Young Writers Society

It's hard to believe it is almost 2023. We should all get a round of applause! But, with the coming of a new year, comes with time for improvement. Do you have something you would like to accomplish? Write it down here to encourage yourself and others!

If you posted in last year's thread and want to see what you wrote, or get inspiration from others, here's the link!

Moving into 2023, one of my biggest goals is to be better about my mental health. It took a dip back in July that I haven't fully recovered from, but my goal for 2023 is to do whatever I need to in order to get my mental space better than it currently is.

And I obviously want to do some writing, too.



Get a better grip on my anxiety. Figure out what coping strategies really do work well, keep track of what triggers my anxiety so I can use that to better handle it, and maybe even reach out and find a new therapist.
Stay in touch with friends both online and offline. This spring is my student teaching (!) and my very last semester as an undergrad student, so I really need to work on keeping in touch with the people I'll no longer see around campus. Which is kind of scary, admittedly, but I know I can handle it.
Get Skel & El queryable by the end of the year! I know I say this every year, but I really want to finish a novel and actually query it. I'm going to accomplish this one by hopefully cramming some revisions into the next few weeks, and then doing grammatical things after I get some friends to look over my second draft.
Get a paper manuscript ready for the research project I've been doing since this past semester. This'll be straightforward, but I do want to include it on the list!
Finish a draft of the novel I'm co-writing. This one stalled a bit thanks to me, so I really want to get a draft of it done going into the new year. If we're lucky, maybe it'll even be finished by the end of January!
Vibe with whatever my gender identity/presentation. Last year marked some great queer milestones for me: I realized I was lesbian, came out as lesbian to my entire immediate family, and proceeded to make as many queer jokes as possible around my friends. I also realized I'm probably genderqueer. Going forward, I want to vibe with whatever weird androgynous niche my gender identity or presentation has decided to fill. Am I butch? Am I genderqueer? Who knows. Either way, I want to be happy with how I present my gender to the world.

My 2023 Resolutions

I would reply to my last year's list, but I didn't really end up making one, so oh well. I will say that one of my goals was to finish NaNo, which I did achieve at least.

This year, I hope to do a couple of things.

One, get into a master's program, or potentially teach English abroad? I know at least one of those would work out.

Two, edit my NaNo story and maybe start another novel? I'm not sure if I want to spend six months truly on the same novel, but maybe I'll be motivated to do so!

Three, either hang out with my current friends more often, or make new ones that I can get together with. I have truly been driving myself crazy talking only with students and family members.

Four, potentially meet some of my online friends. It would have to involve flying, so I would either have to plan out a way to see everyone in person, or at least to see a high majority of them at the same place. We'll have to see.

Five, which is last but no less important, I need to read some more books next year. Even if it's books by my friends, I need to get back into regularly reading, if nothing more than on my prep periods at work.

i am snatching a spot here >:(

ok ok ok I will steal spot too

2022 Resolution Review

Here were last year's -> New Year's Resolutions: 2022 Edition which I divided into categories of "Writing / YWS", Work / Financial, Personal / Spiritual, & Health / Wellness.

2023 Resolutions

may do a little revising here's my rough draft

Writing / YWS
~ Have FUN!
~ Actually finish at least ONE of the big writing projects I've started.
~ Finish my project I started in LMS (tho not in LMS anymore)
~ read a few books (at least more than this year!)

Work / Financial
~ continue making good progress in savings
~ strive for good work/life balance & say NO to perfectionism
~ use continuing ed. time.

Personal / Spiritual
~ pick a sustainable daily Bible reading plan and finish it
~ do quarterly prayer retreat days
~ be kind + patient with yourself :]

Health / Wellness
~ do more journaling + maybe get back into bullet-journaling
~ use all your vacation time
~ eat lunch every day :]
~ drink more water!

-mental health/life goalsssss haha-


-yws and/or writing stuff-


-nothing else i don’t think?-

Claiming a spot!

I have to say that rereading what I wrote last year was very interesting, because I was hopeful and confident about things that didn't end up happening, and things I didn't believe would happen actually did.

A lot of my greatest blessings this year were things I never would have been able to predict at this time last year, so let's look back before we go forward.

If I'm out of [my mother's] house by January 2023, great. If not, I'm not going to sweat it.

At this time last year, I truly did not see an end in sight to living with her, or a way out of it, and yet things came together in exactly the perfect way.

I did not make Eagle Rock, but I did make Time in a Bottle. I turned Under the Apple Tree into a screenplay, and am going to pursue that version of the story as a film, rather than the novel, at least for now, which I just ranted about rather extensively here.

There are some really cool potential opportunities to star in plays, so I hope everything works out.

Hahahahaha. I'm sure I was probably referring to R&J, which I feel like is this year in a nutshell. The things I expected to be great didn't come to pass, and the greatest blessings (Glass Menagerie and GWCTD, and especially Glass Menagerie) were things I could not have predicted at the beginning of 2022.

I want to keep learning and growing as a person. I want to live in the moment because one day I'll look back at this time in my life and miss something about it, and I don't want to have regrets.

I would hope that this would be the one thing I achieved this past year, and it will continue as a resolution into the new year.

I have cooked more, but it's been a slow process for me. I make my own sandwiches for lunch now, and I never did that before. Baby steps, right?

I want to have a healthier relationship with social media. Ideally, I would delete everything outright, but it is a useful tool for sharing my work with people, and I do need it for Cinderella Pictures. I just need to be more mindful about how I use it, and not chase/be addicted to the dopamine rush of constantly refreshing my feed just because, or checking for any new likes. I'm going to start with deleting my apps, making sure they stay deleted. and just keeping things on my computer.

Other than that, there is a lot I want to do in 2023. Mainly, commit to finding a better job, one that will allow me to move back to LA once my lease is up in August, if not before. All signs have pointed to the fact that my future is there. I want to make Under the Apple Tree, keep working on projects and spend time doing things I love with people that I love.

That's really all I could ask for, no matter what 2023 has in store for me. At the beginning of last year, two songs were stuck in my head -- "Something''s Coming from West Side Story" and "City of Stars" from La La Land. I think those have both fit quite well, in different ways, and I need to think more on what song will take its place for 2023.

I am hopeful for all that's ahead, and trying to not let my anxiety get the better of me, because it does tend to do that.

Love you all.

mint's 2023 resolutions

YWS

Finish my LMS novel, revise it, and possibly self-publish it
Get my next review star (97 reviews to go (as of 12/23) !)
Participate in NaPo and NaNo (+ all the other wonderful events on YWS)
Start some more roleplays and keep posting in the ones I’m in (specific goal: start 2 more roleplays and keep them alive until 2024)
Get back into writing poetry and short stories (specific goal: publish >= 1 poem and >= 1 short story)

Other

Get to USACO Gold
Study for AIME, maybe??
Set aside >= 15 min for meditation, journaling, and/or doodling each day (basically spend some time unwinding)
List 3 things I’m grateful for each day, or, alternatively, list 3 things I’m looking forward to each day
Learn to draw people better (specific goal: watch >= 1 drawing video and/or attempt >= 1 sketch each week)

Making it slightly simpler this time round! Also an inspo quote:

Think of it like really taking care of a seedling, and then the sapling that grows from it, then the tree, with your full devotion — but then not needing the fruits that might or might not spring from the tree.

From <https://zenhabits.net/committed-unattached/>

'Let go/ get rid of certain 'I can't do this' type thoughts'
Focus on one thing at a time
Simply but continue my monthly reflection system (esp 'goal-chucking')
Continue doing yoga and taking walks
Continue using writing as a tool for escapism and fun (as well as a general thinking-tool)
Don't keep accidental double-downloads
Put pdfs and notes into the right folder on the first go
Talk to other students more
Get into a sustainable study routine at uni
Pursue topics I enjoy reading about
Host/ co-host 5 workshops this year
Reviews: 4 blue stars by end of year
Finish a novel draft
Sign up for a language class at uni