Happy new year
January 1st, 2007 by scott
I wonder how many blog entries entitled “Happy new year” are being written today.
I’ve never really been a new-year’s-resolution kind of guy. The calendar turning over isn’t anything all that special anymore. I’ve seen it happen often enough. But, still, there’s something about the year changing that makes me reflect on the year just over and what I’d like to accomplish over the next year.
So, without officially calling these resolutions or goals, here are some of the things I’d like to do this year:
1. Read more
I read quite a lot, actually, but there’s never enough time to read as much as I’d like. I’m already four volumes into the 38-volume Shakespeare collection I got for Christmas, reading them in alphabetical order, except that I started with Twelfth Night, since I was already about halfway through it on Christmas. Once my vacation ends and I go back to work tomorrow, I can’t expect to read nearly a whole play a day, but I want to tackle as big a chunk of this collection as I can this year. A complete collection of Shakespeare is one of the greatest tools a writer can have in his tool box, but only if they are read. I also want to read more children’s and young adult books this year, including many that aren’t normally what I’d seek out, so I can understand the current market and reading trends better–and because books for young readers are often way more fun to read than those written for adults.
2. Write more
This is always on my list. The rule that a writer should write every day is a tough one, and I haven’t lived it yet. Well, that’s not really true. Because I make my living as a technical writer, I do write nearly every day. But I need to make more time for my creative writing. I’ve got to get Loom of Fate out the door, finish Even The Smallest Creature, and get going on Kitchen Girl, which I’ve been plotting and planning for more than a year now. It’s ready to break out of my head and be written, and it’s time to get it going.
3. Spend more time with my family
I love spending time with my family, and do it as much as I can. It’s never enough. I’m happiest when I’m with them.
4. Have more fun at work
I don’t mean goof around more, I mean have more fun doing what I get paid to do.
There seems to be a theme. Everything has to do with time. Even the work thing–if I manage my time better at work, I’m stressed less and enjoy my job more, and have more opportunity to think about creative solutions to problems, which is really fun for me.
So maybe I should delete all of those hopes and replace them with just one–
Find or make a few more minutes every day to do more of what I already do, so I can enjoy doing even more of it.
Now that’s a resolution I can live with.
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Doggerybaw » Blog Archive » Halfway wrote on 07/16/07 at 8:06 am :
[…] The year’s half over. Time to look at the goals I wrote in this blog on January 1.1. Read more.I’ve been tracking my reading this year. Although I’ve slowed down a bit lately because of other things, I’m still reading. Plus, I’ve read a number of things that are outside of my usual reading habits, and have some more planned. […]