Resolutions: 2013

Is it too late to begin?

My stomach hit the floor as I checked my blog, the stark reality hitting me square in the jaw:  I haven't written a blog since November of 2012.

Ouch.

So much for "daily updates."  So much for "just shut up, grab some coffee, and write."  Those words have fallen along the wayside, right next to "keep the house clean" and "everyone pick up their own mess."

I had the best intentions.

Realizing I hadn't had the opportunity to sit and write anything in a while, I had planned to get a few stories down on paper in 2013.  Maybe bring the characters in my novel back from my self-imposed limbo.  But 2013 hit with a vengeance and hasn't let up one iota since the calendar flipped.

I write:  oh, yes, I write.  I write papers about Quality Management.  I write discussion posts about Computer Crime.  As a matter of fact, over the last five weeks I've written a total of 30,000 words...but not a one had anything to do with anything related to fiction.  No plot, no characters, no dialogue.  So I sit, I plan.  I tell myself to schedule time for writing...and here I am.

I can always tell when I'm on a hot streak when it comes to creativity.  When I'm working on a story, my mind never shuts off.  Those are the nights I'm incredibly thankful for keeping a notepad on the bedside table.  My dreams become stories.  My bad habits become stories.  My brain throws up on paper, and I'm usually prepared to catch every last thought.

When I'm not working on anything, I don't dream.  I wait for them, but they don't come.  I ask myself why I don't dream.  What will I write about if I don't dream?  Then I realize it's a catch-22 and that in order to dream productively, I need to write.  Start with the writing, and the rest will come.

I'd like to make a resolution--right now--to start writing, but we know where those end up.

Until next time,
Cherstin