Musings of the University of Dundee MLitt Publishing Writing students

Challenges

Target Practice

I do have many personal goals for the year, but I could start and stop with simply:

  1. Do not get overwhelmed.

Yet I fear that focusing on the idea of not getting overwhelmed would simply overwhelm me so let’s break it into smaller bits.

Perhaps my main focus is my new year’s resolution (which I never used to take seriously but for once I plan on actually working towards an end of year goal) which is to actually finish writing a book. I am the type of writer who will write 10000 words, get distracted, and forget what I was writing about. I have so many start-stop projects in my documents I have lost count. So, I formally decided to speak it into existence, allow myself to understand that I will write a book this year and I will finish it.

As a chronic bibliophile, I always have a reading goal. Last year it was 50 books (which I went past), so, in turn, I decided to try and up the goal to 75 books. My current ‘to read’ pile consists of 14 books that I am slowly beginning to chip away at — since I have the chronic disorder of buying too many books. If you are interested in what I have read over the last year it can all be viewed on my Good Reads profile.

I am also trying to open myself up to more non-fiction books. I tend to return to the genre in phases but with my latest reading of Audre Lorde’s Your Silence Will Not Protect You — where I fell in love with Lorde’s work — I have found many non-fiction books in my basket.

So, I propose the question to whoever has happened across this blog post: what is your goal(s) for the coming year in the literary sense, and perhaps how are you overcoming the constant need to buy books?

2 Comments

  1. Kevin Turnbull

    Hopefully to find a book and read a book that I actually find I don’t want to put it down……….Still looking!!

  2. Gail Low

    “As a chronic bibliophile, I always have a reading goal. Last year it was 50 books (which I went past), so, in turn, I decided to try and up the goal to 75 books. My current ‘to read’ pile consists of 14 books that I am slowly beginning to chip away at — since I have the chronic disorder of buying too many books.”
    Amy – don’t even think I read 50 last year even in a lockdown year so well done!