Me and My Goals: A Look at Me and the New Year

This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to start an author blog.

I’ve been writing since sixth grade, when I was inspired by a homework assignment that, at first, I wasn’t quite thrilled to do. The only instructions were to write three times a week, and I believe it was somewhere about 250 words each time. As a child that adored structure and clear instructions, I was appalled.

What would I even write about?

It took me a few weeks, but I eventually settled into writing down the stories in my head. Along with being a child that loved structure, I was also an incredibly imaginative child, and once the ideas began, I couldn’t stop them. First, it was a story about dragon-human demigods, then a mystery about a plane crash, then a superhero story that was more a vent about the world than actual plot at times.

Before I knew it, I was a writer. Even as I entered college, I was a writer first. Not a STEM major, not a gamer, not even the “smart girl” that everyone saw me as in high school. Being a writer became a core part of my identity, and it’s often the first thing I use to describe myself.

But, while writing seemed to come so easy to me, a major thing that is touted as essential to becoming an author has proven much more difficult: having an online presence.

It’s not that I haven’t tried. I’ve had a Tumblr for a long time, and I hopped on Twitter a few years ago. But people in real life are much, much more confusing than characters on a page, even if I’m interacting with them through a screen. I’ve made friends, of course, but I wouldn’t call myself popular on either of these platforms.

And this struggle continued with my attempts to create an author blog.

Because first off: what should an “author blog” even look like? I’m not published yet, so I can’t even begin to dream about talking of new releases and granting sneak peeks. I’ve taken a few writing classes in college, but I don’t feel as if I could give any solid writing advice to anyone.

In the summer of 2022, I had my best attempt at creating an author blog, where I somehow found enough topics to fill about six months’ worth of blogs, but something still stopped me.

That something was the idea of talking about myself.

But over a half year later, I think I’ve finally got it down:

To my writing, I am Morgane Boyd. I am a writer and absolute lover of worldbuilding (I’ve used other descriptors, but they’re not really blog-appropriate). I’m also a STEM student, one who wants to leave the world better than I found it. I write the things I needed when I was younger, or what I need right now. I make a million goals in the hope I can accomplish at least a few of them.

If you couldn’t tell already, I probably have undiagnosed ADHD.

But before I end this first blog, I want to take a look at the year ahead, if only to avoid talking about myself more. I’m in my third semester of my undergraduate degree, and I know that this year is going to be busy for me. Still, I want to be able to have some sort of direction into the year, even if that direction is just trying to get myself in A direction.

Personally, I want to be more assertive of my needs and in relationships in general, as I’m usually too afraid of being called “needy”. Also, I want to try new hairstyles, try different fashion, and consume more media. Maybe then I can call myself something other than a writer

Writing-wise, I want to get my main WIP to beta readers at the very least, though I think I could maybe reach for getting it possibly query-ready. Also, I want to write the first draft of one other WIP, and outline at least 1 additional WIP beyond that.

Finally, I want to work on gaining professional connections in the field I’m getting a whole degree in, whether that be through internships, networking, or gaining certifications that could help me. After all, I do need to get a Big Kid job at some point, and through my degree is the best way to do it.

Of course, since I am going to include some reading blogs in this website, I could make more specific goals of “read x books” or something of the sort, but specific goals never work for me. So this year, I want to try something a bit different. In twelve months, we’ll hopefully see the results, but for now, I’m not going to stress about the goals.

Right now, I need to focus on keeping this website in one piece.