New Year, Same Ol’ Squirrel
It’s 2022. Not only that, it’s the first Wednesday of 2022, making it Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Happy New Year!
IWSG Question of the Month – What’s the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?
I’m skipping the question because to answer, I feel I would have to consider writing a career for me. It’s not. I’m strictly a hobbyist. Always have been, always will, despite my foray into selling books some years back. I write for the enjoyment of it and nothing rides on me succeeding or failing. Regrets? Pfft! It’s all learning and improvement.
Let’s talk goals for a sec. This year, my only writing goal is this: finish something. Anything. Maybe it’ll be my companion novel. Maybe it’ll be flash of my characters reacting to an assassin. Maybe it’ll be a fresh draft of a massive rewrite (unlikely). All I know, is that I just want to call something done this year. Is that too much to ask?
My goals in other areas are a bit more verbose. In the health and fitness realm, I want to stick to 11-7 fasting on workdays, limit my Red Bull consumption to just days off, and abstain from alcohol the whole year. I also want to complete a GMB Fitness program, which is focused on flexibility and mobility. I’ve given up my aspirations to weigh 120lbs with only 18% body fat and six-pack abs. Now, I aim for something more reasonable: being able to move without hurting myself. I’m going to be 40 this year, and I’ve already got arthritis in my wrist and a tweak in my back. That doesn’t bode well for the 40 years to follow after.
For art, I’ve got two specific goals: learn Blender (3D modeling software) and complete a course on drawing human anatomy. The first one has no practical applications for me right now. I just want the skills so I can someday 3D print figurines of my characters. But the latter will strengthen my character drawings in the long run, and probably help when it comes to sculpting my characters in Blender. I don’t know when I’ll have time to focus on these goals, but there they are.
I think out of the above, writing is most achievable. I’ve kept consistent with getting words down in the morning, even if some days it’s less than 50. I’m not quite done with my companion novel changes that the shift in chapter 2 caused. But I have made progress and I’ve developed some ideas on how to tie in the main character’s seamstress skills into the still-nebulous final confrontation. She probably won’t be busting out the needle and thread to fight off the foe, but maybe her fashion sense can recognize trouble before it’s too late? Hmm.
What are your goals for this year? Have you ever wanted to do frivolous learning? Do you have regrets in writing?
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
