Starting Over In 2021
This past year has been strange and bewildering, to put it mildly. For many, it was down right difficult. I almost died, but I didn’t. I was admitted to the hospital this last summer for respiratory issues. I was tested for covid and it was negative. I didn’t know it then, but I was knocking on Heaven’s door. But I recovered and went home three weeks later.
I didn’t do a thing for my blog during that time, and I hadn’t written a thing for it for the rest of the year. If it were not for Nanowrimo, I wouldn’t have written a thing at all. But it’s a new year, and with that come resolutions. One of my resolutions is to resume regular blogwork. I plan to post every other Monday here on A Word Fitly Spoken. In 2018 I started a Christian Apologetics blog called This Is My Father’s World. It, too, was neglected. I plan to post every other Monday there, as well, and have something to go up on each blog on alternating weeks.
If you’re a writer, you may have made some Creative Writing resolutions. Maybe you need to but could use some help on a few ideas. I hope this steers you in the right direction as I hope they do for me, as well.
Write every day – This does not mean compose new material every day. It means do things that apply to the work of writing. This could be research, editing, or outlining. Some of my best days’ work was ont in a recliner with my eyes closed. Read regularly – Don’t read now and then and when you have the time. Select a few books for the month or the year. Select from the classics, and not anything poplit. Make them diverse. Read them for the escapism and the enjoyment, but also to see how the masters got their best works done. Set goals – Give yourself deadlines like a real author. One of the benefits of Nano is trying to get 50,000 words in a month. Reward yourself for meeting a deadline and punish yourself for missing one, but not too harshly. Have a work space – i used to type on a tv tray by my recliner. It was more like a guy pecking at something that was nothing more than a hobby. Now I have a desk and a chair. It’s like real work, because it is. Make a schedule – This goes along with the idea of making deadlines. You know your life better than anyone. Don’t write when you get time. Set aside time to write and do nothing but in that time. I used to write first thing in the morning until lunch. Now I do better from lunch until dinner. I can write at other times if I wish, but I have to write when I am scheduled to, just like with showing up for a job.
I hope these helped you as they have me. I feel fully challenged for the up and coming year. Look out world! Give me room, and eat my jetwash!
