2022 Reading Resolutions

I've been thinking about reading goals for 2022 and I've resolved....  

not to have reading goals or to do a reading challenge.

Why would I have this approach for the coming year?

1) I have found that everytime I set a Goodreads goal that it is WAY too easy for me to surpass it. I tend to read novels very quickly. Also, when it comes to reading numbers aren't a motivator for me. I dont need a lot of encouragement to read. My version of a relaxing day involves good books and a nice cuppa.

My main motivations for using Goodreads are to keep track of the books I've read and to have a wider audience for my reviews. I will continue to utilize this wonderful resource but I won't fixate on any number goals.

2) I feel like I have found my niche. I don't limit myself to only reading horror fiction. With that being said, horror is my favorite genre and where I've found my community.

3) I am also committed to reading diversely in the books I do read---some of my favorite romance novels this year have featured homosexual relationships and I am always committed to reading different racial or ethnic voices other than my own.

Regardless of what I am reading, questions about whose voices are and are not being represented should always be asked. But I am finding more and more that I am drawn to stories about people whose race and ethnicity are not similar to my own. This does NOT mean that I am exempt from needing to examine any biases that I have or broadening my perspectives. What it does mean is that I am at a point where I am already picking up books that help me examine these things.

Maybe I will enjoy a reading challenge of some sort in another year....but this is not the year that I want to focus on it. 

4) The goals that I am making for myself are more about my own writing life.

I have experienced a lot of life events this past year that have slowed this down---I have moved, had a serious running injury and have been in 3 different day jobs this year. That's not including all of the shit going on in our world.

I know that it is not easy to be a writer or any kind of artist in our world. We live in a culture that loves to be entertained but diminishes the time  and effort it takes to create something.  Writers, musicians and actors (just to name a few) are typically underpaid. Most writers I know have another job of some kind because even if they do publish the pay is very minimal.

But I know I am called to it because in spite of all all of these realities I can not imagine myself doing anything else! This means that I need to put more effort into making sure my own stories are written and heard. 

I will continue with what I am already doing though---I love sharing my thoughts on what I am reading and promoting other talented writers.  I love fan-girling and connecting with other readers and writers on Twitter. It just means that where I am pushing myself is on polishing and sharing more of my own work. With the amount of stories and  poems I have I could realistically send in one query a week for the year of 2022. I am not sure where it will bring me but I need to find out!