Happy New Year! Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions this year? Some people don’t like to do this so they just call them ‘goals for the coming year’. After all, it’s 2024 and the holidays are over. So, it’s time to shake the cobwebs out of our heads and get back to work. We all have accomplishments we all want to do this year. I know I do and I hope you do too. Maybe these are writing related and maybe they’re just improvements in our lives. Whichever, they’re important! I know I do and I hope you do too. Here are a few of mine:
My first resolution falls under improving my life and I make it every year. Lose weight. I make this promise to myself for years. This one is a battle I’ve been fighting for years. This year’s going to be different. I just know it!
The rest are all writing related.
Christmas is over, the decorations have been taken down and are put away for another year, so it’s time to get back to business as usual.
Make sure that KidzTales is updated. It seems that my site needs a change a lot. I read somewhere once where an author’s website is static! I’m not finding this to be altogether true.
Organize my writing space. I’ve been working on this one for quite a few years. I’m getting better at this one but it’s not accomplished to my satisfaction. How do you do this? You know the old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its’ place?” I have a few suggestions for this.
#1 Take a half hour or so before the end of your day to accomplish this. Honestly, I should’ve mastered this years ago. The reason I failed here is because I don’t want
to stop reviewing, writing, or editing to do this. The concept is very simple. You
know those writing books you refer to during your writing time? Put them back on the bookshelf where they started out. Maybe these started out in your desk drawer.
#2 You say you don’t have a place for all your pens, notes, and other writing essentials? No problem! Take a trip to your local Dollar Store or Wal-Mart and buy some of those small storage containers. You can even pick up pretty baskets to place on your desk for these.
#3 Do you have too many writing books and not enough space to hold them? I was in this predicament in another apartment I used to live in. Go to your Dollar Store, Wal-Mart, or the store of your choice. There you can pick up those larger storage containers. This sounds like a silly idea, but it works when you’re tight on space.
Make proofreading and reviewing a daily job. Because I haven’t disciplined myself to do this. Because of my lack of discipline, the books I’m proofreading and reviewing get done slowly. This isn’t good and there’s no excuse for it. I’ve come up with a couple of ways to remedy this.
Make a to-do list. Most computer come with a to-do list built in and you can fill these out the way you want. If yours doesn’t come with this, or if you prefer to have one on paper, here are two suggestions to do your own.
#1 Buy yourself a planner. These come in a variety of prices, designs, and are sold everywhere. If you can’t buy a planner, you can buy a journal and make it your own. I think that’s what I’m going to start doing. That’s even cheaper than buying a planner!
#2 Put a writing schedule in your planner or journal. There are two ways of doing this. One way is to write a to-do list and make it firm. By this I mean to block out certain hours of the day to do certain projects. The other is the flexible schedule. The night before, make your to-do list for the following day. The next day follow that list and what you don’t get done, finish the next day. But don’t forget to add more projects to this list! I’ve tried both ways and have found that the flexible schedule works for me better.
Read more books in your genre. I have trouble in this since my reading interests are wide and varied. I guess I need more discipline here, too.
I hope I’ve given you some ideas on what to do to make your New Year happy and productive. Did you make any resolutions or do you have any plans that aren’t listed here? Let me know!
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