Ah, the beginning of a new year. A fresh start! Though it must be acknowledged that January has elements of looking back, as well as looking forward. Thus far, I’m satisfied with how I’m starting the year (hangover notwithstanding). I’ve mentioned that I set goals rather than resolutions; I like working towards making my life different in some way rather than deciding it is different. It’s change over time, rather than abrupt change. I don’t feel like, if I don’t meet the self-imposed challenge of the day, I’ve ruined everything. Off days are all right. Failures are all right. Everything is a part of the process of growth and self-improvement. I can’t say to you that I’ve done so many things so far this January… and I think that’s fine. If I threw myself entirely into the whole business of life in such a way I’d burn myself out. What’s important to me is the focus, the making the time, the decision, to get things done.
My hobonichi techo cousin has been a great help in that and I’m enjoying using it immensely. I love this thing. It’s a great little tool that already feels part of my life. I can doodle, I can watercolour, and most importantly I can plan.
So. Reflecting back. What did last year bring?
I blogged more often. Not with any sort of regularity, because I am hopeless, but I gave Blaugust a good go. I had fun with it, and it was good for the blog, but I don’t anticipate doing it again this year. (It’s a long time till August, though. Who knows.) In 2016, I’d like to blog on a schedule. Tuesdays and Fridays – which will work out as Mondays and Thursdays for the Americas, but one can’t control the international date line. If I miss a day, I miss a day. I’m not terribly worried about that. But in case I have any regular readers (one can hope) who don’t follow me on social media, they will know when to expect new content from me.
Submission-wise, I only sent my work off to two journals and both submissions were rejected. I feel a bit gun-shy, actually. Rejections are part and parcel of the whole thing. They’re a part of a writing life. I follow Writing Career on tumblr, and diligently favourite everything that looks interesting, but somehow never get around to submitting anything. It’s fear, I think. I don’t know what of. Perhaps I’m afraid some rejection will come with a message telling me, kindly, that I’m terrible and should give up writing. This is, I think, rather unlikely. Even if I am terrible I doubt a magazine will take the trouble to let me know. (I hope.) This year I’ve set no goals for submissions, number-wise, but if I can get maybe one a month in I will feel good about it. More than last year is an improvement. At any rate, when it comes to a writer’s crippling self-doubt, I’m hardly alone.
Writing-wise, it was something of a failure. I set down half a draft of a novel that I am still scratching away at, which is good. I wrote a few poems that I like. I posted some things on here that I hope people enjoyed. But I wasn’t writing with the necessary regularity. How am I going to keep posting things if nothing gets down on paper? I’ll run out, and then where will I be? I’ve decided this year to write five days a week, at least. I’ll need to write frequently at any rate if I’m to complete a portfolio in the creative writing course I’ve signed up for. My great problem is that I tend to start my day by checking twitter. That is not helpful. Instead of distracting myself I need to have my morning coffee and get right down to it. This little daily schedule looks like just the ticket. Happily, Mr. Meyer instructs the wayward writer to begin the day with an exercise or a blog post. I doubt I’ll post most of them, but it will get me tapping away at drafts, which I can then schedule, so I don’t forget that, oh, today is Tuesday and I’m meant to write a blog post.
I’ve been seeing people blogging about their best and worst moments of 2015, and honestly I couldn’t tell you what mine were. On reflection, the whole year seems like a blur. I wonder to myself what it was I actually did. What was the year like? Was it a good one? Did I achieve anything? I feel like the entire thing was just a build-up to this year. Laying groundwork. A foundation year, perhaps. That’s very positive, and the best part is that 2016 will, hopefully, be the year things happen. Which is exciting.
Here’s to a productive 2016.