Today was a double-holiday for me – Thanksgiving, as well as my birthday. Since holidays – especially birthdays – tend to be significant time markers, it seems to be a good time to resume my blog again. A kind of reboot: Writing On Time, Version 2.0.
Looking back over my previous blog posts, I realized that I haven’t kept up with the blog since June, when I wrote a memorial to my aunt. That’s about five months. Between work and personal issues, I let the time get away from me, and I wasn’t as creatively productive as I want to be.
But birthdays can be a chance for renewal, so I’m renewing my writing goals, but this time, it’s with a realistic framework, given the current circumstances in this life.
It’s a demanding time at work – tomorrow is Black Friday, and Christmas is just a month away. A lot of my physical and mental energy will be spent on making it through the frenzied retail holiday season – “without being taken out of the bookstore in handcuffs, or a straightjacket, or a body bag,” as I always say! And I’ll spend my hours away from the store trying to catch up on rest, and trying to see my family and some friends.
I know I won’t have much time or mental clarity to focus on any long writing projects, at least until the New Year. But I’ll try to keep my thoughts connected to my two novel projects that have been on the front-burner in my mind, and I’ll make notes, work on character profiles and plot points, and write scenes as often as I can. I’ll also write in my journal every day that I can, and I’ll try to post a lot more often in this blog.
And, since it’s Thanksgiving, I’m thinking of all the things that I’m grateful for in this life: My family, and the fact that they’re all here and healthy enough to celebrate this Thanksgiving together. Ian and my friends and extended family – I never get to spend enough time with many of them ( if Ian and I didn’t live together, we would never get to see each other!) but I really appreciate them all. All of my favorite books, music, movies and television shows – they are so creatively inspiring, and also provide a great distraction from the stresses of day to day life. And most of all, my writing ability – I could never imagine this life and everything in this world (and beyond) without being able to see it all through a writer’s eyes and with a writer's mind.
So I think I need to honor this writing ability by renewing my commitment to writing. I will try my best to stay motivated, despite the time constraints and the ups and downs that may occur in the coming year. And, hopefully, it will be a much more productive time for me.
One of my birthday presents this year was from my sister, who’s a very creative and artistic multi-media craftsperson. She gave me some beautiful hand-beaded jewelry, and some pretty and cozy hand-crocheted accessories. But the best thing was this simple and inspiring framed print –
I’ve put it near my desk and Ian’s computer, so every time I sit down to write I can see it, and all of the components that make up a book and my writer’s life. I’ll work my way through my Fiction Stories, and bring my Characters to life, in Plots that I hope will be interesting. I’ll write Page by Page, until the Chapters build up, and one day (soon, I hope) I’ll type The End, and I’ll be the Author of a finished Book.
And hopefully, one day soon, I’ll be able to ask my sister to make up a new, revised print and add a word that will show my ultimate writing goal fulfilled – Published.
