2017 felt like a year of creative shifting for me. A year marked, of course, with feelings of helplessness and darkness, but also with the spark of an idea.
My fellow artists: We are the ones who’ve been invited to see the world deeply and poignantly and it is our job to set it down, to set it all down, so that one person—just one person—might see themselves reflected back and say yes, I am seen. Yes, I am here. Let’s resolve to keep doing this in 2018– to be bearers of light.
With this in mind, I’ve set some writing goals for the new year. Some are psychological, and some are very specific to craft, but all are necessary in order for me to write.
1. When people ask what I do, I will say, unequivocally, I’m a writer.
2. I’ll remember that people’s (industry people, in particular) thoughts or feelings about my work does not equate to my self-worth– And: I’ll be gentle on myself when I forget this from time to time.
3. I’ll finish a first draft of my Work-in-Progress in sixth months. To achieve this, I’ll write 1000 words each time I sit down, and I’ll sit down a minimum of 2x per week, once when my toddler is at daycare, and one weekend day.
4. I will not be devastated when that completed first draft is terrible. I won’t be afraid to start over, because after that first draft, I’ll know what the story is. I’ll recognize that draft’s value, even while discarding most of it.
5. I will not let this fourth book become THE BOOK, the one that carries so much weight that I fall into the trap of not abiding Resolution # 2. I will know that there will be others, because as Resolution #1 states: I’m a writer.
Join me. Grab your brushes, your notebooks, your microphones, your music. Raise your pens. These are our tools. We don’t yet know the breadth of its reach.
Jackie Jacobi 
Yes, you area writer.
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