Last year, right around January 1st, I read an article about New Year’s resolutions and how they’re generic and often dropped within 2-3 months. This article suggested a better idea, and it was aimed at creative people like me. A bingo card of 24 squares, with things you want to achieve, creatively, during the year. Gamifying accountability and resolutions.
I loved this idea, and I modded it, of course. The ‘Creative Life’, for me, has broadened ever since I read The Creative Act- A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. I highly recommend reading this book to feel good about yourself as a creator, and to discover other ways you are creative without really knowing.
I invited my wife to get in on the Bingo idea, and just through talking about it, others have hopped on board. I changed the ‘rules’ in that we would fill in the first 4 rows of the card, with some moderation from your accountability partner, and then THEY get to give you 5 artistic things they want you to achieve. Again, I broadened my view of creativity to also include some lifestyle examples.
I discovered ways that I self-sabotage, or don’t participate in art. I found artistic pursuits I was passionate about, and others I really dragged my feet. It was a great self-inspection of myself as a writer, a creator and as a person. I’m going to go through the 24 items on last year’s BINGO card and review how I did. This will show you how I tackled this task, what I learned about the 12-month bingo card, and how you can adopt this to your life.
- Journal Once a Week.
I have been told by many people that journalling is good for you, it helps you out. I struggle with journalling. I can’t grasp WHY writing stuff down helps. I cannot fully explain this block of mine, especially being a writer. I think it is because I write professionally and creatively that I have this block. Interestingly enough, it turned out my Magenta Book of Drabbles was more an effort in journalling than actually writing a journal!
So I didn’t get BINGO for this item. It is also too vague and not timely. So I would have to have done this task at least 52 times to get a sticker, and that number can be a little intimidating. - Make a CheesecakeSurprisingly I did not achieve this. You’d think it would be a simple task, but I just didn’t do it. It could be the kitchen was never clean enough for me to want to use it, or I didn’t have the spoons to clean it. It could be my diabetes telling me- you cannot make this as it will throw your blood numbers way off.
I am not upset about missing this simple bingo square. It just shows that sometimes the simple ones can be left to the last, or I just am not that psyched about making cheesecake. I’d much rather eat it, of course. - Listen to Podcasts Other Than Writing
This I did achieve a sticker for. I don’t listen to too many podcasts. It
is a weird thought process of mine. I struggle to listen for more than half an hour, just sitting there and listening. And yet, I can sit for half an hour out the back doing nothing with the cat, or I can listen to music as I travel, but not podcasts.
Anyway, I grabbed the Darknet Diaries and learnt about online hitman hiring scams and the amazing story of Pirate Bay; reconnected with Hidden Brain and the TED Radio Hour, so that was cool.
I don’t often listen to writing podcasts, although I should. I know there is a LOT of media to consume- podcasts, articles, books, social media, and more, and we only have so many minutes in the day.
I am going to go fishing for other podcasts, see what other people like and listen to, and WHY. - Set up Written Off Writing on Patreon.
I did this! I had been talking about it for a while but in 2025 I actually launched it on Patreon. It is tiny for the moment, but the people I have are totally loving what they’re doing. I even fixed up the gifting part last night, so it works! Makes me want to create more merch for it.
I need to up the marketing for this, and the content for it during 2026. To that end- if you’d like to be a part of a growing creative writing community, join my Patreon for as little as $8 a month. - 5 Lego Builds
Considering my to-be-built pile you’d think this would have been easy, but again it comes down to time. Finding the spare time to sit and build some Lego. I have discussed the idea of spare time and how to use it in blogs this year. I seem to be trained to be productive, and if I am not productive, I feel bad. Taking time to read, to build Lego and listen to podcasts, is twisted into – ‘not productive use of your time’ in my brain. I really need to squash this voice.
I did hit this target this year, and I built 5 Lego builds :- Stitch
- Home 1
- The Invisible Hand
- Jane Eyre SPECIAL
- White Lamborghini Countach
- Stitch
- Go to at Least 2 Creative Exhibitions
This was easier than I thought for me this year. My wife is very artistic and active in the arts, so I tagged along to some events with her and hey presto, scored a bingo square.
I went to the launch of Blak and Threadly, a program run by the Koorie Heritage Trust in Melbourne, and I went to a Koorie art show at Realm, in Ringwood. I also took my niece around The State Library art gallery, went to Australian Fashion Week shows. I may have to up the number of art shows this year.
It felt good to go OUT and see art, in the wilds, so to speak. - Randomised Lists for Written Off Writing Website.
I am a little bit proud of this one. I have huge lists of creative ideas I have been building over the years, for different genres, and I wanted to get them up in the public space so anyone can generate prompts to write for. I discovered this online platform that has basic code to do this. I learnt to wrestle it, and got some generators made and up on my website.
Some fantasy writing prompts, urban fantasy and even a silly deity and religion generator. The prompts and content contained in these prompts are just ¼ of the prompt material I have, and yet you can create countless stories using them. I have plans for the full list, and for MORE! J - Character and Writing Work with Tarot and Cards.
The vagueness of this bingo square was my downfall. Yes, I did some tarot work for creative writing, added some flavor to characters using some various card decks I have, but did I do a lot of it? No. I changed this to just doing Tarot work, but again, the vagueness of it meant I really couldn’t claim a win for this one.
Working with decks is great for some amazing and surprising character traits and plot twists, but I also need to do some personal work with it. I don’t know how I can fold that into the bingo, perhaps I won’t this year. - Update and Maintain Websites.
This was a big win for me this year. I have managed to publish a blog each month for Written Off Writing, and I have a list of topics for 2026. I know that more original content is better, but once a month for someone with a full-time job is good.
Plus my Matthew Farmer website got a refresh thanks to my friend giving it to me as a birthday gift. I updated and made my portfolio actually really good, for which I was complimented twice by a recruiter and someone trying to give me a job. - Complete 2nd Draft of Homecoming Queen.
This is one of those goals which you can see the end line but it just doesn’t fill me with joy. I love the chaos of the first draft, rewriting not so much. I don’t have the separation, or I don’t have the heartlessness to REALLY edit my work. Editing takes time. You need to crawl through each scene, pick it apart, and sew it back together. But I like what I wrote and why can’t my first draft be perfect?
I have about 7 chapters left to edit, and I would love the time to do it slowly, but we know that time flies, and it is difficult to devote such time when there is so many other things to do. Yeah, sounds like an excuse, but this is one of the learning aspects of doing the bingo. I was able to write 50k words in November, but I was not able to edit 13 chapters in a whole year? This is something I need to look at. - Visit 5 Street Libraries
Did this! There are many in and around where I live, and tragically one was removed before the end of the year. I keep forgetting to PUT books back in there, so I will alter this for 2026 to seed 5 street libraries.
I do like that on my Google Maps it has the locations of street libraries. Next time I am in a suburb I am not familiar with, I’m going to go searching. - Frog Pond
The back corner of the block is where we will build the frog pond. It is going to be my big project. However, the back fence is crap and needs to be fixed. No point trying to do some serious landscaping if the dogs are trying to get through the gap.
I did go to an information about frog ponds at my local nursery, discovered they like still water, not running water, so that was good.
We all agreed this was a rather large bingo card item and it is totally fine that I did not tick it off. Lesson learned? Look at the R in SMART goals and realise that it was not very reasonable. - Visit at Least 1 Op Shop Each Weekend.
Again, while we did visit lots of op shops, and if I spread the total out over the weekends it would be more than 52, this is such a hard one to do EVERY weekend.
We did a few great weekends when different councils did a Support your Op Shop weekend trails, and we visited some of those whacky huge antique/junk markets. However, having to do this every weekend got a little too much so technically I didn’t hit this one. - Frame a friend’s Art and hang it on the Wall.
I asked an artist friend of mine to draw some crumply leaves for our house. She did, and then I found a cheap frame and hung it.
This one was interesting because I wanted to get a fancy frame because it was original art done by a friend. She told me- just get a picture frame and hang it. You want the art, not the frame. - Read 10 Books.
I read 6 books, but I am working out a good schedule for 2026 to read more. That whole ‘wasting time’ mindset, and the need to be productive keeps hamstringing my efforts to read. I could be DOING something. And yet, each time I read, my mind gets filled with ideas. I know, to be a good writer you need to be a good reader, and I am trying to get betterer.
I am going to keep my book score at 10 for 2026 and hope to beat it. I am also going to put a couple of non-fiction books on that TBR list, as I do have a few of those that are meant to improve my life 😉 - Do More Miniature Painting.
Again, you see the vague nature of this goal? Technically, I sat down for a session, painted some bits of miniature, but then fell down and didn’t finish. But, I painted.
Yeah, it’s something I want to get back into. A bunch of us did it online during lockdown and it was great. They’ve kept it up, I haven’t. I do struggle with fine detail and having bad eyesight, but these are excuses. There is a plan, and I am going to be more specific with my painting goals in 2026. - Use my Local Library to Borrow Books.
No, this didn’t happen. I even got the Libby app, but the library didn’t have the books I wanted to read. My to-be-read pile is already huge, so why would I add to it with that sense of time pressure to return the book?
I love libraries. They’re one of the last places you can hang out without any expectation of spending money. They are a refuge, a quiet place to be, a place you can slow down. They are a great community resource. But I don’t need (?) to borrow books. The idea is great, perhaps I can reframe this for the new year. - Use the Slow Cooker.
Much like the cheesecake, I pretty much did nothing with this one, until the very last day of the year when I made ramen. And it was good ramen. I am planning on making meals in advance in 2026, to take to work as lunch, so the slow cooker should come into play a lot more. SHOULD. - More Bookcases in my Study
Yep, did this one. Measured up, got some shelves from Ikea, put them together and they sit well on the wall opposite my wardrobe bookcase. And my study doesn’t feel more cramped at all.
I now have that 1st world problem of having my big bookcase in the wardrobe over there, and the display bookcase on the wall. - Prototype Hex-Deck.
This I didn’t achieve. I have an idea for a word-based game that needs hexagonal cards. A friend says she knows a place in Adelaide that might be able to help. It seemed to get a bit too complicated during the year.
It might be on the list for 2026, but I also think I may park it for the moment. - Book-binding workshop
I tried three times to do this class in 2025, and all 3 times they cancelled. I was given the sticker for this card because I did legitimately try.
Good news is we have booked again for February, AND another friend is doing the same in January. I have plans to have a little book-binding group to make books. I want to gift notebooks to friends. - Find Creative Workshops in my Local Area
Both of us looked and kept an eye out on council websites, but either the workshops available were during weekdays, or there weren’t any. It was a bit disappointing.
I need to do a more thorough search of the area for other alternative community hubs. I also try to keep an eye on places like the Wheeler Centre, but those classes sell out super quick!
I also wonder if I NEED workshops for creative writing. There are other creative pursuits I can muster up. There was a zine-making group in the Eltham Library way back at the start of the year that I discovered when I walked in there one day. Zines are cool. - At Least 12 Parkstrolls.
This is a lifestyle goal, a fitness goal. And I did 13 during 2025 so YES! I got this one, and completed it right after Xmas, ha!
I did a couple with headphones and podcasts, so two birds, one stone, or one stroll?
So there you go, my wins and not-wins for my Creative Life Bingo. I am okay with what I achieved and what I didn’t. There are reasons I didn’t, be they too vague a goal, or I just wasn’t captivated by the goal.
I have also learned to possibly not have too many long-term goals as it feels it takes too long to achieve them.
I will report when my 2026 Bingo card is ready to go.
