Young Writers Society

The new year and decade will be here in only a couple of weeks! It's wild to think that 2019 is almost over, and that 2020 is about to begin in the very near future. But before it does, what do you want to accomplish in the upcoming year? Do you have any major resolutions you want to hold yourself to? And, if you do, do you have any plans for how you're going to get them done?

I'm not sure I'm ready to make resolutions for the upcoming decade, but I'm definitely ready to make some resolutions for the upcoming year.




♦ I want to study more. I spent the majority of the last semester studying the day before my exams. I managed to get by, but I don't want to just get by in my classes. I want to excel in them. I want to dedicate more time to studying several days before my assessments.

♦ I want to do more on campus. I want to attend more activities and officially join a club. I went to some of the literary magazine's open mics and readings, but it's not a club you can actually join unless you're an editor.

♦ I want to spend more time with my college friends. I made sure to see my friends that lived on campus, but I didn't see them nearly as much as I could have. I'd love to change that next semester and next year.




♦ I want to review more. One of my favorite things about my early days on YWS was how much I reviewed. I don't think I can ever return to the reviewing powerhouse I was back then, but I'd love to be a more frequent reviewer.

♦ I want to make more storybooks. I don't really have any active ones right now, and I'm desperately in need of some new ones.

♦ I want to make more roleplays. Are you really surprised?

♦ I want to get my next review star. With forty-one reviews left until I get it, it shouldn't be that hard to get my hands on a third blue star.

♦ I want to move up on the forum posting leaderboards. I'm currently 7th place for the most forum posts, but I want to at least move up on one spot. And it would be cool to beat @Rydia and @Nate while I'm at it...




♦ I want to write another novel. Specifically, I want to write Alice and Van's novel. I'd also love to write the first draft during my winter break, but I know things don't always work out like I want them to.

♦ I want to write the second draft of my podcast, and possibly start recording it. It still needs a lot of work, but I know I can make it happen if I try hard enough!

♦ I want to write more installments to my "not quite canon" series. That's the series the Batfam fic I wrote and finished is a part of. I have other stories I need to tell in that universe, and I really want to get them out in the next year.




♦ I want to treat my body better. I want to eat healthier, take better care of my skin, and just get some more sleep. It's basic stuff that I strive to do all of the time, but sometimes I need a reminder to treat me better.

♦ I want to take better care of myself mentally. Being on break has made me realize that I've spent a lot of my free time focusing on one specific project. Unsurprisingly, that leads to burnout. It also has the nasty side effect of making me forget how I used to spend my free time before college started. With the next year and the rest of my winter break coming up, I want to add some variety in my life. I do want to get work done, but not at the cost of my happiness.

Alright, I'm rewriting this for the third time, but whatever.

I want to read, actually read, something, anything, to take a break from technology and stressing over classes. Just a book a month would be great, so twelve by the end of the year.

I also want to write, actually write something that I can call my own and be proud of at least writing something. Writing twenty minutes a day would be lovely to keep up for at least a majority of the days of this next year.

I also want to sleep, so I need to get a lot better of a sleep schedule for this next year, especially because I'm going to wake up earlier in the morning cause my classes start at 8:35 and not 10:10 this last semester.

Besides that, I dunno, be less stressed about other people, be more open to doing stuff with friends, and probably be either more or less on yws in general. I need to be productive when I'm on here XD. So, maybe a review goal of 350 to be modest, but preferably closer to to 450 in actuality.

My New Year & Decade Resolutions & Goals!

1. Improve my writing
Even though I'm a good writer, I always make that a resolution for every new year. (Good writers keep on perfecting their craft you know) This year I plan to work on my character characterization, development, and dynamics. (Memorable characters here I come!)

2. Get my Flash Novel published
For those of you who didn't know, I finally completed a six chapter story that I'm calling a Flash Novel, and this year I will have it edited and published.

3. Improve myself
This is another goal or resolution I always have every year. I'm not perfect (and as you all may have noticed I don't pretend to be), but every one can improve upon themselves. This year I plan to work on my self-control (it's been almost nonexistent this year), and grow in confidence. Yes, even though I've been called Little Miss Confidence before, everyone can learn to become more courageous, and I still have room for improvement in that department.

4. Improve my knowledge of science (maybe even explore some new sciences), particularly Astrophysics, Astronomy, Cosmology, the sciences I will forever love, and grow in my understanding Philosophy, and Theology. (I love thinking and contemplating deep mysteries)

5. Work on my animating, voice acting, and singing skills
This year, I recently got into animation, voice acting, and singing, I plan to grow and improve in those areas and I am currently working on my first animation. (Complete with voice acting and music)

6. Work in my compassion
As compassionate as I am, I can't shake of the fact that deep down, I really don't feel emotion, and usually I just don't care about anything. I'm just quick with words, and I'm good at acting like I'm not psychopathic. But this year, (this decade!) all of that will change, and I'll reconnect with my humanity.
That's it for now folks!

Libby's 2020 New Year's Resolution

- Be more focused. I've noticed that's a very big issue I have and usually leads me to not finishing my things on time, is literally me being unfocused.
- Finish things on time. Stop being unfocused, and you got two goals with one shot.
- Don't wait for the deadline, because you know you'll miss it. Always happens. This past month, I've been missing deadline after deadline. I don't know what's gotten into me.
- For God's sake, don't procrastinate. Please.
- Work on scheduling yourself properly. Another thing I'm really bad at is time management. I don't want to make a minute by minute schedule, because that way, I'll feel mentally and maybe even physically suffocated. Instead I want to make a schedule that I can follow and that I'll feel comfortable following.


- Review more. I admit I have been very lazy about reviewing nowadays, so I definitely want to make that up this year.
- Get two more stars. That would mean 125 more reviews... Hey that's not too bad. I can do 125 in 366 days.
- Team Tortoise. I cannot even explain to you how badly I've been wanting to do it. It's the limited amount of time, I swear, that holds me back.
- Make it to 125 on the leaderboard. Currently at 195. Also, that doesn't seem like an impossible task. I'll be reviewing my fingers off, anyway.
- Make a roleplay. Everytime I think of an idea, my mind casually wanders over making short stories instead. So one day, hopefully, this year, I'll make a roleplay.


- Control your emotions. I mean, I'm not afraid to have emotions, it's just that I very easily gte upset, irritated, angry, etc. It's very frustrating. I'll have to figure something out for that.

(That's my only goal for myself. If I fix that, maybe everything else will get better too.)


- Finish Unlucky 13. I'm basically almost done my novel, and I'm so close to finishing up draft 1. Hopefully I'll start draft 2 in the summer after a nice long break.
- Write more poems and narrative. I really am not a poemish person, or a narrative person, but a writer has to experience all forms of her art, am I right?
- Keep up #20in20. I really want to keep writing every day, even if it's a goddamn essay, but it's writing and I need to do it.

not sure what im gonna do next year,,, come on guys, I don't have 20/20 vision

oh, i'm so sorry

This upcoming year I'll be 16 and be finishing up my sophomore year in the spring and entering my junior year.

EDUCATION:

• Maintain a 4.0 GPA. This is my most important educational goal, and it's something I'm confident I can achieve if I manage my time well, study smart, and work hard.
• Develop smart study habits. While I'd already consider myself fairly good at studying, I really want to take the time to figure out what works best for me and how to work smarter instead of harder to achieve good grades.
• Take the PSAT & begin studying for the SAT. While the SAT is becoming less of a big deal in college applications, I've set some pretty high goals for myself in that area and need to start working on that in 2021 even though I likely won't take the SAT until 2021.
• Take between 2-3 AP classes. This will increase my workload, but I'm hoping to be more challenged in my courses, raise my GPA, get some college credits, and show potential colleges I'm capable of handling tough courses.

WORK:

• Continue working ~18 hours a week during school weeks and pick up more hours over the summer Working has helped me manage my time better, which is an important skill to have before entering college and the workforce, and it's also allowing me to not be limited by finances. I want to be able to attend the school that's best for me even if tuition is steep, and have the financial resources to prepare for the SAT and excel in school.
• Ask (and hopefully receive!) a raise. Not only will this help me out financially, but it'll be a good exercise in assertiveness and help prepare me for the "real world".

WRITING:

• Finish the current draft of my novel. Previously, I've scrapped ideas as soon as I hit a roadblock, but I think that I've polished the skeleton of this idea enough to at least finish it.
• Revise a full novel. That's something I've never done before but a necessary step for an author.
• Write 30 poems. I've been looking to write some more poetry, and 30 seems like a fairly strong baseline number; that's 2.5 per month. Hopefully I exceed that, but I don't want to creatively strangle myself by putting myself under too much pressure.
• Write 100 reviews. While this is a more modest goal, I want to have something achievable and reasonable for 2020. If I somehow find time to do even more than this, that'd be awesome, but 100 reviews seems like a good starting point. It would get me one more blue star to add to my name!
• Write/revise some articles for YWS. This is a great way for me to expand my writing skills and also contribute to YWS!

PERSONAL:

• Start reading my Bible more. This is an area I've slacked off in, but it's made such an impact on my life and I want to make it more a part of my life.
• Take better care of my mental health. I want to put a greater emphasis on focusing on my life right here and right now, rather than completely focusing on the future. I also want to make sure I leave time for myself to relax so that I don't burn out. Finally, I want to continue going to therapy until I feel like I'm at a place where my mental health is stable and healthy.
• Make hard choices for good results. This will manifest in a lot of ways, like leaving old environments for new and better opportunities. While it will be undoubtedly hard, it will lead to doors being opened that will make my life better.
• Make deliberate room for family and friends. These past few months, I've struggled with feeling isolated and lonely. I'm hoping to be more deliberate about putting aside school, work, and other responsibilities to spend some time with family and friends.
• Make some new friends! My feeling of being disconnected and lacking deep, personal connections with people is undoubtedly contributing to my poor mental health, so I'm hoping to make some new connections and maybe repair some old ones.
• Get my driver's permit/license. This is something I've looked forward to for a long time, both for the age milestone and the independence that accompanies it. I'm doubtful I'll be in the financial position to get my own car (not to mention I really don't want to have to pay for repairs, gas, and insurance on my own), but who knows?

This is a pretty long list, but I'm confident I can achieve all of these goals if I'm meaningful and deliberate! 2020, here I come!

I guess we're claiming a spot? First resolution is to figure out my resolutions haha.

Writing/YWS
-Get my gosh darn unicorn (I am just 55 Green Room reviews away!
-Write more consistently (I made a hashtag thing called #15in15 in 2015...maybe do "#20in20"?
-Finish my LMS project and then never write about that guy again ever
-Make the last NaPo of my 20's really count.

Health
-I'm stuck with this gym membership, so I really really need to go more often
-Keep a consistent sleep schedule so I'm not a wreck all the time at work
-Figure out how to deal with anxiety better
-Change diet maybe? My mom now swears by keto, but I think that's too restrictive for long term. A nutritionist did suggest lower carb intake for me, though, so I could look into that more.

Social Life
-Stop being so darn weird at trivia and cut the negativity. Try listening to people more. Also quit using the phone as a crutch.
-Get on some dating apps and go on an actual date. I don't want to be sitting here 10 years from now almost 40 and alone because I was too scared to even try.

Career/Money
-I need to either negotiate a better contract at my current job or leave for something better. I feel like I have to figure out what I want first, but this state of constantly being broke and taking money from my parents is not working.
-Need to figure out what I want in a career. Do I want to go back to my old field? Do something different? I have no clue.
-Figure out a better budget so I don't have to struggle so much. Also ties back to health thing because buying crap food at work is expensive.

I got this article in my inbox this morning. I've always really liked this writer and I think he makes a lot of really great points.

Beyond that, I want to do less specific resolutions and more just try to be a better person. Get out of my own head, work hard, pay it forward. Don't beat myself up when I make a mistake. Make my art. Be better with money. Take a trip if I can. Stand up for myself. Finally finish my novel. Keep living.

first can I just note that some of you have really beautifully formatted resolutions!

2019 Review
I had a really solid set of resolutions for 2019 -> here.
Checking them over I am really proud with how much better my reflecting & goal setting has gotten in the last year, and I hope I can continue to do weekly & monthly goal setting because that was useful last year. The majority of my resolutions from last year though, I can carry over to 2020.



Writing & YWS
* My biggest goal is just to submit more poetry to competitions and publications, I submitted quite a few poems in the second half of 2019 without any luck, and I think this is something I'd like to get into again.

* Keep writing poetry with some regularity - for me poetry is really healthy for processing and just a time to enjoy thinking? I definitely feel happier and more productive when I set aside a little time each week to write, so I want to make sure that I'm not spending 99% of my time on YWS doing nonsense, but more like 50% actually working on improving my writing.

* Write more songs! This is something I got into a bit at the end of the year, and something I previously thought that I was basically incapable of, I want to continue to practice and get better at writing lyrics.

* Clean up my academic writing & finally get around to submitting for publication! I have 2 or 3 articles that I've been working on for about 4 years now, I want to take another chance at writing and editing on some of those and get them submitted or at least run them by some of my mentors and professors to get more feedback on them before graduation.

* As far as my on-site activity, I'd say I want to spend less time on YWS (and social media in general) because too much of anything is not good, and I think I'd actually enjoy the site more if I was on less. But I'm hoping I can remain active in Squills and reviewing and KotGR and also host more contests, write-ins & workshops. I am really hoping the site remains active enough for those things to continue as well.

Edit: I thought about what I want to accomplish writing-wise this year and here's what I came up with for more concrete goals.

Concrete Writing Goals
Academic Project
- at least 1000 words academic writing a week
- finish project by end of April
- work on submissions in May

Poetry
- write at least 1 poem a week
- submit poetry to at least 1 contest a month
- set topic for poetry project in March
- write towards project in April
- stop writing "new poems" in May to work on edits

School & Career
* I'm finishing up my academic requirements in June then starting an internship if all goes well in August - most of that is pretty set to go, but hopefully I end the year not completely drained, and all that goes smoothly

* I'm sort of worried about navigating paying my undergrad student loans and like how to deal with life after graduation - so that's going to be a really weird transition for me - I'm hoping that by graduation I'm able to fully pay for my cell-phone & maybe help pay for my insurance too - yuck, but that'll be good.

Personal
* SLEEP SCHEDULE <- honestly one of my biggest 2020 goals is to make my sleep schedule good again, this is also the most concrete goal.

* Waste less time with work that isn't productive or necessary

* Keep more healthy boundaries within family situations

* Spend less time thinking about past-relationship fails, and more time fostering current healthy relationships

* Get back into regular prayer journaling & read one devotional book ever 2 months.

* Read more fiction

I talked about them to my mom and sister yesterday!

-I want to edit my novel and actually finish it?? As in having a finished story and not a finished draft? hopefully if all goes well I will submit this to this cool contest called author mentor match where if you get picked you can have an author as a mentor!!

-I want to write a blog post for my blog once a week! I feel like that's doable (and because of my blogging and writing I feel like it's unlikely for me to turn green here again for a while but *crosses fingers*)

-I want to keep getting A's for my classes I take in community college. So far my GPA is 4.0 and is good for when I apply to university! A few weeks ago I freaked out because I thought I would get a B for bio (after botching the last exam) and it turned out to be alright!

-I want to be able to have more stamina when exercising...I don't even know if I can run a mile. So yeah. That.

-I want to get better at competitive math! Aka the wonky precalculus questions that make you scratch your head and grumble and sigh but which are overall fun...I want to do well on the AMC exam which is a Very Ambitious Goal because it's hard and I'm running out of time (I only have 2 more goes before I graduate!)

-and of course #20in20