I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, except in my mind. If they stay there, nobody needs to know if I accomplish them or not. I do make a New Year’s list. It’s shorter, broader, and serves as a reminder, more than an action plan.
So here it is:
1. Try writing humor. Just once. No need to fret if you don’t succeed. Humor is hard because it’s subjective.
2. Try writing something in the first-person point of view. A whole book? Tough enough to do blog posts. This is a maybe.
3. Try plotting a whole book before you sit down to write. Ugh. I’m a “seat of the pants” writer also known as a pantser. I get an idea, an opening, an ending. Then I go.
4. Limit the number of Ghiradelli chocolate squares you eat each week. Perhaps when all the Christmas chocolate is gone I might consider this.
5. Try following through on some of those ideas from all the marketing classes you take on line. Hmph. Maybe I like taking classes more than I like selling books.
6. Before the end of January (or maybe February) clear the junk from the top of your desk so you can see if it’s still made of wood, or if paper is now embedded in the top.
7. (This one from Captain Mark, my long-suffering spouse): Quit making lists and just do it.
If I had done a “list” last year, it might have looked like this: read a few books in a genre you don’t write (sci-fi); gain eight pounds (my favorite); publish two books (should have been more); learn to appreciate what you have, not what you’ve lost (tough, but can be done); stay positive even when it’s hard (that’s where the chocolate comes in).
Do you make resolutions, have goals or lists? Happy New Year.
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Fun read! I like your lists….mine, not so much
I make lists too. Resolutions don’t work for me, but to some extent lists do. My lists, these days are not so much about work or professional issues, they are about making my life work at this age. Wouldn’t be hard if arthritis pain didn’t rule my existence. I am going to steal one of your list items from last year’s proposed list: “learn to appreciate what you have, not what you’ve lost” . I’m working on this, but would appreciate “how to” hints. The holes in the tapestry of my life expand with each lost friend, companion, family member, colleague, correspondent. Often the fabric seems to have disappeared altogether. Each individual seems more irreplaceable than the last. What do you use to fill the empty spaces?
It’s very hard to remain positive sometimes, especially with the pain of arthritis. I’m temporarily in a wheelchair because of it, awaiting my referral to an orthopedist, so I can empathize. As we get older, the number of lost friends grows. To me, this is probably the most depressing part of aging. But I have a home, food, an active brain, and wonderful memories. I also have stories to tell, as do we all. I encourage you to write your own story because, from what little I know, it would be a heck of a read. Get to it, girl.
I don’t go ANYWHERE without my lists!!! And I keep mini-lists on my monthly work calendar grids. In fact, I probably started making lists before kindergarten…it’s partly because I’m usually juggling several things at once, but these days it’s more about making sure I complete my editing projects on or before the date I promised.
Think I’m gonna tack your list onto my list.
And as for the chocolate? I love the idea of comforting myself when I reach for chocolate, and only then remember what happens to me when I eat it, that now I can tell myself that Pam’s eating mine for me, and savoring every bite. Makes it easier, somehow.
Cheers, Faith
I am happy to eat chocolate on your behalf. Consider it done.
I think chocolate was invented before water. And Mary See should be Sainted.
But in regards to lists, yes I too keep them now otherwise I would be making several trips to the market or hardware store for the items I forgot. And sometimes I make a list here at home like to call Pam rather than be on here. And it all stems from a lack of memory which age seems to progress. However, I have found two ways to overcome it. One: Gamericy on here with corrects my spelling (did I really spell that right?) and Two: my old journals from work, which I still continue to keep up to date.
The original purpose of the journals was to keep track of my work/hours when I was in the construction business and then at the City of San Juan Capistrano (yes Pam, boy do I have some stories to blackmail with), The journals included space for weekend/evenings so it bled into my personal life. This has become handy in helping me recall what the hell happened from age 24 till now. They sure show the ups and downs of my life and how I ended up at Ups and Downs in Oceanside and without them, I might have a vague idea of what happened. But I doubt it.