Looking Back and Moving Forward

As a teacher I get to enjoy the wonderful luxury of two weeks off from work over Christmas and New Year's. And 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky kicked off with quite a winter storm, so this year two weeks became three. After all the incredible time spent with family, by the time New Year's Day arrived I was ready for some time to read, write, rest, and clean. (I was less excited about that last task, but it was very needed.) The additional week off has provided the time I needed to reset and recharge.

While considering what my creative goals for 2025 would be I ended up getting sidetracked by the past. I was looking back at a previously published poem to put together a small portfolio for a competition and found myself cringing. There was no doubt about this poem's eligibility for the portfolio: a big "NO". It was bad. Then I read through a few more older pieces. Some were fine, but quite a few of them were (you guessed it) bad.

After my initial dramatic and harsh reaction I took a step back and recognized that they weren't lost causes, but there were definitely instances of sloppy line breaks and odd phrasing that needed to be fixed. So in a bit of a manic flurry I tried to rectify the wrongs. I made some decent progress, but there's more to be done. This led me to my first 2025 goal: Keep Revising.

There are definitely quite a few poems and short stories that I've published on Vocal already that I'd like to continue tweaking. And while every story can't be a masterpiece, I think with some revision work they could get a little closer to fulfilling their potential.

The somewhat mortifying realization that I'd been content with these less than outstanding pieces when I published them induced a bit of panic about the novel I've been querying. What if it's bad too?

So I started another reread of it. And I might have accidentally put my rose-colored glasses back on, but I still love it. I'm trying to come at it with a critical eye, but a few pages in and I'm sucked into the story, eager for it to unfold. Which I know is silly because I know exactly what happens, after all I'm the one who wrote it!

Although the first goal definitely still applies to the novel - more revision certainly won't hurt - a second goal also came to mind: Keep Querying.

And that's what I did. I searched through the seemingly endless lists of agents to put together another query batch. Then if when if this batch ends in rejection, I'll do it again. I recently read an interview by someone who signed with an agent that I just queried that she sent between 40 and 50 queries before she got her first full request. I'm still at my first 30, so why not keep at it?

Revisiting my novel also helped me land on another creative goal for this upcoming year. This one took a little fleshing out.

At first I thought maybe I should attempt to write the sequel to my novel, but I know deep down it's not a realistic goal based on current circumstances. The only way I was actually able to make substantial progress on the first installment was because the pandemic hit when I lived by myself. I had several months where I rarely interacted with another person and could write 1,000+ words a day. I essentially lived in my fantasy world! And while I don't think those circumstances need to be replicated for me to undertake the sequel it's just not feasible right now.

But even if the sequel needs to wait, I'd been reminded that my favorite pieces to write since I finished my novel have been my short stories that take place in the world I built for my novel. There are currently four of them and they're all published on Vocal. Each one is a stand alone tale featuring a different character in the realm of Ardia.

In writing each one of these pieces I've felt as though the world of Ardia has become more and more alive, so I'd like to add to my collection of the Tales of Ardia. Thus the third goal: Write What I Love.

I have a few more specifics in mind for this goal. There are twelve Noble Races of Ardia and I'd like to write a new short story or microfiction for characters belonging to each of the different races.

1. Humans
2. Dwarves
3. Elves
4. Giants
5. Gnomes
6. Merfolk
7. Centaurs
8. Hisskezzas
9. Fae
10. Iceveins
11. Podgrins
12. Fauns

These will be pieces I publish on Vocal while the novel stays under wraps. I'm thinking one per month but I'm going to go ahead and extend some leniency to myself and just commit to completing the twelve pieces before the year's end. I know from this past year that I can write about three times as many pieces in June or July than I can in any other month of the year.

Even though these Tales of Ardia are not exactly my most popular published pieces on Vocal, they are my favorites. I'm excited to explore more characters from this world and enjoy the adventure as I write.

This goal of writing more of what I love carries an additional goal with it: Cut the Excess.

When I became active on Vocal last year it was like the floodgates had opened up and I became a writing machine. I entered every Vocal+ challenge and entered a ton of unofficial creator hosted challenges. Then I entered every NYC Midnight challenge too. I got introduced to Writing Battle and did the summer and autumn battles. It was a bit of an overload.

For this year I'm cutting out NYC Midnight. I'm glad I participated, but I learned that short time frames are not my friend and I was starting to get a bit bored with the random genre, character, setting, or object prompts.

I still plan to do as many Vocal+ challenges as I can and still participate in creator hosted challenges that get my wheels turning. Out of all the writing challenges I've undertaken in the past year the ones on Vocal have undoubtedly been my favorites. And while some of these personal essay prompts are not at the top of my list (they're actually starting to grow on me a bit), I really like the variety in prompts that Vocal offers. In addition I really appreciate the longer time frame that is given to work on Vocal challenges. Some of the pieces that I'm most proud of this year were ones that I spent weeks working out in my head before I even sat down to write and then several days revising which just isn't possible with most other writing competitions.

And before I close I can't talk about New Year's writing goals without mentioning you, the Vocal community member reading this piece! The sources of support and encouragement I've found on the platform have been invaluable. So thank you, reader, for all you've done in helping me on my creative journey. I can honestly say that my excitement for my 2025 writing endeavors is as strong as it is because I know I'm not doing it alone. We all have our different goals and destinations we hope to reach, but there's a great deal of comfort knowing we have friends who understand the frustrations or setbacks we experience and are willing to cheer us on in the victories.

Well the goals have been set and the clock is ticking. I think I'll go take a walk in the snow and let my imagination run wild. More Tales of Ardia coming your way whether you like it or not!