Something about the approach of Jan. 1 makes us set goals and resolutions and make plans and bold proclamations.
I have begun to shift back toward keeping my goals and resolutions to myself, without proclaiming them. There’s something to be said about the idea that revealing one’s plans releases some of the tension that is better released in the direction of finishing the project.
I started my blog writing streak deliberately but without telling the world what I was doing until after I had built up some momentum.
A few days ago I wrote the first two chapters of a five-chapter novelette that I had been mapping in my mind for more years than I can remember. I thought about posting them immediately, but I’ve come to realize that sharing prematurely expends some of the creative energy that is best spent creating.
So do I tell what I’m hoping to accomplish in 2023? Or do I just accomplish it?
Is it more important just to keep writing, and not have a specific quantity in mind — not “I’ll aim to write a short story a week, a novelette every month, a novella every two months, four novels in the space of the year”?
And why am I having these thoughts on Dec. 27? Why didn’t I set goals and resolutions and make plans on June 11, to pick a random date? After all, my blog streak began one Aug. 1, so why does anything besides 2023 have to begin on Jan. 1?
Instead of getting down to planning, maybe the best course is to get down to doing.