Writing Goals/Calendar: 2026/January

[mistressofmuses]

I definitely feel like I’m struggling a little bit to figure out what I’m hoping to get out of 2026 in terms of writing.

I’m not very satisfied with what 2025 looked like. I didn’t finish anything, and I didn’t even get much done in terms of planning for future projects. I worked on one WIP for a while, before deciding there was so much I felt needed fixing/reworking that it wasn’t worth continuing as it was. I did have one burst of hyperfocused enthusiasm midway through the year that led to me really wanting to make a plan, and push through, and Do The Thing (and especially to put energy into some original works)… but the burst didn’t last, and I didn’t manage to capitalize on it as fully as I wish I would have. Toward the later part of the year there was at least some progress on planning a different WIP, but it was slow-going, and still isn’t done.

2024 wasn’t much better. I struggled badly until I finally finished an editing project for a friend (which I fear WAS too little too late; she responded with one additional chapter fairly quickly, which I was able to do a much better turnaround on, but then she pretty well ghosted me on the project after, which I still feel terrible about.) After that, I finally managed to finish some lingering fics of my own… but after completing those, I struggled to find anything else that grabbed my attention. I spent months kind of half-heartedly prodding at plot bunnies, but never really settling on anything to focus on, which persisted into 2025.

2022 - 2023 were better writing years for me, but that feels sadder and sadder the farther away from them I get, haha.

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I did set myself a goal (via getyourwordsout and inkingitout) of 75000 words again for this year. I surpassed that goal last year, though it was primarily on non-fiction writing. While I still plan to count my non-fiction writing (book reviews, other effort-ful writing), I am hoping that more of my total words will be fiction again.

My other tentative goal, set as part of my 2026 intentions, is to finish something. That doesn’t mean it has to be shareable (I’m still iffy about sharing any original works), but I’d like something to feel finished.

Trying to set some more specific goals… that’s where I’m floundering. In part, I think I’m having a hard time determining what a realistic schedule looks like for me. I am trying to up my reading goals, and want to try and be a bit more participatory in communities and things here. I’ve said all of that before, but all the intentions in the world haven’t overcome the fact that my hours in the day are limited! Deciding that somehow I am going to be social and participatory every day AND write 1000 words every day AND read at least 150+ pages every day… just leads to me struggling to do any of it.

I haven’t written anything yet this year (in terms of fiction). I need to get reoriented in the outlining I was doing, and resume that. Again, time and energy are a struggle. I’m frustrated that it feels SO SLOW… while also knowing that it only is slow because I’m being slow! If I was putting more time into it and making it a priority, then it’d go a lot faster… but if I prioritized that, I’d never keep up on posts here, never get through the comments I want to, and probably would have to slow down how much I’m reading as well. I also don’t want to give up time I spend with Alex in the evenings, even when we’re just watching stuff together or reading or whatnot.

(For a while last year I tried to sort of “schedule” different priorities for different days, like “I will spend time on DW three days a week, and focus just on writing two days a week…” but it didn’t really work as intended. I guess it worked as long as literally nothing else ever came up, haha. Too often, something would derail a particular day, and then I’d feel incapable of catching up, and stressed as I tried to decide between sacrificing the next day to “make it up” or just letting the derailed thing remain undone.)

So… if I’m not going to have writing be a top priority - not that I don’t want to prioritize it at all, just sort of admitting that it’s a middle priority, not a top three - then I need to figure out what a realistic goal looks like.

For now… my goal for the month is to get back into outlining that particular WIP, and perhaps even finishing that outline!

Comments

[vriddy]

Balancing is hard! You're getting a lot of other important things done, too :) Good luck! I think "finishing something" is a great goal because it feels rewarding in itself regardless of sharing.

[mistressofmuses]

Balancing is so hard! I keep thinking I'm going to unlock some key *thing* that suddenly makes it more doable, but nope! Haha. Thank you. I do think that just getting something to feel "done" will help me feel better about writing in general, haha.

[which_chick]

I don't have any writing advice. Fiction is surpassingly hard and I have no idea how people just... make stuff up. Like, how do they do that? If you're doing a historical setting, shouldn't it be *right*? (Not necessarily. If you are good enough at making stuff up it will not matter if it's historically whatever because people will forgive a mountain of accuracy sins if your story is good enough.) Like singing, writing fiction is one of the things I admire when other people do it. I can tell if it's done well or poorly, but it's not a skill I have myself.

[mistressofmuses]

I certainly feel that way when I encounter people who are good at writing, lol. I enjoy the "making stuff up" part, but know that I do not have the ability to convey the stuff I'm making up in the really artistic way that some people do. And oh yes, hard same to singing, or musical composition... I love and appreciate the skill that goes into both writing and performing music, but I have absolutely zero grasp of how to do it.

[umadoshi]

<3 <3 <3

[olivermoss]

Good luck figuring it all out. Finishing stuff is fantastic mentally, but I hear ya on not knowing what to do with original work. Fanfic has a built in audience, more in some fandoms, but still.