You have to find your voice first, then you will find your audience.

Hands down, the best advice I’ve received this year is this – Write Daily. Thank the hairy goddess I followed this advice because my daily writing (this blog, journaling, Camp Nano and Nanowrimo, daily creative writing, even the odd really bad poem) has helped improve my craft and helped me define my subject matter/genre.

Daily writing has also given me courage which if I think back to the end of 2017, was my word for the new year.

The daily work will stand me in good stead for 2019. My word for the year is Focus. I wanted to write ‘discipline’ but I have always been super disciplined. What I have lacked is a focus. That’s about to change.

I intend to write 1500+words a day in 2019 whereby on December 31 I will reach my 1,000,000-words.

I will also continue to limit my social media use. For the past month, I have been using an app. on my phone to tell me when I have been using Instagram for 15 minutes. I am very disciplined about my Facebook usage but Instagram has been my Achilles heel! So many pretty pictures!

I think social media is like alcohol or junk food. Sure you can abstain and you’re not missing out on much, but you can also limit its use and enjoy a little bit of it. Beware though, that it can be addictive and can even ruin your mental and physical health.

Some great articles on limiting social media usage.

Vice – Why I decided to do a social media fast this Ramadan

Erin Stewart – What I learned from my 10-day Social Media fast 

Greatist – Social Media fast – week zero

The Minimalists’ take on social media fasting and use. These guys acknowledge how useful social media can be for creatives and entrepreneurs and give ideas for intentional use.