My 2018 #Resolutions via #MFRWauthor #BlogHop

Hello and welcome back for the final installment of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge.

Well, we finally made it!

It is Week 52, and our final challenge is: New Year's Resolutions

For the past 20 or so years, I have made it a habit NOT to form any resolutions for a New Year.

As fragile as my spirit has been, it serves me well to keep expectations at a bare to nil minimum, thus saving my soul from further damage and my psyche from further disillusionment.

Instead, I've devised a more simple plan that involves me resolving to try harder, think clearer, and keep looking forward instead of back.

When things go wrong, I've learned to let go and take a few deep breaths instead of becoming angry, sad, or in despair.

I tell myself, "This is as good as it gets!" and submerge myself in all things fantasy to include binge-watching YouTube or Asian Dramas, reading my favorite novels, or just crawling back into bed until the doom/gloom feeling passes.

Everyone's life has its share of Ups and Downs, and I've always been wary of the Up times while letting myself drown in the Down times... but over time, I've trained myself to balance that out so that the daily Me feels more stable; more 'correct' if you will.

I no longer 'look forward' to anything but have worked out a system of smiling more, offering praise and kind words to loved ones as well as strangers, and to take each moment as it comes -- good or bad -- so that everyone will believe I am 'fine' and I won't be too much of a burden, especially to my children.

What I always need to work on is Motivation, and we talked about that at least once this year on the Blog Hop.

Every night before bed, before I read and fall asleep, I tell myself that tomorrow I will write my next novel.

In truth, I have not been Motivated to write for some time, and while a lot of us don't like to call it Writer's Block, I think I may have it at the moment.

However, I also think we learned as a 'team' that while we may not be writing a novel, we are definitely Working on a novel in our daily lives, and this I believe is what I've been doing in 2017 -- working toward a much better, more readable novel by reading more than I think I've read in decades.

I also devoted a lot of time to studying the craft in books, on line articles, and from you guys with your helpful words of wisdom and advice.

I don't feel negligent about not having written much this year, because the first half of 2017 was when I started writing my 3rd novel.

I just stopped writing it to figure out where I really want the story to go and how best to convey my message so that readers will enjoy it.

So, I guess you could say that I ALWAYS plan to write more in the coming years, to study more, learn more about the craft, and improve myself writing-wise, and I fully intend to continue with that mentality into 2018.

What I think I really want to try harder to accomplish in 2018 is Marketing myself, but that requires my getting over the fear of disappointment from those who read my work and rejection as a whole.

I was thinking that when I finish my 3rd novel, I could offer my first novel for Free and my 2nd novel for .99c -- for a few months, maybe -- just to see what happens and (gulp) find out what people really think about me as an aspiring Romance writer.

Believe me when I say that is pushing it... really pushing it for me and my frail being, to go out on such a limb, but after hearing from y'all in 2017, I feel like I've gained maybe a smidgen of confidence to push myself a tiny bit harder and see where I land... on my feet, or on my head (lol).

Maybe I should just swallow my... is it pride? and submit my two published works to bloggers who specialize in reading new work and offering their public opinion on their public domains.

What prevents me from doing it is that I truly believe I would be shooting myself in the foot to do so because, if they don't like it, they're going to say it to the whole world, and then no one will ever be interested in anything else I have to say.

Way too scary for someone like me to want to take that chance.

But!

As this is a post about Resolutions, and I've always promised myself to try just a little bit harder this year to take just one more step forward and discover where I can go on my own, in my own way, and at my own pace, these things seem like 'good ideas' at the very least.

Maybe 2018 will be the year I finally find a helpful, honest BETA reader?

LOL

That has been an ongoing issue since 2014, so I'm not sure I should continue to hold out hope in that regard.

So, I guess my 2018 attempt will be to practice being less afraid than I was in 2017, 2016, 2015...

That's about it for me and my contribution to the very last Blog Challenge post this year.

If you're still reading this, I want to say THANK YOU to every one of you who participated with me, read my words, and gave me such encouraging words in return.

I appreciate each one of you and feel truly blessed to have met you.

If I remember correctly, someone has already made plans for a 2018 Hop, and I hope we see each other again that way, because it was truly fun even if I wasn't able to participate in every single Friday post.

To All of You

THANK YOU for being here, and please scroll down to the LinkyLink tool below to click on the next participant in the very last 52-Week Blog Challenge to find out what their New Year's Resolutions are.