Six months into 2012, our New Year’s resolutions may have lost some of their luster. Mine haven’t but that’s only because I never make any! As I’m not a very good long term planner, resolving to do anything for a whole year only seems like setting myself up for failure. But summer is a nice manageable chunk of time in which I might actually be able to keep the promises I make to myself.
When it comes to writing, I always find winter the easiest season for keeping focused. In the lazier pace of summer (my favorite season, despite having lost our power in Friday’s massive storm) I tend to lose my resolve. So here is a list of the five summer resolutions I have made to guide me through the next couple of months, and maybe beyond:
1) I resolve to write for two hours a day, five days a week, without interruption.
2) In order to accomplish the above, I will turn off my computer during the writing period. For me, this will mean writing in a room other than my office where the big monitor of my desktop calls seductively. It also means abandoning my laptop; ergo, I will be writing by hand. Woo-hoo! I get to take a preparatory field trip to Office Depot where I will select some crisp yellow legal pads and a package of new pens with exactly the right hand feel as well as flow and thickness of ink. My current fave is the Pilot B2P gel pen, medium point.
3) I will start a poem exchange. That means finding a partner who will pledge with me to write a poem a day (I’m hoping this will be my daughter). The idea is to check in at the end of the day and say the poem has been written. It is not necessary to send your poem to your partner, although it’s fine to do so. No critiquing unless the other person asks for it. Success lies in just writing the poem so that you can confirm completion with your partner at the end of the day.
4) Writing can be isolating, so I’ll start a new, energizing endeavor involving other people. In my case, this will be forming a book club or play-reading club, both of which I have been talking about wanting to do for years.
5) I plan to read several autobiographies or biographies of creative people in fields other than writing, to learn more about the endlessly interesting creative process. The first is Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson. I would welcome other suggestions!
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