New year, new goals

Those new year resolutions always go out the window, don't they? Quit eating too much chocolate, start going to the gym at least twice a week, drop two dress sizes and so on. To be honest, I never bothered with them for precisely that reason. Besides, if a 'new year' resolution is worth making, it can be made when it pops into the brain, whether that be July or October.

However I'm breaking with my own (self-imposed) tradition of non-new year resolutioning, and making a few goals of my own. My first is to never buy, or to be talked into buying any sort of e-reading device, whether that be the Kindle or the Sony Reader. Sorry, the luddite in me says if I want to read a book, I want it printed on paper (apologies to the Amazon rainforest!) I do not want to read it off a screen. That's too much like sitting at a computer which equals work. I want a colourful cover which I can run my hand over, and I do not want to have to rely on an electronic device which may break down. Thanks anyway, but I'll stick to Waterstones.

My second is to read more books. Last year I managed a grand total of 12 which is poor to say the least. However there are only so many hours in the day, and juggling a job with own writing projects can be difficult. Once we get the dreaded Christmas onslaught of sleb books out of the way, I can't help but get excited at a new reading year, wondering what the publishers will throw our way. (And congratulations to you if you have a book coming in 2011!)

My third is to do something I haven't already done before. And I'm four-fifths of the way there. After much deliberation, I decided one of my unpublished novels was more 'visual' and would better serve a television audience, so I've re-written it/slashed it to pieces and plan to enter it into a screenplay competition. Wish me luck! Having previously dabbled in screen/scriptwriting at school, I decided it was time to re-live my teenage hobby (which is hopefully much improved!) I'd love to hear some of your new year writing resolutions, whether you intend to follow them through or not. Happy 2011 and may all your publishing dreams come true.

My December Writing Resolutions

For a long time, I haven't bothered with New Year's resolutions. Not because I don't think I'd keep them, but because goals and plans are too exciting to confine to a certain season. If they're worth making at all, they're worth making right now. Lately I've been thinking a lot about how to achieve more in life, so I've made some pre-Christmas resolutions to help me get the most out of my writing during the rest of 2010 and beyond.

1. Make more notes

The ancient question 'where do you get your ideas?' is easy to answer - they pop into my head all the time. The problem is, they usually pop out again after the briefest of sojourns. I've started writing them down instead and am already surprised at how completely I forget things that seemed brilliant when I thought of them. I need a back-up for my brain – why not pen and paper?.

2. Make 'dead time' more productive

I seem to spend an awful lot of time waiting for people to stop faffing around and let me get on with stuff. Instead of idly checking email on my iPod or scrolling through i-am-bored.com, I will use this time to read, to make notes as above, or jot down ideas for blog posts.

3. Become more energetic

Urgh. I hate doing sport. And every slob and their dog decides to get fit after Christmas. But I must grudgingly admit that exercise helps me write better. The gym is too grim for me, so I will shortly be joining a 1940s-style dance class – Strictly Writing might soon have its very own Anne Widdecombe!

4. Create 'a room of one's own.'

There's no space for a tranquil summer house at the bottom of the garden, so the room of my own has to be within my head. I'm practising tuning out noise, remaining calm when stressed and making the most of any brief pockets of peace, refusing to let them be spoiled by anticipation of the next interruption.

5. Write more in longhand

Now that my computer is regularly commandeered for Postman Pat DVDs, it makes sense to overcome my fear of putting fiction on paper and get scribbling. (Plus my handwriting is the absolute pits these days – better use it before I lose it.)

6. Listen to audiobooks

Irrationally or not, I've never considered audiobooks to be 'real' reading – it seems like someone else is doing all the work. The advantages of the format, however, have become too important to ignore – it's a way of learning and being entertained while continuing with the general drudgery of life. There are loads of free audiobooks available online, though the quality is rather variable!

7. Write for writing's own sake

The thought that everything has to be good enough to be published has been holding me back for a long time. So I'm going to have more fun with writing, try out some flash fiction and poetry, and enjoy spending time with the characters in my novel rather than worrying whether I'm really doing justice to the big themes I've stumbled into.

Strictly readers – what are your goals and plans for the next year? I'd love to hear about them, and as this is my last post of 2010 (apart from announcing the next Strictly Writing Award shortlistee), I'd like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a New Year filled with hope, happiness – and lots of writing.

Christmas Starts Here!

The Strictly Writing crew are herewith signing off for a couple of weeks. We'll be back posting on Monday 4th January - 2010!

We hope you all enjoy the festive season and wish you the very best for the New Year.

I shall be attending a Bollywood themed party on New Year's Eve. Last year's theme was unspecified - I wore a Twenties style costume and my husband went as a giant whoopee cushion (it's amazing, the variety of fancy dress outfits you can buy nowadays). We and the group of friends there really only chat, in depth, at this party, once a year. So I am bracing myself for questions about how my writing went in 2009 and whether I am published 'yet'. Erm... Nope. But I'm one book closer. Hopefully. Well, it's easy to be 'half-glass full' when it's champagne!

Before we sign off, just to announce the winner of the Emily Gale giveaway competition: Well done Sky Blue! Please email me (Samantha) through my profile and I'll get back to you within the next couple of weeks.

See you all in January. It's been great reading all your comments and we look forward to another interesting year of fun and discussion in 2010.