Pressing restart
Jan 19, 2024
2 min read
Hello again!
It’s been three years since I stepped away from this blog. It wasn’t intended to be a complete or even a long break. In hindsight, the timing was perfect, the world changed in 2020.
During that time, getting lost in a book was my ‘happy place’. I chose to read romance, guaranteed happy-every-afters. Nothing serious that made my heart sink.
Looking back on 2023
Each year I choose a word as my theme for the year. One that will help me achieve what I want to achieve in writing and other parts of my life.
Last year was PLAN.
With PLAN constantly on my mind and with the aid of my diary, it helped me set goals and carve out time to write. I achieved milestones I’d only dreamed about.
Looking forward in 2024
My word is BREATHE.
There is so much I want to achieve in the writing space this year and taking deep cleansing breaths while juggling work and family life is going to be essential. I want to:
Finalise a synopsis and query letter
Pitch my manuscript (to do that I need to run through a few more drafts and polish it up)
Keep blogging – I’m aiming for one blog post a month. Any more is a bonus (for me). It’s all writing!
Contribute to flash fiction and writing competitions.
Immersing myself in the world of writing
In the last few years, I’ve focused on improving my writing and connecting with other writers by:
Attending writing conferences.
Connecting with writers and authors on Instagram.
Doing writing sprints with fellow writers.
Joining a romance writers' group.
Taking part in Romance Writers Australia (RWA) writing competitions.
Discussing all things writing with other aspiring writers on the RWA e-loop.
Writing flash fiction to prompts.
Listening to podcasts focused on books, authors and writing craft.
More about these in future blog posts.