Happy new year!
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Are you cold enough yet? It’s been seriously cold down my end of the world, and pretty much all over the UK, this week. What a way to start 2010. It was almost enough to make me think that maybe the idiots who think the world comes to an end in 2012 (amazing what people’s inability to read deeper than hokum books by new-agers and the odd sensationalist headline can do) might be on to something.
Of course this has led to a wonderful increase in those “So much for global warming!” comments. Anyway let’s not get in to that right now, suffice to say as humorous as that might be once (I’ve said it a couple of times, I’ll admit) they are completely wrong. Global warming is snow joke…sorry.
The weather has caused massive inconvenience across the country and I was snowed out for two days this week, and if the weather reports are right that could happen again next week. I’m the first to admit that I did enjoy the two days off, running (carefully) around in the snow and seeing all the snowmen that littered the streets within minutes was fun, but it has meant a bit more pressure in the production of the next issue of Acoustic. Ah well, I’m sure we’ll manage and I’ve been set up to work remotely now, which is good. I guess.
Of course a new year brings new resolutions: to exercise more, quit that bad habit, do that thing you’ve been meaning to do for the last ten new years and so on. I’ve never been a big one for them, as most people I know who’ve tried to undertake them end up failing in the first couple of weeks. But after reading an article on why most people fail I decided to make one.
Yes that’s right one. Apparently one of the main reasons people fail so miserably to keep their resolutions is that they make too many. “I’m gonna give up smoking (for the third time) and go to the gym three times a week, lose a stone, watch less TV, drink less and become a vegetarian.” Then 3 weeks later they find themselves watching Corrie in their underpants, cramming mouthfuls of choclate eclair down their gob in between drags on a Silk Cut and then washing it down with half a bottle of Pinot Grigio. And the bathroom scales are in the loft.
Not me though. Oh no. I made one resolution. What was it? That’s right to write everyday. Yeah I know I go on about the writing thinga fair bit. Like you, I (my girlfriend) got sick of hearing me say it and not doing it enough. So my resolution was simply that: to write everyday. No word counts, no time limit. Just write.
What’s the point without a goal? Why do I need another goal? The second reason people fail, according to the research, is that they set their targets too high, fail to hit them and then think “Why fucking bother?” and that’s that. By setting the bar so low it means I don’t get disheartened.
If all I manage is 100 words. So what? I sat down to write and that’s all I intended to do. Plus I’m 100 words closer to the end of my novel. If I get into a groove and hammer out 2,000 words then I shut my computer down with a feeling of great satisfaction.
And you know what? It’s working. I’ve written every day and got the first draft of my novel up from 8000 words to nearly 17000 in two weeks. Not bad going.
I’ve also paid heed to some advice from Ian Fleming: On the first draft, don’t look back. If you do you’re lost. Get it finished then worry about the rubbish afterwards, otherwise you’ll never finish and you’ll hate what you do write.
Wise words and absolutely true. I’m having a blast hurtling on, putting my protagonist through the wringer, letting the bad guy be a complete bastard and not worrying about every time I use an adverb…or oh was that sentence in the passive…actually now I look at it not only is it passive but it’s a bit clunky too…I just used the word slam four times on one page…shit did I just tell instead of show? Oh god the literati are knocking on the door, I better just give up now…
You get the picture.
So, whoever reads this: what were your new year resolutions and have you managed to stick to them? More importantly, do you feel any better for having stuck to them?
Oh yeah. I dedicate this post to Dan Hobday. Just because he found my website by random chance and sent me a message. See you at work Dan!
