Your Creative Goals 2017

Have you made your New Year Resolutions yet? I love a good goal. If I achieve one, that’s brilliant and I celebrate. If I fail miserably, I find myself endeared to my 12 month younger, over ambitious self. Bless her. My favourite type of goal to set is my creative ones. Unlike weight loss or healthy habit resolutions, I know for sure that I’ll have a good time revelling in my creativity. The following are a few questions to ask yourself to get your creative juices flowing in 2017…

Are you planning to start something, or complete something, this year? What is that project you have your eye on? 

At this stage it might be vague. You may just have the desire to write a children’s book. Or, you might be half way through an epic fantasy novel. Whatever it is, identify it and review where you are with the project.

What will you need?

This is a great question to ask yourself. A lot of the time, prospective artists are put off the idea of starting because they feel they don’t have the right resources. But, really, that might just be fear talking. A writer can get started with a pen and a notebook. Think deeper about what you really need. Time? Support? Self-belief? Once you have identified your ‘toolkit’ you can focus on the creativity part. 

Can you branch out into other creative mediums, in any way, this year? 

Whilst you might have a big dream on the cards for 2017, have you thought about the little acts of creativity you can do just for fun? At primary school, we were always making little things out of pine cones, glitter, yoghurt pot lids and a truckload of PVA glue. Playing with our creativity like that is good for us and can actually help with our big, grown up projects. Think of ways you can introduce little projects into your life. 

Who will you appoint as your creative mentor?

Choose someone who you can look up to during your creative year. This could be someone you know or a famous artist. Let this figure inspire you through the year – look at how they create, read interviews with them, stalk their entire artistic output. Being inspired by and learning from other creators makes the whole thing more exciting. 

How will you keep going?

Undoubtedly, you will come across hurdles during your creative year. These could range from being too busy to get that day’s writing done, to pure indifference and low confidence in what you are working on. When these hiccups occur, how can you tackle them? Finding this out, is an important part of the creative process. If you procrastinate, is there anyone nice, but a little bit scary, you could report to so you’re accountable? If you feel isolated is there somewhere you can go to work on your project? Have a standby support system in place. 

What are your creative goals for 2017? I would love to know, so please do leave a comment below…