I’m quite excited about starting the new year. Not because 2022 has been a bad one for me, or anything. Though, things could have been much better. I’m eager to get started because of all the things I plan on accomplishing.

I don’t just have goals and aspirations. I’ve also been working on a plan of action to see those things become a reality.

This is why I start working on New Year’s resolutions or goals in November. I want to have an established schedule and workflow to accomplish all of the things I want to see in the next year.

The best part is that I think I’m onto a good routine that’ll help me realize a great deal in the coming months.

T’was a Chaotic Week Before Christmas…

This week wasn’t too bad in the grand scheme of writing. I managed to get a few things done despite having a chaotic beginning to Christmas weekend.

I was able to work on VII, fix a few parts in Kingmaker, write a few blog posts, finish off a few client projects, and tried out a few new tools. And this was in addition to fixing a few issues for everyone from kids to clients.

Then, we were hit by the edge of that winter storm, which dropped around four to five inches of snow where I am. Unfortunately, I still have to go shopping for food. And since the temp hasn’t been higher than 4 degrees, I get to do so on a frozen road with a sports car.

Good times.

All things considered, though, it wasn’t too bad of a week. I am getting closer to breaking a few personal records while accomplishing a great deal for clients and myself.

Starting the Next Part of VII Next Week

I’m pretty excited to start the next chapter of rewriting VII next week. It’s actually one of my favorite parts of the book. Though, I bet a lot of people would beg to differ.

In any case, I added more than 4,000 words to the first story. This means VII is going to be much longer than I originally had planned. It’ll still be about average for a horror novel, but much longer than the 60,000 words I estimated.

The whole point of rewriting and finishing VII, though, is to finish the tale. After all, I’ve been working on it since 2016, and doing so will go a long way to boosting my overall morale.

I’ve had a problem with starting and deleting stories in the past. Putting in the effort to wrap VII up in a nice bow will prove to myself that I can finish something.

The nice thing about next week is that I should have less chaos. Though, life does have a way of throwing something new into the mix. So, we’ll have to see.

Breaking My Monthly Writing Record Soon

Thanks to my efforts this week, I am within a couple of days of breaking my writing record for the month. I set the record back in October when I finished the first draft of Kingmaker. Thanks to clients, blogs, and VII, I’ll surpass that record by several thousand words.

This means that I’ll have my work cut out for me while trying to break the record at any point in 2023. Still, it’s something awesome to look forward to and a testament to how much I can actually write when I put in the effort.

Next year, most of the writing records will center around manuscripts. This is because I intend to put more than 270,000 words into my books alone.

I have a real shot at hitting one million words written next year.

Planning 2023 with Mindomo

I’ve been playing around with Mindomo again. It’s a mind-mapping app that helps you brainstorm virtually anything you want.

Mindomo has helped me with everything from planning out content strategies to my next book. And over the last few days, I’ve been planning out how I want to succeed in 2023.

Essentially, I put all of my personal projects into the app and started brainstorming how to achieve my goals for the year. What I’ve come up with so far is quite inspiring.

But as I’ve said before, a plan means little unless you put in the action. So, I’ve been adding a few blocks of time to my weekly schedule to accomplish those things I’ve planned out in Mindomo.

For instance, I would like to sell copies of my books. So, I’ve added blocks of time specifically for marketing. That way, I won’t forget that I want to do certain things.

With how busy I am throughout the day, forgetting something important is quite easy.

Let’s Make the Last Week Count!

Just one more week of being productive before the start of the new year. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to make every minute count. Well, at least I’ll try to make them count. Chaos and mayhem seem to find their way into my daily routines regardless of how well I try to balance everything.

Now, it’s OK to take time off and enjoy the end of the year. In fact, I’m going to see about getting far enough ahead in 2023 that I can take a couple of weeks off without stressing.

But for now, I’m going to see what I can do to end 2022 better than I did in 2021.

In any case, have a happy and safe Christmas weekend.