Writing Resolutions
We just passed Beltane Day, May 1st, the mid-day between spring and summer. Time for some Beltane writing resolutions. They say most New Year’s resolutions are broken by January 12th. I’m happy to say I lasted a lot longer than that with my New Year’s writing resolutions. (We won’t talk about the other non-writing resolutions.) But I still fell short of my goal to have the first draft of my re-written novel done by the end of March. What happened?
The problem with novels that aren’t about to be published is, there’s no timeline, there’s no real deadline, there’s only you and the pages in front of you. I can drift off, find other things that excite me more, or let resistance overcome until I’m hardly working on my novel at all.
Setting Goals
Setting goals is good and can help shape our writing process. But if we stick to our goals too rigidly, we lose some of our spontaneity and what can make writing fun. We can’t follow the muse. So while putting your “nose to the grindstone” will get you so far, eventually it saps the life out of the whole project.
Creative Play
We have to leave room for play, room to be creative and have fun. After all, that’s why we do this. I’d been listening to an author interview and I caught that little bit of gold I’m always searching for, advice that will bring something new in me out. This author talked about always having many projects on the go. Then if she didn’t feel like working on one, she’d move to the other.
I found myself drawn to a flash fiction contest. It was a short piece so it felt manageable. I also had this idea that it would feel good to write a piece and finish it! Now, there’s a novel concept. So I did.
And right after I finished that, another short-story competition opened up that I had wanted to enter. It’s only 2500 words, not much longer than my flash fiction piece, so still manageable. And while I was working on both these pieces, I saw a trailer for Malcolm Gladwell’s Masterclass, that drew me in.
Which all means that I have plenty to do in my little window of writing time. There’s no time for resistance. If I don’t feel like working on one project, I can quickly move to an alternative project. Yay, it works. The writer was right.
Getting Back to Goals
Because I’ve been working on all these side projects, away from my novel, now I can’t wait to get back to it. I feel a fire burning inside to get back to the story I really want to write. And working on these short stories reminded me how to come up with new ideas and spark creativity back into my novel project.
Writing feeds writing, no matter what kind. And taking courses and reading and meeting with other writers, stokes the desire to write. So I’m okay that I missed my New Year’s resolution goals on my novel. It’s Beltane day, so time to make some more resolutions. I can always break them later. I’m pretty sure each month has a day to celebrate, and an excuse to re-think the resolutions that may no longer be working.
So make those resolutions, but don’t be afraid to break them. There’s always another holiday coming!
