Ah, the New Year. A time for reflecting and resolutions. Time for the obligatory post of the year, where I write something profound and inspirational. Or not.
First, to 2016. Good riddance. Not every day was a terrible day, but there were plenty of days that sucked, and plenty of days where I wondered what the hell I was doing and the weight of temporary unhappiness fell on me like a ton of bricks. There were some good days, like the day I did yoga on the field of Dodger Stadium. I'm not a yoga person, but it was pretty cool to stand on the grass and look up at the stands. So there was that. I also released my novel, which sold about a dozen copies. It was a proud achievement for me, even though the resulting readership was less than stellar. But that's okay. I can write more books. Eventually more than just my mom and my friends will want to read them. Or I'll get more friends.
Now, to 2017. There's plenty to think about here. In the past, I have made half-hearted resolutions that are forgotten in seven days or less. But this year, I didn't make resolutions. I made goals. Big goals. And I broke them down into little steps so that I can have a daily plan to get to the big goals. They fall into a few categories, but the main goal is writing. And it's a BIG one. The goal is to write 1,000 words every day of the year, which is not a small task. Sure, there will be days that I write more and days that I write less, but the point is to write. This year, I'm concentrating on short stories for the most part, and I plan to write enough that there will be one story for every week of the year, for a total of 52. Yup, that's a big one. But the point is to get better, and writing a lot will help get me there. And, as Ray Bradbury said, you can't write 52 bad stories in a row. Perhaps I'll prove him wrong!
I know there is no reason to believe that merely flipping the calendar from December to January will create any sort of change in the world or myself, but it is a good place for beginnings, and so here I am at the beginning. I'm looking forward to meeting the December 31, 2017 version of me, and am excited to go on that journey. If you'd like to read along on this journey with me, well, the more the merrier!
First, to 2016. Good riddance. Not every day was a terrible day, but there were plenty of days that sucked, and plenty of days where I wondered what the hell I was doing and the weight of temporary unhappiness fell on me like a ton of bricks. There were some good days, like the day I did yoga on the field of Dodger Stadium. I'm not a yoga person, but it was pretty cool to stand on the grass and look up at the stands. So there was that. I also released my novel, which sold about a dozen copies. It was a proud achievement for me, even though the resulting readership was less than stellar. But that's okay. I can write more books. Eventually more than just my mom and my friends will want to read them. Or I'll get more friends.
Now, to 2017. There's plenty to think about here. In the past, I have made half-hearted resolutions that are forgotten in seven days or less. But this year, I didn't make resolutions. I made goals. Big goals. And I broke them down into little steps so that I can have a daily plan to get to the big goals. They fall into a few categories, but the main goal is writing. And it's a BIG one. The goal is to write 1,000 words every day of the year, which is not a small task. Sure, there will be days that I write more and days that I write less, but the point is to write. This year, I'm concentrating on short stories for the most part, and I plan to write enough that there will be one story for every week of the year, for a total of 52. Yup, that's a big one. But the point is to get better, and writing a lot will help get me there. And, as Ray Bradbury said, you can't write 52 bad stories in a row. Perhaps I'll prove him wrong!
I know there is no reason to believe that merely flipping the calendar from December to January will create any sort of change in the world or myself, but it is a good place for beginnings, and so here I am at the beginning. I'm looking forward to meeting the December 31, 2017 version of me, and am excited to go on that journey. If you'd like to read along on this journey with me, well, the more the merrier!
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