Dear Me 2018

Dear Me,

Wow – I thought 2016 was a rough year – but 2017 was even tougher. The good news, though, is that YOU MADE IT! Not only did you make it, but you made it with your faith in tact, your sanity at least some-what intact, and with your writing really taking off! The strength, sheer determination and poise you have shown throughout 2017 has been truly inspiring. Be proud of yourself for all of this! Just the fact that you made it through this past year shows just how amazing you are! Consider that a success.

Let’s take a quick re-cap of your writing endeavors for 2017:

1. You took on 4 Give It 100 challenges – and although you did not succeed in two of them – mainly because you gave up when you didn’t feel like writing – and one of them won’t be complete until April 2018, you did succeed on the first one you ever did. Way to go! Trying to do something every day for a hundred days is tough!

2. You tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to keep up with your personal WDC blog, "Life's A Journey" . But the fact remains that you tried! You did, however, manage to restart it and update it just in time to begin fresh in 2018. I’m very proud of you.

3. You participated in G.o.T. this year, for the very first time. You made some great friends, had fun and you didn’t quit. Great job – you created the start of some pretty neat stories and wrote some pretty cool poetry! Yes, you did.

4. You entered several different contests – and won a couple of them. Great job! You did awesome!

5. You were gifted a Premium Membership to WDC, which you immediately put to use by opening up "The Confused Monkey Signature Shop"  – and used proceeds from that and "The Four Seasons Auction and Raffle"  (which, throughout 2017, raised over 3 MILLION gift points – way to go!) to pay for an extension of your Premium membership. I see you’ve made some wise choices for this!

6. I think your faith has grown stronger in 2017. Yes, indeed it has. I say this because as I look at some of your recent poetry, it seems that more of them are faith-based, sharing your faith in God. They are beautifully written.

7. You organized all of your poetry into one notebook, complete with an inventory to keep track of whether they are part of one of the Give It 100 challenges, whether they won an award, whether they’re been posted on WDC, whether they’ve been shared with your monthly Writers Guild poetry meeting, and whether or not a poem has been edited. That’s really awesome, girl! This shows great organizational skills on your part.

8. Oh – by the way, I almost forgot to mention – your poem, Summer Memories, has been nominated for a Quill Award! So has "The Four Seasons Auction and Raffle" ! Now, that is very impressive! That’s outta this world!

9. Oh – and did I forget to mention how you at least attempted to do OctoPrep in October? You even signed up for NaNoWriMo in November. Sadly, you gave up when it got tough, but what you did accomplish in OctoPrep did give you some pretty good ideas for the 2nd book to your Mystical Realm series. Look at how well you got to know some of your characters – their quirks, their personalities, their strengths and their flaws. You have not posted those books on WDC – hint, hint – you might oughtta. This will definitely help you with one of the goals I’ve set for you in 2018.


Now, let’s take a look at what I’d like to see you accomplish in 2018:

1. First of all, you have so many poems that have not been revised. Most definitely. Maybe you could consider revising 2 or 3 poems a week. Even if you only revise one poem a week, it’s a start. Keep taking your poems to your Writers Guild meetings to get some useful feedback in addition to what feedback you receive in reviews from WDC. This is an awesome idea, if I do say so myself.

2. Continue to participate in Give It 100 challenges – these seem to keep you motivated to write every day. I know it’s tough, but you’ve already succeeded on one, and you are right on track to succeed in another one. And let’s not give up on any of them just because you didn’t feel like writing, okay? Geesh, girl! From one sister to another, you should NEVER give up on yourself or your dreams….duh!

3. You have everything you need to complete your manuscript for Footsteps Through My Mind. Quit being your own worst critic and your own worst enemy and finally complete the manuscript so you can begin the submission process by June – don’t make me kick your butt in 2019 cause you didn’t get this one done! If you don’t get it done, in addition to me, your sister from Alabama is coming to kick your butt!

4. Now that you’ve updated and renamed "Life's A Journey"  – your personal WDC blog, write an entry weekly. I think this is reasonable. Again, do I have to come over there and kick-start you? Or better yet, if you don’t do this, I’ll just call your sister in Alabama and have her come kick-start you!

5. Begin writing and editing poems for Celtic Dream Catcher. I would like to see this manuscript at least halfway completed by the end of the year. I’m really counting on you to get this underway.

6. Complete and edit the manuscript for "Invalid Item" . I would like to see you have this completely ready for submission by December 31st. You’re smart, your faith is strong – this is definitely something you can do, so quit making excuses and as Nike says, "Just do it!" Remember, this is something God laid on your heart, so not doing this is NOT an option!

7. Continue to review and earn gift points on WDC through your signature shop, your cNote shops and your auction so you can keep up with your Premium membership. Also continue to enter contests to earn extra gift points. Gift points are an awesome way to keep up on your membership. Oh, by the way – you need to get a jump on this one because your membership expires on February 15th – so get going! If you lose your Premium membership and your signature shop, I’m really going to get you and you know who else will come after you!

8. Every other month, update your signature shop. Add some new images, remove the ones that aren’t selling and double check your pricing. If you need to, talk to people who have been running shops longer than you for their input. They might know something you don’t. They may know of something that will work better that will help you out, so bang your heads together.

9. Final goal – You have already completed the first draft of Not That Different. You need to go through and even out the chapters. While I know it’s not realistic to have this manuscript completed before 2018 ends, I am sure that you can at least have the chapters evened out.


These are only the writing goals I have set for you. I know you have your own personal life goals, such as getting your Private Security license reinstated and finding work, catching up on bills, and living a bit healthier, among other goals (and Young Lady, if you don’t do that, not only will I kick your butt, but then you will have to contend with all the other people who care about you, starting with your sister in Alabama) – but, with self-discipline, determination and faith, you can accomplish ALL of these goals! You are strong, Bonnie. You are determined. Your faith is strong, and you’re a completely amazing woman. If anything, 2017 should have proven that to you. Girl, you got this! Stay positive, keep your head on straight (or else,) and keep yourself grounded in your faith because your faith is what holds you together. And keep this letter handy so you can keep track of your progress on each of the goals I have set before you. You can do this – but you need to set your mind right and be determined to succeed in 2018.

Whether or not you participate in G.o.T. again this year is completely up to you. If you feel as though you can handle it with everything you have going on at the time, go for it. For now, though, put G.o.T. on the backburner until it gets closer.

C’mon, let’s get to it – and I will see you next year!

Sincerely,
Me

Word Count - 1,483
Contest Entry for "Dear Me: Official WDC Contest"