It is another new year and I find that I am still writing the same novel. I thought I would be done by now. No one can predict the unpredictabilities of life. There was a birth, job changes, moves, vacations, and bad weather. Sometimes when you are writing a novel and, yet working a full-time job or parenting a child, you find that finishing that same beloved novel idea is more of a Mt. Everest climb than just a small climb up a short hill. At the end of the climb though is a completed novel and a sense of accomplishment so great.
There is also a big learning curve. When you are writing your first novel it is exciting...until it is not. Then it is work. Writing your first novel you learn how much you really love writing and how committed you are to the process. When you start each chapter is a step-down adventure and each character is a new friend. Unless you truly love writing and see the rewards all the work it takes brings then those chapters stop coming and you are stuck on that path not going any further and those friendly characters start to be nagging burdens along the way.
When a new year starts many people create resolutions. I am going to eat better, diet and lose ten pounds, exercise more, stop swearing, work harder, or simply dress better. Ok, maybe not the last one but resolutions are the way to ring in a new year often. I used to hate going to the gym in January. It would be packed with the resolutioners. All of them hell bent to go to the gym everyday for the rest of the year. By February I had the gym all to myself again.
Writers make resolutions as well. I am going to write everyday. I am going to post more on my blog. I will post on my blog once a week. I am going to do more research. I am going to write ten poems this year, or this month. I am going to create characters that are amazing. I am going to finish my novel and maybe even finish a second novel.
A new year starts, the champagne pops, the ball drops, the kisses start, the noise makers blow and the resolutions are planned out. Writers are no different in this. But, February always starts and those resolutions have become work and in many cases, a distant memory. I have been working on my novel for years. This weekend I did finish another chapter and I have two or three more chapters left to be written before the first draft is completed. This is exciting and it would be great to say, "This year I will finish my novel." "This year I will be published."
That is not my resolution, though. I have never been a huge fan of making resolutions. They were always like making false promises or false declarations. They sound great to the ears but often end up in tears. So this year I made one resolution. It is not a promise. It is an awareness that writing and being a writer takes a lot of work. It is not all romance and adventure. It isn't a movie and it is easy. Even with my one resolution, there is an understanding about what being a writer truly is. A truly passionate writer does know the work it takes to be creative. A real writer though revels in that work. A real writer is compelled to write. It is a need like breathing or eating.
So as I ring in 2017 my resolution for the new year is to just continue writing. That is all. Just continue doing what I love. Don't just write for work or for others but write for me. I see a year of succeeding at this resolution but good luck on your diet and with your gym membership if that was yours.
