A Glimpse into 2017: You and Your Site in the New Year (Part I)

We asked writers, photographers, artists, poets, and business and website owners: what’s in store for you — and your site — in 2017? In this first post of our Resolutions series, members of the WordPress.com community share their goals for the new year.

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Somali Roy, sketch artist, A Vignettist

Photo courtesy of Somali Roy

My plan in 2017 is to pay attention to life’s ordinary, under-the-radar, pedestrian moments. Our lives needn’t only be defined by big events such as graduating from college, getting a job, getting married, or going on a dream vacation to New York or New Zealand. Visiting Times Square or Queenstown may create fabulous memories, but I also want to remember the taste of roasted chestnuts bought from a cart on Fifth Avenue. Or, while passing Lake Wakatipu, if I hear a lady reciting poetry to the mighty Remarkables, I want to stop and listen.

As an artist and a storyteller, I want to keep recording these moments in my sketchbook and write about them in my blog. Capturing the here and now and sharing that with my readers is what’s in store for my blog in 2017.

My plan in 2017 is to pay attention to life’s ordinary, under-the-radar, pedestrian moments.

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Merilee Mitchell, photographer, The Gravel Ghost

In 2017, I will be given the generous gift of time, of which I have had little in the past year. I plan to use that time to travel more, to paint, and to write. I also want to delve more deeply into multi-layered symbolism and the surreal in my photographs.

“Destiny” by Merilee Mitchell at The Gravel Ghost

One thing I have discovered through blogging is that I love to write and to tell stories by combining images with words, and I want to do more of this. I plan to work with color in my photographs, not just black and white, because there are subtleties and meaning with color that one cannot achieve in black and white alone.

I will go back to my roots of painting and plan to document that journey on The Gravel Ghost. That’s how this all started: I was painting the desert and fell in love with the camera.

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Sonya Huber, author

Photo courtesy of Sonya Huber

In the new year, I hope to continue questioning the established ways of thinking about problems. I like a strange mix of humor and seriousness, and my blog is a container for everything that is decidedly “off brand,” which has kind of become what I do. I like to offer people resources for ways of considering and getting active in politics and political action — and that is maybe never more urgent than right now.

Because my newest book is an unconventional collection of essays about chronic pain, I also need to put more resources about chronic pain on the site. I love having a place where people can be surprised by what they find and are guided to other things.

I like to offer people resources for ways of considering and getting active in politics and political action — and that is maybe never more urgent than right now.

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Drew Robinson, hiker, Trail to Peak

Photo courtesy of Drew Robinson

My main goal for 2017 is to provide my readers with more powerful tools to take their adventures to the next level. When I first started Trail to Peak, my posts would show more than they would tell. I’m planning to restructure and reorganize my photography oriented hiking write-ups into comprehensive guides, and make them more easily searchable.

My secondary goal is to continue creating content through new forms of digital media. As a hiker, backpacker, and world traveler, I’ve relied on photography and detailed trip reports to inspire my readers to get outside and explore. For 2017, I’d like to produce more video, and expand my reach with newer technologies like drone footage and 360 degree VR footage.

Trail to Peak has a lot planned in the coming months, and the calendar is getting full. 2017 is set to be a year packed with excitement. I can’t wait to take my readers along for the journey.

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Evelyne Holingue, writer

Photo credit: Gene Oliver Gallery

I compare my blog to my little home, away from my physical home. My posts open windows on a woman who lives in these homes: a French-American writer.

Clearly my most popular posts conveyed my dual identity, so I listened to my readers and blogged about all things French and American, in either language. The notion of home inhabits the heart of each and every immigrant: the home we left, the home we make elsewhere.

In the context of the recent American presidential election which highlights the fact that we’ve lived next to each other yet ignored each other’s stories for quite a while, perhaps my 2017 blog should remain this little home where I pledge to leave the windows wide open and continue to offer slices of a life spent between two languages and cultures.

. . . my 2017 blog should remain this little home where I pledge to leave the windows wide open . . .

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Nesbit and Gibley, poets

Image courtesy of Nesbit and Gibley

What’s new for the blog in 2017? Plenty! Different styles of writing to experiment with, pent-up poetry to pen, and stories to siphon from the swirling, messy mind. Also, the first original poetry book will be released, compiling more personal experiences. Heart and soul (and a lot of time!) has been spent putting it together. It’s been a dream to publish this ever since the young days of poetry awe.

You know, the most exciting thing about 2017 is the new wave of writers to discover. A flurry of people following through on their goals sit themselves down and express those ideas they’ve had for years. Through their writing there’ll be new friends to make, growing the lovely community that’s a pleasure to be a part of. What an absolute treat it’ll be to have the fresh surge of poetry to find and read!

Different styles of writing to experiment with, pent-up poetry to pen, and stories to siphon from the swirling, messy mind.

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IFDC.org, nonprofit organization

Our resolution for 2017 is to tell the stories of those who feed the world — smallholder farmers. With large, vibrant photographs and graphics, their words come to life.

We also want to more effectively share our mission: helping farmers grow and sell more food using agricultural technologies in a way that sustains, not harms, the environment. This means using infographics and other creative storytelling approaches to simplify complex agricultural processes.

Our goal for 2017 is to draw our audience in, empowering them to feel part of our story and the stories of the agriculturalists who ensure our next meal.

Our resolution for 2017 is to tell the stories of those who feed the world — smallholder farmers.

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What are your blog or website goals for 2017? For more inspiration, visit The Daily Post tomorrow for more resolutions and plans for the new year.