The two real ones for this year are to read 52 books and submit a short story every month to some market.
The fake one I make every year, because, after all, you have to have one you know you can keep, is not to smoke a single cigarette.
The 52 book a year is pretty much a yearly goal. Off and on I keep track of my reading in an Excel file. In 2015 I read only 50 books but 11 of them were nonfiction. Nonfiction takes longer to read. Only 6 nonfiction in 2016, thus the 52 book total was easier.
The nonfiction is important. I do a lot of research for my writing. Facts from works on domestic livestock in the colonial period, and family structure in Plymouth Colony will show up in my writing. Others are iffier, like Dead Wake by Erik Larson, which I read because I like the author. Others, like The Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowtiz, are simply because I am curious about the topic.
One of my favorite categories of reading is unpublished manuscripts. I read two or three a year. For some reason I don't include the ones I read for my critique group in the yearly count, but I do include ones from friends. Usually I am asked to read for historical errors, and I am likely to do a bit of research for them. Do you know how much a bicycle from Sears Roebuck cost in 1890?
Of course I love the mysteries by authors I know, and I enjoy getting to know authors whose books I have read. In 2015 I actually met one of my favorite Icelandic authors. One of the joys of writing comes from the other authors I get to hang out with.
The reading I don't keep track of includes a zillion Wikipedia entries (this morning I found out that the Wikipedia entry on Charles Sanders Peirce doesn’t include the name of his first wife), short stories, unless it is a whole anthology, and magazine articles.
I've never before resolved to submit a short story each month to some market. This one is new, and I am not sure I can actually keep it. I am considering submitting two in January. One is out being read by people who, like me, enjoy reading unpublished manuscripts. The other is only 300 or so words at this point. So this will be the one I have to work at.
Oh, yeah, the cigarette one. Well I have never smoked, so that is a sure shot for success. Everybody needs an easy win from time to time.