Good day and let me wish you all a very Happy New Year as we enter into 2021. I know it’s been a crazy year. A worldwide pandemic, crazy U.S. election, and economic destabilization. The new year is a time of restart for many people. For some, it is the pressing forth even further into the road they are on in their lives. To see the beginning of a new year is a time of reflection. It is looking ahead to the expectation that this year will be better. It can be, God willing. Let’s look at the plans for the RIU and a couple of other little diddys along the way, shall we?
Every year around this time, people begin to make what’s called New Year’s resolutions. They’re going to do this or they’re going to do that. The problem is that they don’t work.
Let’s take a look at the facts about New Year’s resolutions:
That’s pretty bleak.
- 25% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions after the first week.
- 60% of people abandon them within six months.
- Only 5% of those who lose weight on a diet keep it off; 95% regained a significant percentage gain back more than they originally lost.
- Even after a heart attack, only 14% of patients make lasting changes around eating or exercise.
The alternative to resolutions is goals. The differences between the two are minor but significant.
A resolution is making a firm decision to do something while a goal directs a person’s ambition or effort. A goal gives an impetus to be resolved to accomplish it. A resolution is a decision while a goal is a target. So, if I would encourage you with any small bit of wisdom today, it would be to have goals. Then resolve to do those goals.
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I create goals. I found they are much better at directing my life in terms of the things I want to accomplish. Lawrence J. Peter said:
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”
Lawrence J. Peter
Sometimes it’s the simple truths that hit us the hardest.
Now, why do I say all of this? It’s because you have been faithful in supporting and staying on with me. I wanted to give you a glimpse of the goals I have for the RIU in 2021. I admit — some of these are ambitious. There is a possibility I may not hit them all. But I’m going to try anyway. It’s like Les Brown said:
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Les Brown
Goal 1 – Write 12 Books
I know some of you are probably raising your eyebrows at that. Who in their right mind can write a book a month? Well, they are out there.
Barbara Cartland averaged 23 novels a year (good grief). She was actually able to write two 50,000 word novels a month. That means she banged out 100,000 words every month which would be a full-length novel and then some for almost any genre except epic fantasy or space opera.
There are many others. Suffice to say that if you put your nose to the grindstone and work, it can be done. I’m not saying this without experience. I have written a novel within a month. Something like 75k words. As a matter fact, I’ve written novels in three weeks. So not only do I know it can be done because of the novelists who have done it, I know it can be done because I’ve done it.
Goal 2 – Release Six Books.
Out of those 12 books I plan on writing (God willing), six I want to release this year. That’s one book every two months. This one is especially pertinent to you if you’re a fan of any of my material. Before, I would come out with one, maybe two books a year, but that is no longer a viable or acceptable option for me anymore. It’s a personal thing. That means you will see the RIU burgeon like it never has before. Prepare to be fully immersed.
Goal 3- Release Four Audiobooks.
There has been a little bit of a brouhaha in the audiobook industry with Audible making an announcement that people can now return books. That means for us authors who create our own content, we may find ourselves in the negative when it comes to people who have purchased our audiobooks. Just like people who try to get around paying for the hard work we put into our novels, there will be people who will try to game the system and not pay for an audiobook. It is what it is.
However, that will not prevent me from making more of my material is in audio form. We’ll just have to wait and see how that affects the bottom line on my end.
Goal 4 – Write 5000 Words a Day.
The only way Goal 1 and 2 will be realized is if enough words are written on a daily basis. Not only do I plan on writing 5000 words a day, but I’m also increasing the number of days I write. I normally write Monday through Friday, but I’m adding Saturdays with Sundays off.
I had written a post on boosting my word count to 5000 words in the past around the same time last year. I actually wrote about it twice, so this is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time. 5000 words a day six days a week is 30000 words. That’s 120,000 words a month. My novels are normally between 80k to 90k, so that would be a little over a novel a month. Like I said above — it’s doable.
Now, that may seem like a lot of words that will take up all my time. It isn’t. 5000 words a day for me is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of writing. That leaves plenty of time to do all the rest of the other things I need to do in a day.
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