Welcome To 2019!

Welcome to 2019! A blank page for all of us to write on, a year full of promise and possibilities! Where do we start? Do we continue on with our projects from 2018? Do we develop new projects? Do we set timelines? How do we handle this wonderful new beginning?

Whoa! Slow down! Take a deep breath! Let's take a side trip into the numerology of 2019. Numbers have energy, so what is the overall energy for all of us in 2019? It is that of the number 3 (2+0+1+9=12, 1+2=3). The number three represents the energy of creative self-expression, optimism, and connection. We can use our creativity to problem solve existing WIP, or to bring together a project that is still mostly in our minds. We can use our writing to express ourselves in any way that we see fit. I have two avenues that I write in at this time: spirituality/self-help, and mystery. 

The challenges that we face in a number three year are those of  dealing with our emotional selves, and the ups and downs that we all experience emotionally. We need to learn to acknowledge our emotions, so that they do not rule our lives. We are actually less vulnerable when we express our emotions. Expect to be dealing with self doubt ... learn to make friends with it. Learn to deal with scattered energy - as in too many projects started, not enough fnished. 

Now that we know what helps us and what challanges us in the coming year, how do we want to use this first month, the month of January, to best effect? I am going to start out by making no decisions. I am going to review 2018 - what I accomplished, what I did not accomplish, and why. I am going to look at what I want to finish off from 2018, and what projects I want to start. For me, I have two WIP's - one is a spiritual book that I am co-authoring, the other is my first mystery book. Having declared myself a cozy mystery writer, I realized that the mystry I am writing is turning out to not be a cozy mystery. It has some feet, so I decided to turn it into a three book series, and then to move on to cozy mysteries. 

Once I have come to peace with 2018, I am going to set a schedule for finishing both of my WIP's. I will also be signing up for a writing course given by Margaret Atwood, and looking into writer's organizations to join, Currently under consideration are Author's Guild, Mystery Writers Of America, Sister's In Crime, and the International Women's Writing Guild.

January is also a good time to look at our writing habits - such as making time to write, treating writing as a career, setting goals, taking those goals and putting them together into an achievable plan. What we set down in January is not written in stone - we accomplish more if we are willng to fine tune our work, and know when it is time to abandon a project.

Wishing you all a stellar 2019!

(c) January 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written authorization from the author.