Looking forward
I thought Bethanne made a pretty good post reflecting on what she has achieved. I wish I’d managed half as much!
My little list is much shorter, I assure you. Though I didn’t get pregnant in… ever. 
Still, her list prompted me to wonder… what do I want to achieve in 2009?
Apart from the obvious — to have a book bought, and published.
I’d like to be more assertive. I really suck at it, I think.
So what kind of resolutions do writers generally make? Write more, read more, submit, query… We all make those resolutions, I’m sure.
A friend of mine once said: "A New Years Resolution is a To-Do-List for the first week of January."
Considering that’s about as long as most people stick to their resolutions, he’s probably not far off.
Here are some of mine which may not be on the general "Writers Resolutions" list.
- Critique more. (I have been terribly slack!)
- Be more helpful. (I think sometimes I could help more. I’ll make a point of it this year.)
- Be more open to other people’s writing. (I’m talking genres. I hate chick lit, for instance.)
- Be more vigilant when it comes to the tone of my critiques. (I can sound very very harsh without meaning to.)
- I need to query and submit the books I write. (Yeah, yeah, I know… but it scares me.)
- I need to finish the damned things, too! (Well, one is, but I need to finish the other one.)
- Get more organized. (I’m the queen of messy desks!)
- Write at least 250 words a day, every day. (It’s not a lot, I can do this! More if I can, but never less.)
- Keep my darn blog up to date! (Wow I haven’t blogged much there at all lately!)
- Stop procrastinating and finding excuses for why I couldn’t write. I’m only lying to myself, after all.
So… there you have it.
But my Number 1. resolution isn’t on that list.
It’s "Be nice to everyone, regardless. Don’t whine, don’t complain. Shed the old negative self."
It’s a tall order, believe me!
