing-wise, than 2020. I think, for all of us, 2020 was a year we wish never happened and most of us want to put it behind us. The best way to do that is to pick ourselves up the best we can, dust ourselves off, and start all over again. But this time with a new determination and fire NOT to let what we cannot control dictate what we KNOW we can and ought to be doing. At least, that's how I intended to approach 2021.
I put together my BUJO (Bullet Journal), I gave careful thought to my goals. Scaling back where I knew I just wouldn't be able to meet expectations. But life isn't ever what we want or expect it to be. Moods change, seasons change, circumstances change. And we inevitably grow along with those changes. I am not the same person I was a year ago, let alone just 6 months ago. The world is changing so rapidly it's hard to believe any of us can still be the same people we were.
By the end of February I felt...not a burn out (per say) but a change. The thrill I used to get from writing short stories just wasn't there anymore. I can attribute this change in me to many factors, many of them too vast and personal to divulge here. But one thing was for certain; I just wasn't feelin' the short game anymore. The itch to write a novel has been itchin' me bad. I need to do something about it. I need to change my own narrative for 2021.
But before I could do that, admit this to myself. I needed to first come to terms with (yet again) not finishing a goal I set out to do. Blaming 2020 on my inability to complete last years goals was easy. No one could argue that point. We all needed to not beat ourselves up about it as the world drastically changed before our eyes. This year, the world is still changing vastly and by all accounts it will likely never be as it was. So controlling what I can has become important to me. Setting a goal and keeping it has become a lifeline to me saying, "you got this and outside forces can't change that." So, what does it mean if two months into the year I'm already "giving up?"
Well, if you are having similar doubts or feelings about your goals as March nears its end, I'm here to tell you IT'S OK! Not only that, but having the ability to recognize you aren't the same person (for whatever reason) and therefore making those necessary adjustments is the best thing you can do for yourself. It will serve no purpose to force yourself to do something your heart just isn't 1,000% into anymore. You'll come out having completed the goal but will any of it be good or up to what you know you could have accomplished had you just admitted you wanted to do something else?
I'm OK with my decision to stop writing short stories and switch gears back to novel writing. I left it nearly three years ago to enter a journey of writing short stories and I don't regret the decision I made at the time. In fact, I'm sure I'll return to writing short stories because I feel I am good at it and it's a great exercise in storytelling for any aspiring writer.
In the coming months I'll share more about my decision, what I'm working on, and what the second quarter of 2021 will look like. But for now, if you want to get access to my work as I write it, the best way is to become a PATRON of mine. For just $2 a month you'll get to read my unedited chapters, behind the scenes look at how I create characters, build worlds, and so much more! Your contribution would mean the world to me and my desire to never give up on my dream of being a storyteller.