January Reflections & Resolutions

Hello,

It has been a time for everyone. I am saying this early; things are hard enough as they are. Remember to be kind and persevere.

The fourth quarter of 2025 felt like the most ambitious period. I don’t know if it was productive, but it was oddly prolific in story creation. This happened when I couldn’t work on the writing projects I assigned to the Rough Draft Challenge with Heartbreathings or Novel November with ProWritingAid. I’m calling them the staple novels from now on. There are now several stories in development under the label or genre of speculative fiction. For the past year, there has been angst against fanfiction, romantasy, romance, or any media that features a Black person. So I do what I do: write romance, science fiction, and fantasy with Black people. 

Writing updates – during November and December, I gave Dead Girl Tale 2 a lot of attention. Despite stating that I had other writing projects of interest. This January, it’s been mostly Fayte/Maghnus Monogatari. I signed up for a free writing workshop with ProWritingAid and used the tips offered with this story. The structure of FMM is distinctly different from the other stories. Novellas or Novelettes carry the narrative of the characters’ lives. This does not mean I’ve given up on Dead Girl Tale 2 or Heirs. My goal is to complete the workshop and use everything suggested toward story creation. In Dead Girl Tale 2, there is a whole new scene to develop, and in Heirs, as a new story idea, a plausible outline is being planned.  

I’ve been following writers/content creators who are suggesting strategies to maintain consistency as writers and authors.  They suggest reading in the genre you wish to write in and writing with intention.  They have adopted methods from successful authors like Ray Bradbury and Stephen King to achieve the same results. I’ve tried some of them, but I’m not as dedicated as I would like to be, and I would like to change that in February.  

In reflection, I haven’t been reading enough, and I need to change that. I have books, audiobooks, and graphic novels piling up, plus a new Libby account to make things more affordable. If reading in your genre improves your writing – and everyone says it does – then I need to commit to the practice, not just the idea. February’s goal: add structure to my reading and actually track it. I also want to maintain the dedication to writing methods I’ve been learning from content creators and successful authors. As for the story page launch? That’s moving to Q3. I’d rather launch it right, with finished stories and proper attention, than rush it to meet a timeline I’m not actually working toward. There is also the writing workshop that will most likely be completed in mid-February. That is on my time, not theirs. ProWritingAid set the workshop for 14 days.

That’s January in reflection and February in resolution. Now, to actually do the work. As stated in the first paragraph, these are difficult times. It is harder to remember that we are good people. We don’t need to be dragged down; we have to draw the line and refuse to be monsters. Kindness and standards help with that. I hope the rest of your week goes well.

End