Questions to Gear Up For Meaningful Writing in 2014

From Cheryl's Writing Crate

Happy New Year!  Another whirlwind holiday season has come and gone, and here on the East Coast, we're gearing up for a pretty big snow storm that should be arriving momentarily.

For those of you who don't know me well, January has always been one of my favorite months.  I know, I know--you think I'm crazy don't you?  It's not that I jet off to a tropical location for this month, or celebrate my birthday or any other family milestone, it's really quite simple--I love January because it's a fresh start.

I go back and forth  each year on whether or not I'll be setting New Year's resolutions.  Some years I'm completely caught up in goal setting and making changes for the incoming year and other years, I sit back and just reflect on what went well in the previous year and how I can focus on my blessings rather than what didn't work so well.

For 2014 I'm  mixing it up.  I'm setting a few New Year's intentions, rather than resolutions so that I don't put so much pressure on myself to make change happen.  For instance, I have wanted to finish my novel for the past two years and set it as one of my goals each year, but since it hasn't happened yet, this year, I have set an intention that my chapters will be finished and my goal will be to edit my novel, carefully and thoughtfully, throughout 2014.

I have a few other writing intentions for the New Year as well as for my personal life all of which have me feeling inspired and excited, not like a failure because I didn't do as well as I would've liked last year.  My biggest intention for myself on a personal level is to be kinder and more accepting of myself.  Just writing that down makes me smile.

In order to figure out exactly what I wanted to create and give positive thought to this year, I sat down on New Year's eve with the following questions and answered them in my journal so I could physically have something concrete to refer to throughout the year when I get into one of my "reflective" states.

I thought I'd share my questions with you in hopes you might share some of your own with those of us here at The Writer's Crate.

1.  What was the single best thing that happened to you as a writer this past year?

2.  What was the single most challenging thing that happened to you as a writer this past year?

3.  Pick three words to describe you best this past year?

4.  What were the three best books you read this past year?

5.  What was an unexpected joy this year that influenced you as a writer?

6.  What was an unexpected obstacle this year that influenced you as a writer?

7.  In what way did you grow professionally?

8.  In what way did you come out of your comfort zone as a writer during the past year?

9.  What was the single biggest time waster in your life this past year--both as a writer and personally?

10.  What will your "mantra" be in the New Year to help you achieve your writing goals?  (mine is reflected below in the photo!)

What are your hopes for your writing year ahead?