January 2024 Newsletter

Happy New Year!!!! 🥳 🥳 

Welcome to new, hopefully improved 2025!

I hope you had an awesome time over the holidays and that you had at least one day to sleep in for as long as you wanted and had way too much screen time (I know I did).

Giveaway Winners!

Last month I announced that I was doing a giveaway for a copy of The Emotional Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi!

Well, our winner is…

Molly M.

(Imagine me throwing confetti!)

I’ll be emailing you with details! (:

Writing Goals

Since the beginning of a new year, I thought it might be a good idea to reassess a very important question.

Why do I write? 

Until recently, this isn’t a question I really thought about. I like writing, why think about it more? But now, I feel like the question is really important. Writing a book isn’t a short process; without something solid to come back to, motivation and resolve can quickly disintegrate.

So, today, I’m going to answer the question. Why do I write?

First, I enjoy writing. I don’t think there’s anything wrong for that to be a major motivation. A lot of our life is filled with things that we have to do (school, work, etc.) and I think it’s important that everyone has something they do just because they love it. For me, that’s writing.

Secondly, writing allows me to express things I couldn’t otherwise. It can be really easy for emotions to build up and fester. When I write, I can pour out the hard emotions I’m dealing with in a way that I can’t in other situations. It also allows me to go back and edit until my words come out just the way I want (unlike social settings 😭).

Finally, words are powerful. So powerful. I can’t count how many books have changed me in ways both great and small. Writing can create empathy and understanding, inspire change, and ask hard questions. I want to do that. I want to change people and help them serve God and those around them better.

So why do I write? I write because I love it, it helps me say what I can’t otherwise, and it can positively influence lives.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are some of my goals for the year!

• Finish the first draft of my new sci-fi novel (I started it on the 1st and I’m loving it!)

• Finish the first draft of Project:Europe

• Finish at least two drafts of The Phoenix Pendant

• Experiment more short stories and possibly submit them to some contests

• Reach 150-200 subscribers

• Attend a writing retreat (I just got tickets!)

I always go into a year thinking my goals are completely reasonable, but just watch, I’m going to end up writing a completely different book than the one I planned and only check one thing of this list. But life happens and that’s ok!

Reading Goals

For my birthday, my aunt and uncle got me a book box that included a beautiful copy of one of my favorite books and a bunch of other book-ish goodies. One of the things included was a fun book journal where you log and review all the books you’ve read. At the front of the book, are three reading challenges with varying levels of difficulties. I’ve never really done a book challenge like this before, but I thought I’d do one this year!

This challenge is mainly the middle level challenge, but I threw in a couple of the hard ones.

• Sword on the Cover

• A Book With Multiple Timelines

• Latinx Historical Fantasy

• Boarding/Prep School Setting

• A Book About Tragedy

• Written by an Indie Author

• A BIPOC Anthology

• A Band of Misfits

• A Book Set at Sea

• Classic (not European or American)

• A Comeback Story

• A Book that Makes You Uncomfortable

• Multi-generational Family Drama

• Sibling Rivalry Plot

• A Celebrity Book Club Pick

• A Book With a Map

I’m super excited to read all of these and hopefully branch out a little bit!

My total reading goal for the year will probably be around 60 because I like to aim lower than I think I read so I always reach my goal. XD

And one other completely random goal related to reading: I want to attend another book launch and meet another author.

Life Goals

When I started 2024, I wasn’t expecting half of the crazy things that happened this year. I’m kinda hoping 2025 will be a little less eventful, but we’ll see!

Here are some of my goals for the year:

• Successfully finish 11th grade

• Start PSEO in the fall

• Get a job

• Practice driving to places I’m not familiar with

• Spend more time outside

Quick Writing Update

• Started reading through The Phoenix Pendant

• Continued writing Project:Europe

• Finished outlining my new novel

Curious what these stories are about? Click here to find out more.

What are you reading goals for this year? Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions? Let me know by replying directly to this email or leaving me a comment of the website that corresponds to The Introverted Writer!

Thank you so much for reading! Have a great rest of your day!

Abby Henderson

P.S. Next month I hope to share a little bit more about something in my life that has a unique effect on my writing!