Happy New Year!
I hope whatever celebrations you engaged in last night are not preventing you from enjoying the first day of our new decade. I always get a little melancholy on New Year's Eve, but New Year's Day brings fresh perspective and I'm ready to start the new year.
Over the holiday, I got some good advice from a friend. We were talking about my novel and how the re-write was going, and as usual I complained it is, at times, a mind-numbing process. Trying to come up with just the right word or phrase is tedious for me, and since I am also working on fixing the structure I am finding it difficult to move forward.
That's when she said "Maybe you're trying to do too much at once."
Upon hearing this, I had what Oprah calls an "aha! moment." She's right! I am trying to do too much at once! It suddenly seemed silly that I was working so hard on the writing when the structure of the novel is still a little uncertain. The dots need to be connected first, then I can work on perfecting the language. I came home from my Christmas vacation up north with renewed energy for completing this novel.
Unfortunately, what might work for my re-write does not necessarily apply to the rest of life. It is impossible to concentrate on only one thing at a time when so many things need to get done at once. My solution is to have one main priority to which all other things come second.
I have three resolutions for the New Year:
1) Finish Diary of Bedlam
2) Lose the 15 pounds I've gained while writing Diary of Bedlam
3) Begin working on other writing projects
2010 will be the year of my novel. It won't be published by the end of 2010 of course, but I plan to be well on my way. That might be too optimistic, but I certainly know I won't get farther by being pessimistic or uncertain about it. All other things--the weight, the other writing, whatever--will take a back seat to the NOVEL.
But what about you? What is your number one priority for the new year? Whatever your New Year's Resolutions are, or if there are none, I wish you all a happy and productive 2010!
