In 2017, It's Time To #MakeArtNotWar

As I briefly touched on in my last post, there were some creative goals I had for 2016 that I failed to meet. I wrote and released some short stories I am very proud of, and even collected some of them for my first anthology. But I did not get the next book in the Parted Veil series out, and two projects Jolene and I wrote did not release this year like we had originally planned.

And while I think all three of those projects will ultimately be better off for the delays when they do come out, I need to be better in 2017.

I think one of the primary reasons for a lackluster output in 2016 was a lack of focus. I spent a lot of time talking to people about writing, and discussing projects I was working on. I spent a lot of time following the happenings of the writing world on social media. But I didn't spend enough time creating.

And let's be honest, 2016 was a rough year. It's hard not to be distracted by what's going on in the world and in our country right now. The ever-increasing depressing and disturbing news certainly affected my creativity this past year.

In short, I need to put my focus back where it needs to be--on getting projects finished and stories out into the world.

Writer Monica Valentinelli has created a 2017 challenge for herself and anyone else who wants to participate. It's called Make Art Not War, and it's about having a positive impact on the world through the creation of art.

The rules the Monica has laid out for this challenge really speak to me. Specifically, the rules about making a commitment to writing every day, and reducing the time you spend on social media. So, I'm committing to writing for at least an hour a day, and limiting my social media check-ins to twice a week.

I will be blogging about my progress on this challenge here on the site, and when I do check in on social media, I'll be using the #MakeArtNotWar2017 hashtag along with other participants.

I want to thank Monica for providing some much-needed inspiration heading into 2017. I have big plans, and it's going to take a lot of hard work to get there.

If you're interested in participating, you can find the rules over at Monica's website right here. Let me know if you are taking up the challenge, and we can support each other as we go.

See you in 2017!