J. L. Harland   •   January 1st, 2020

We’ve had numerous conversations as the end of this year approaches. Like every other year it’s had its ups and downs, highs and lows, some of them very significant, others not so. As the new decade begins, we’ve thought about the way forward and have taken some steps towards our writing goals. So, in 2020 we are hoping to do five things to help:

1. Attend a writing festival or writers’ holiday. We’ve got one in mind so hope it’s not going to clash with holidays already booked.

2. Go on a writing course. This is already booked up and we have an intensive week learning from different tutors and different genres.

3. Go on a writing retreat. We’re very excited about a week in Ty Newydd towards the end of the year. Booked as soon as it was available and in diaries already!

4. Secure an agent to help us get our novel, What Lies Between Them, published. This may be difficult but if at first you don’t succeed… Armed with the Mslexia guide to Indie Publishers we are determined to do all we can to reach this goal.

5. Make more contacts in the writing world. We’ve already made friends with a number of other writers and belong to two writing groups. Other writers allow you to talk about writing and get excited about it in a way other people find odd – or boring.

If we were to add to this list, I expect it would include things like spend more time reading and writing. With all the will in the world life gets in the way sometimes, so forging time is not always easy. But, even when busy doing other things, the writer’s brain keeps on churning.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and productive writing year.

What do you think you’ll be doing in 2020 and beyond?