40 Comments
User's avatar
Olivia of A Ghost in the Post's avatar

✨✨ So perfect! Thank you for all of this! ✨✨

Expand full comment
Nadia Giordana's avatar

I especially like your chart, it covers everything.

Expand full comment
Jeanine Kitchel's avatar

What a great post. The chart is inspired. It's like you're in every writer's head.

Expand full comment
Laura Allen-Simpson's avatar

Cheering you on right back!

Expand full comment
Alice Kuipers's avatar

My big writing goals for next year are to enjoy the deep play of writing, to learn something analog that's outside of my writing life, to grow my substack space and build connections there, and to have great conversations with other writers. Within those pillars, I'll figure out what works best using this line: "Make lists, follow wild plot lines, write character sketches. It all helps." Thank YOU!

Expand full comment
Mary Carroll Moore's avatar

Brilliant chart but I’m somewhere off to the side: recovering from publishing and about to publish again in spring!! Is there an insanity bubble on this chart?!

Expand full comment
Amy Federman's avatar

Still finishing last year's! Sigh. (The plan was to be already querying by now.) Thanks for the encouragement :)

Expand full comment
Russell Nohelty's avatar

This is great. Would you be okay with my crossposting it to my publication, the author stack? When I share an article it generally gets 10,000+ reads in the first 24 hours. Let me know. I think my readers would get a lot out of it.

Expand full comment
Heather Waugh's avatar

What would be your advice for someone who has a first draft written and her calendar got busy for 10 years and now, older and wiser, realizes this draft needs a complete overhaul but is too intimidated to start?

Expand full comment
Allison Deraney's avatar

Such a great (real!) pep talk that I so needed. And I can’t wait for your 2023 version of what you read this year. I’ll be peeking at that round up. Thanks Kate!

Expand full comment
kevin white's avatar

Love raffles~having had a son in private school, I try to support them~and winning a knitted "something" would be perfect heading into winter. If I happen to win something, I may use it as a talisman when I send off queries!

Expand full comment
Kimberly Hirsh's avatar

Thanks for this, Kate! I checked in with my feelings for "No" and it didn't make me angry but it did make me sad so I'm following the "I need a new idea!" path. I blogged about it here: https://kimberlyhirsh.com/2023/12/06/planning-writing-goals.html (I mention that I'm sitting on a lot of ideas and I am. There's a non-zero chance I will begin my writing with the idea: Jean-Luc Picard in a holiday romance with Q. I thought you might appreciate that.)

Expand full comment
Garen Marie's avatar

I totally needed this flow chart. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Nika Kuchuk's avatar

Just the thing I needed to read today! Lovely, thank you :)

Expand full comment
Nika's avatar

I'm still writing on my short novel and reading this made me feel a lot better about continuing until I'm done, even if it's not this year anymore💪

Expand full comment
Jess Edwards's avatar

This is such good, accessible, hopefully advice. Thank you 💚

Expand full comment