New Year’s Resolutions.

I don’t usually make any. My New Year’s Resolution for as long as I can remember has been to not make any. Part of it has been a large dose of can’t be bothered, and part more to do with a lack of drive to change anything.

I’ve never smoked, don’t need to diet, and really can’t be doing with joining a gym or similar fitness thing. There’s been no real point to making any sort of resolution for me. Until now. This last year has been a race to keep up with life, and changes in daily routine – or lack thereof. I’d settled into a steady pattern that had become so comfortable that I wasn’t writing. Then things got mixed up and the routine was lost, but I still wasn’t writing.

So, time to get that writing harness back on, and change the pattern again, and why not do it now and call it a resolution? Now is a good a time as any other.

OK then, what is a “Resolution” exactly? And how can I make this work?

noun
1a firm decision to do or not to do something:
she kept her resolution not to see Anne any more
a New Year’s resolution
(From the Oxford Dictionary)

A firm decision. Got that. For me, for it to work, it has to be measurable, ongoing and consistent. It also has to have a goal, an end result, a target to aim for. I’m thinking of that old management favourite; S.M.A.R.T.

Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
Assignable – specify who will do it.
Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

Specific: I need to get back into writing every day. I have a couple of books in mind, and I have 1 in particular I want to see finished. It’s a YA/Teen story and it could be fun.

Measurable: My resolution is to write a minimum of 500 words Every. Single. Day. Starting as soon as the kids go back to school on January 7th.

Assignable: Well, that’d be me then. Can we use “Accountable” instead? This is why I’m blogging my resolution, so you can cheer me along, or nag if you prefer. That’s why there’s a word counter thing on the side bar there on the left. Please feel free to nudge me in the comments or on Facebook if I don’t update it.

Realistic: 500 words every day is well within my capabilities and it’s a small goal I know I can fit in every day, even if I have a stupidly busy day. Just half an hour and I can do 500 words.

Time: Or Target, that’d work for “T” too. My goal here is to see the first draft of a new novel by Easter. 500 words a day should produce that with ease. I should be thinking about edits and book covers over Easter Eggs.

Wish me luck…