How to Reset Your Story Writing With a Half Year Review

Every years has its highs and lows, and I begin to look at these events about six months into the year. If December/January is the time to set New Year’s goals, June/July is the time to evaluate how those goals are progressing, whether your writing is on track, or if it needs a reset.

When examining what we’ve accomplished + experienced during the first six months of the year, a mixed bag of emotions often accompanies our findings. Please note, I don’t want you to avoid the exercises in this post due to any uncomfortable emotions like disappointment.

Instead, stay with me on this journey of discovery, because I believe we’ll both be better for it and that it will end on a high note. It’s time to come to terms with the events of the years and decide what our next steps will be.

Look in Your Rearview Mirror

1. Think back to your New Year’s dreams: what was on the agenda? How many words did you want to write or stories did you plan to finish? Think on this for a minute.
2. What has transpired these last six months? How many words, chapters, or stories have you written? Did you manage to start your author platform as planned? What life events spurned you on or impeded your progress in these areas? How far have you traveled?
3. Compare your New Year’s intentions with what actually unfolded these last six months.

I’m not you, so I don’t know your answers to the questions above, but I’d guess your reaction to them is a mix of satisfaction and disappointment. Some things went your way, others didn’t but ended well for you anyway. Yet you might’ve “failed” in other areas. (I’m guessing this reaction because it is the common one I feel when I conduct this exercise.)

Now, I don’t want you to cast any judgment upon yourself for these victories or losses just yet. For a moment, just sit with them as a curious observer.

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Before You Can Reset Your Writing…

I’m gonna say something that may make you perfectionists, planners, and overachievers cringe.

If things didn’t go your way this year, so what?

If you’re holding on to what didn’t work out—judging yourself for losing sight of your priorities, frustrated you lost time while battling a physical or mental illness, upset you were sidetracked by life, or you simply lost the battle against procrastination—I challenge you to let it go.

Life happens. We are humans who make mistakes like EVERYONE else in the world. Obsessing over this past year’s imperfections will get you nowhere but depressed and disappointed. Do not indulge in negative self-talk, because that is a bunch of unhelpful lies right there.

Now, to those writers who feel positive about this year’s work so far, I’m happy for you. Keep up the good work, but remember even if the year was worse or the upcoming six months take a turn for the worse, it’s okay.

For the satisfied and unsatisfied writers out there, I have an important message. It’s the reason why our accomplishments shouldn’t make our break our world and is a vital element to understand before we can reset our writing.

An Important Message to YOU

Your worth as a human, an individual, and a soul is not tied to how much you have accomplished.

If you had a good half year, be happy for it, but don’t nail your worth to the accomplishments because life could strike you hard next season. I don’t mean to be the voice of doom and gloom here, but a realist.

If your half of the year was a pile of crap, be happy that it is not a reflection of how special + loved you are. Keep plugging along and have faith things will get better.

So, I know what I’m saying here isn’t the mainstream message we receive. Our lives are defined by job titles, promotions, raises, and book deals. To gain validation from peers we have to dress right, eat right, and have all the right opinions.

Virtuosos, geniuses, politicians, and Olympic athletes claim the spotlight and receive praise for their accomplishments. Our life can easily be consumed by trying to earn our worthiness to live on Earth.

Well, I think that is a ridiculous way to live, especially since most of us aren’t Albert Einsteins, Itzhak Perlmans, or Charles Dickens’. You are already precious, and you don’t need to earn your worth by wowing other humans.

Now, I’m not talking about self-love either. I’ve tried self-love, and like trying to please others it fails because I’m also incapable of pleasing myself. I have impossible expectations and none of the answers I need to live life well.

My worth is not tied to accomplishment and self-love doesn’t fix my disappointments or give me answers. That’s why I go with the third option: We have worth because we are created in the image of God our Creator. It’s not about how much I do, but who he is and who I am to him. When that realization sinks in it blesses us with freedom to live in joy amidst apparent “failures.”

I know not everyone believes that perspective, but it has helped me tremendously.

Related Reading: What the Yucky Feeling of Incompetence is Saying, Writer

Time to Reset Your Writing

1. Review your old New Year’s plans.
2. Decide if your priorities have changed.
3. Adjust your goals accordingly. Set a new action plan with realistic goals aligned to your priorities for the last half of the year.
4. Move onward knowing your worth in not tied to your accomplishments and that if life gets crazy it’s okay to simply do what you can.

For further guidance on how to set smart goals, try these articles:

• A Step-by-Step Guide to Plan Writing for Productivity
• How to Make Attainable Writing Goals Daily and Kill Your Writer’s Guilt