A Look Back (and Forward) At Blog Resolutions

Happy New Year 2009!

With the new year rolling around, it's the time for resolutions. Before making some new resolutions, I figured I would look back at the ones I made in January 2008 to see what progress I made.

1. Post More Consistently:
Blogging-wise, 2007 was a slow year for me. How slow? Well, not only did I actually forget my blog's fourth anniversary (it was December 18), but I posted only 87 posts on my blog in all of 2007. I posted only 30 articles on BC Magazine and 14 articles on ThaHipHop.com. I posted the most this year on MOG.

2007 was the first full year that I worked a full-time job. In some respects, I haven't really reconciled working and blogging. I'm never going to be the most prolific blogger out there. I would just like to post more often. Quality is always going to be more important to me than quantity. However, there's just no excuse for me to post only once in an entire month like I did here in September.

Umm...that resolution really didn't happen. I wrote a lot fewer posts in 2008 than I did in 2007 for everything I write for. I was in a bit of a funk writing-wise in 2008 I guess.

2. Write A Greater Variety Of Posts:
Even though I write for four sites (here, MOG, BC Magazine, and ThaHipHop.com), most of what I write breaks down to one word: review. I really enjoy writing reviews. They're fun to write and sometimes they are quite a challenge. I like shaking up the types of things I review from hip-hop music to shoujo anime. I also like finding new ways to write reviews.

I think I'm capabale of writing more than just reviews and I'd like to explore that in the things I post in 2008. Part of me is a bit frightened (and lazy) about doing this. Reviews are a nice comfort zone for me. I've done news posts before for BC Magazine but they're time-consuming because I have a higher standard for such posts than any type of review. The same is true of opinion posts. If I'm going to give my opinion on anything other than a creative work, I have to make sure I'm on my A+ game.

Doing a bigger variety of posts will be a challenge but it will probably result in making me a better writer overall. That would be well worth the troubles I may face along the way.

This didn't happen either, unfortunately. Apart from my Favorite Albums of 2007 post, every single article I wrote for BC Magazine was a review. Hell, I even abandoned music reviews (my usual bread-and-butter) for a while. Yikes.

3. Attempt Non-Blog Writing:
Just like how many people always put “lose weight” on their New Year's resolution list, I put up some sort of resolution about trying to do some non-blog writing (fiction, skit, script, etc.). No matter how “inspired” I get, it's supremely hard to start and stick with a story. I am going to keep trying until I can get it to stick, dammit.

I tried a few times during 2008 but nothing really clicked.

4. Do Some Exclusive Posts:
At the low points in my blogging career, this blog is basically an exact replica of the work I do for BC Magazine, work that I post there first. Unless it's a post about something going on in my life (or a “lazy” review), what I write will appear somewhere else in addition to here.

I've been planning to start writing more stuff for this blog only so as to give readers a reason to actually visit here in the first place. In addition to posting more, I will post more stuff for this blog exclusively. I have a few ideas rattling around and I'll reveal them as soon as I get around to enacting them.

Finally, one I actually succeeded in doing...sort of. All posts with the word "thoughts" in the title were only posted here. These include my takes on various new anime.

5. Appear On A Podcast:
For a brief time, I entertained the idea of doing a podcast. That idea disappeared when I realized that I had no idea what kind of show to do.

However, with the BC Radio Network, I'm thinking about calling in one day and making my actual voice known to the world. Even if I only do it once, it would still be kind of cool. I would have to just get over the supreme insecurity that writing naturally hides...

I succeeded on this front too in 2008 by appearing on the B Sides Concept Album, a web show hosted by Josh Hathaway of Confessions of A Fanboy. I'd like to do it again someday and maybe this time, I won't sound so damned nervous.

Looking back on 2008 makes me a bit wary about doing new ones for 2009. Still, there is always so much hope when a new year starts, so I think I'll do them anyway.

1. Focus on Quality
I will never be a consistent blogger. Instead of worrying about that, I'm going to focus strictly on writing the best posts I can. There may be few posts on this blog but I will make sure that each one is well worth your time.

2. Take More Chances in Writing
This is essentially a combination of numbers 2 and 3 from the 2008 resolutions. I need to stretch my writing skills and doing things I don't normally do will probably help me. I'm not sure if the chances I do take will end up anywhere where people will read them but just taking them is half the battle.

3. Be A Bit More Social Online
MOG is the only social network I am a member of. I do not have a Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, or FriendFeed account. I've been toying with getting one of these accounts but given the way I blog, I never saw the point. Maybe, just maybe, I'll become a part of the new social Internet age in 2009.

4. Don't Let Me Get Me
I am often my own worst enemy when it comes to things I want or need to do. In addition to being really, really hard on my own writing, I tend to start things and never finish them. If I can get out of my own way, things could be better.

I really hope 2009 is a better year than 2008 in more ways than one.