IWSG Blog Post - Word of the Year

The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin!

January 4 question - Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year? 

Just one word? That is a difficult thing to ask of a writer! ;) 

For me, 2022 was about completing and publishing book 2 of my trilogy, so 2023 will be about completing and publishing book 3. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to finishing this series. I keep getting so many brilliant ideas for other things to write, and it's hard to focus! I suppose that's my word for 2023. FOCUS. I must focus on finishing my Blue Nova trilogy...and finishing it WELL. After all the care I've put in, Blue Nova's story needs to have an exciting and satisfying ending. 

To that end, I have a few methods for maintaining focus:

First, I keep a list of other ideas as they come to me. I'm allowed to jot down notes about those other stories, but I'm not allowed to write the stories themselves. Keeping that list lets me feel like those ideas aren't lost. I'll get to them eventually. 

Second, I keep myself excited about my current story and characters. I visualize how new characters will interact with the old. I think about what story lines will be most challenging to my main characters. I consider ways to force them to develop. The most helpful and stimulating activity is building my imaginary cast list. I love coming up with the people I'd want to play the characters. It's something a lot of authors (and readers) do. Maybe I'll post the list on my blog in the new year. It will be fun to see if anyone else agrees with my casting choices! 

​What about you? What is your word for 2023?