Out of the box Resolutions

I really don’t care too much for resolutions.

But one of my critique groups meets to chat online once a week. They wanted to talk about our resolutions. It was that time of year (a couple weeks ago). My writing goals have always been the same. Improve. Improve. Improve. With the ultimate goal of finding an agent and getting published. The improving part was within my control. The agent part – not so much.

I don’t need a list holding me accountable to learn my craft better or to get words on the page every day. But after thinking about it, I realized I had resolutions.

My biggest goal as a writer was to write out of my comfort zone. That was what I told my crit group. I was proud of myself. I had an answer that I didn’t make up just to sound writerly.

Then they asked me what I meant by that. I thought um, er, em, let me get back to you on that one.

I wanted to stretch my writing and my ability. I’d learned everything from comma use to assonance to utilizing word choice to set the mood. But I wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn the things you can’t learn from a book or a blog or a conference. (I’m not entirely sure what those things are yet.)

But before 2009 had ended, I’d already done one thing that pertained to writing that was out of my comfort zone. Something I’d said I would never do.

Start a blog. And that is just the beginning.

Do you have any goals that are out of your comfort zone? Or have you already accomplished goals that are out of the box?