My In-Depth Reading and Writing Goals for 2023
A few days late, but better than never
Have you ever decided on a path that makes you a bit nervous, just thinking about it?
That’s where I am right now.
There’s a lot of moving parts to my reading and writing goals this year, and I think it’s better to write about them together.
The 1,000 Day DIY MFA
Shaunta Grimes wrote in 2019 about the DIY MFA program that she would have done had she not received her master’s degree. I’ve made a few changes as I’m not a fiction writer, but I’m keeping the majority of the program as it was written down.
Daily: read a short story, poem and essay. Write 500 words (my tiny goal)
Weekly: Read a non-fiction book (in place of a novel) and write at least two pieces of non-fiction per week (whether that’s a blog post, essay, or review). Watch 3 movies
Monthly: read a craft book (or part of one)
Yearly: write a book collecting my best work on a topic
What I’m Planning to Write This Year
I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with just writing one kind of thing for the rest of my life. I love writing bookish posts and reviews. I enjoy writing essays. I’m going to continue with that.
I’m also going to be focusing on finding my niche. As of right now, I think it’s going to be writing for creative women who want to focus on planning, self-improvement and simplicity. It’s going to be based around journaling but with deeper dives into the topics surrounding a journal instead of the prettiness of the page.
Reading
My overall goal is going to be 150. I believe it’s achievable as even on my busiest months last year, I was able to read at least 15 books.
However, I’m going to work on filling different buckets.
The Bradbury Plan: This goes back to the 1,000 day DIY MFA. The short story, poem and essay was recommended by Ray Bradbury in his book Zen and the Art of Writing. This is what I’m going to be making sure happens first each day.
Craft Books: I’m going to be aiming to read 8 writing craft books. I want to work through The Artist Way and know that this will take 3 months. Julia Cameron also has a book called The Right to Write and I want to work through it without being too rushed. I’ll allow 2 months for it. I also want to read at least 6 books on journaling and creativity.
Non-fiction: Read a total of 52, ideally 1 per week. I’m doing this for two reasons: 1. I want to inspire a sense of curiosity and 2. I want to learn how to write better non-fiction. I don’t have a specific topic I’m going for here.
Cozy Mysteries: If I was going to write fiction, this is what I’d probably write. I read my first cozy last year and immediately fell in love with the format: part mystery and amateur sleuth, usually combined with a love interest. They’re fun and don’t require a lot of thought. I’ve pledged to read a total of 30 this year.
My Fictional Wheelhouse: I review a lot of thrillers, mysteries and suspense. My goal is to read at least 36.
52-Week Challenges: These keep me on my toes and make sure I’m exposed to a lot of different things. The big-name challenges I’ll be taking on this year are: The 52 Book Club, the Booklist Queen, Beat the Backlist and (a smaller name challenge) Gerbitathon, which is based on playing Sims. You create a character and fulfill the needs, wants and skills for each stage.
Climbing El Toro (book wise): If you’re a bookworm, there is a good chance you have a pile of books that you bought but haven’t read. I have entire bookcases. This is a challenge that overlaps with a lot of the other ones.
It’s a challenge to change the status of those unread books. Secretly, it’s also a challenge to get me to use the 19 libraries in the Carnegie Library system as I can’t buy new books (self-imposed part of challenge) until the 75 are completed. For more information on this challenge, please see the Mount TBR Challenge.
I’m nervous but committed. It’s going to be an adventurous year.
