Well hello there, Reader,

So…did your 2023 go exactly as planned?

We’re 10 days into 2024 and has yours already gone off the rails?

Yep, mine too. 😬

I completely feel you on that one.

My 2023 ended with a rattling death cough of “Well, I guess I’m not going to be accomplishing that this year.” And the first week of 2024 was entirely a wash, because I’ve been sick for going on 3 weeks now.

But am I ready to throw in the towel for 2024 and take up day drinking?

Not. At. All.

Because that whole New Year. New You. And it MUST start exactly on JAN 1st or you’re a capital F Failure is complete bullshit.

And frankly not designed for people like me. And I’m guessing not people like you either.

And did you know that even the people who do start on Jan 1st are setting themselves up for a disastrous fall?

Seriously.

Most people who buy a year’s worth of gym membership quit going by February.

Most who pledge Dry January don’t even make it to the 15th.

Most go overboard on the diet and abandon it by week 3.

I could go on and on with examples, but I won’t, because it’s unhelpful and unhealthy and really, I want our 2024 to head in a more positive trajectory.

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​So with that in mind…

Here are my 3 tips to start your 2024 off right

(Even if you’re starting a bit late 😏)

Do a Creative Assessment

People focus too much on what they haven’t accomplished or achieved or what they haven’t created. They’re running on this little hamster wheel to create more, more, MORE!

And it’s exhausting. 😮‍💨

And I am very much guilty of it. As you’ll see below.

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When I was talking with some fellow creatives last fall, I realized I was about to participate in my 12th NaNoWriMo challenge.

And as I scrolled through my list of past challenges I noticed that quite a large percentage of them never made it to the completion mark.

This prompted me to spend the better part of December combing through every creative story project I had that was yet unpublished and add them to a spreadsheet.

Want to know how many there were when I was done? Nearly 50! 50 novellas, novels, and serials that were unfinished and awaiting my dedicated attention. So many stories just waiting for a little bit of love before they could be placed into the hands of readers.

And the added benefit of doing an assessment like this is that you can see at a simple click of a button how close a project is to being completed. Or which should be placed on the back burner to tackle another day.

Keep a Log

Every year since 2018 I’ve kept a Story Alchemy Log. A digital journal where I record my daily 500 words, ideas for new stories, quotes from shows, books, and movies I thought were cool, topics I wanted to research—you name it. And today is the perfect time to start yours, Reader.

You can create one in Scrivener or Google Docs or go old school and make yours in a notebook.

The important thing is to write the date on the top of the page. And when you’re done with an entry, add a few keywords at the bottom (these can be project/story names).

Also if you’re going with a paper log remember to reserve a few pages in the front or back for your index.

Make Sure Your Creative Well Never Runs Dry

How do you make sure your creative well never runs dry, Reader? By constantly refilling it with new ideas and inspiration.

I make a point to read, watch, and learn something new each and every day. That doesn’t mean I plow through books like a woman starved—I am dyslexic after all. But I do always have a book at my bedside and an indie comic on my phone.

So what’s refilling my creative well right now? Well…

What I’m Reading

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

My friend gifted me an original Cryptid Press paperback edition of this bestselling novel and I’m just now getting to it. My TBR shelf is epic. 📚

What I’m Watching

Heaven Official’s Blessing

Persona5: The Animation

Buddy Daddies

Yeah, I’m watching a lot. Mainly because my awesome parents gifted me and my husband a Crunchyroll subscription for Christmas.

What I’m Listing To

Create Today with Beth Buffington

My friend Beth’s podcast for anyone who wants to be a working creative. She teaches digital illustration at a university in Illinois and has a course on Procreate.

And a Special Announcement

Last June I entered my short story, The Mirror of Avarice, into the Fantasy and SciFi Alliances “Versus” contest and ended up winning.

Now my award-winning story, along with 12 other fantastical and hauntingly awesome stories by my fellow storytellers, will be featured in Versus, an anthology that releases next Monday, JAN 15th!

So what’s The Mirror of Avarice about? Well, it stars Aki Nakamura, a college student on a haunted lantern tour who accidentally ends up trapped in a mirror realm with Perceval Edwyn Moxley, resident ghost of the infamous Moxley Hotel who isn’t, in fact, dead. 🙀

The eBook edition of Versus is available for

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Well here’s to a fantastic and fabulously creative 2024, Reader!

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Your cohort in storytelling,

Kat Vancil

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PS 👉 Versus, the Fantasy and SciFi anthology containing my award-winning short story The Mirror of Avarice releases JAN 15th but you can preorder it today!

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The Saga Quest

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