Welcome to Resolutions Recap, January edition. Let’s see how much I’ve failed to keep my resolutions so far!

Resolution 1: Write a little bit every day
Result: 7/10

The end of January kind of disappeared as I was drowning in deadlines. But for the most part, I wrote everyday, whether it was 500 words for an assignment, a 50 word story, or essay notes. (Essay notes count, right? :P)

I made a little calendar to keep track:

The key on the side is to help me remember what I wrote, in case I want to go back and check. The partially crossed out days are ones I forgot to mark — most likely I wrote something (seminar notes, at least), but I can’t be sure. I definitely wrote something 24 days out of 31, which is about 77% (if my maths is correct, which is unlikely, but meh). So I’ve given myself a 7 out of 10 for this!

Resolution 2: Participate in writing competitions/send writing off to be published
Result: 1/10

A drastic change on this one! The most I’ve done towards this goal is think about it. *sigh* However, as a result of this thinking, I’m very aware that there’s a competition coming up I want to participate in. So I’ve given myself a 1. At least I haven’t gotten a 0… but I’d like to do better next time.

Resolution 3: Read writing-related books, articles and guides I’ve got saved
Result: 2/10

Not much better here. I’ve only given myself a 2 here because I didn’t want another 1. But the most I’ve improved is reading some articles when I find them instead of putting them away for later and never going back to them. However, I’ve also got a few new links saved so the list is growing instead of depleting. Now I actually need to read the stuff on it!

Resolution 4: A Year in Books/Read more outside my course/BBC’s The Big Read
Result: 5/10

Redeeming myself a bit here! I’ve tried to keep up with my syllabi (didn’t happen) but I have read more in January than I did last year (probably). I haven’t read much outside my course though. I’m working on The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, but I felt guilty whenever I read those, as I should have been reading for my essays! This is why I only get a 5.

Books I’ve read: The Home and the World (Rabindranath Tagore), Lucy (Jamaica Kincaid), The Seagull (Anton Chekov), Mansfield Park (Jane Austen), Hedda Gabler (Henrik Ibsen)

Books I started reading but haven’t finished: Villette (Charlotte Brontë), Miss Julie (August Strindberg)

Resolution 5: Keep my Goodreads account up-to-date
Result: 8/10

This one was easy compared to the others. I’m just giving it the same amount of attention because I don’t want all low scores. XD

Resolution 6: Establish a posting routine/post more about my writing progress
Result: 3/10

Looks like we’ll be ending on a low note here. I haven’t really figured out a routine that works for me (I tend to write at varying times), but I try to post at least once every week. I didn’t manage that in January though. Blasted deadlines.

I’m working on posting more about my writing here! In fact, that’s what I’m doing now. 😉 Hopefully some of you will actually be interested in this… It’s a way for me to keep track of my progress, and also to stay true to the name of this blog.

Resolution 7: Have at least one short story finished per month
Result: 10/10 (I’m putting this one last so that I can finish this post on a happy note)

Yay! At least one 10 on this list. This may be thanks to my creative writing course, but I finished one whole short story this month. I have submitted it for assessment though, so I’m scared to see exactly how much it will be torn apart by my tutors… XD

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And that is the end of January’s Resolutions Recap (I know, I’m bad at coming up with names, but alliteration is a classic go-to in this case). I haven’t done totally horribly, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

Thanks for reading, I hope this wasn’t a really boring post for you! Until next time, and have a fantastic weekend. 🙂