Real 2008 Resolutions
I posted a fake list awhile back. Now the real list. Most of it has to do with acknowledging that there is no such thing as “control” and that focusing on creativity means giving up “control.”
(1) Not to turn on my computer until after lunch on weekdays (and to turn it off by 7pm in the evenings). The point? This would mean I’m writing original fiction longhand. Also, I am sick of living a virtual life. I love the internet and the people I’ve met because of it, but I also believe that it is a time-waster and that, ultimately, it becomes a negative thing that is addictive and only peripherally connected to creativity.
(2) Not to comment on anyone’s blog post about anything. This is also wasted energy and it is counterproductive. A real conversation with someone in person–yes. Posting my opinion about things on somebody’s blog, whether that person is an idiot or a saint…no. Relatedly, I’m going to curtail my reading of blogs generally, even as I continue to blog here. This is a more limited 2008 only goal because I have a lot of fiction to write, and I don’t want to waste my time on other things.
(3) Bringing my online work to the consideration of readers, writers, and judges who vote for or in other ways influence awards or year’s best anthologies…never again. I’ve always felt uncomfortable with it for this simple reason: if you can lobby for it or you can influence someone’s opinion by talking yourself up in this context…why would you want it or care about it? If I can “game” the system, then the system is crap to begin with. More generally, I want to clear my head of white noise and live in the moment as much as possible. Whatever gets in the way of that…I want gone.
(4) Not to seek out information about myself or about others in my field. Which is to say, no more google searches, although this has been a prominent part of doing PR, learning about possible leads for bookstore signings, etc. I need to edit out all white noise as much as possible. (Given a choice between being in front of the computer or taking a hike through pristine marshland…guess what I’d rather be doing…)
(5) Continue to push the borders with my fiction and my editing. This doesn’t mean writing stuff that is inaccessible or academic. It actually means continuing to explore the connectivity, the creativity, and the things I’ve learned doing so many different kinds of projects, from the Predator novel on down. All of this feeds into a greater creative gestalt and leads to all kinds of cross-pollination and further growth as a writer.
(6) Stop investing myself in people who do not understand or appreciate what I’m doing, and to stop investing time in helping people who just simply don’t “get it”. This is mostly a function of wanting to be super-creative in 2008. I want to write more fiction than I’ve ever done before, and more nonfiction. Thus, I need to cut my losses in this area. It doesn’t mean I won’t continue to be a conduit for putting new writers in touch with people who can help them and related actions, but I have to be much more selfish this year.
(7) Now that I’ve been doing the freelancing for a year and am adjusted to it, do a better job of taking care of Ann, who has more pressures on her than I do since she also has a day job.
This may sound like a Zen of Creative Living. It’s meant to be.
Jeff
January 17, 2008 at 3:54 am
Wow! Down to business, eh?
You’re a very talented writer, so it’ll be interesting to see how far you can go.
Good luck to you in 2008. ;)
January 17, 2008 at 4:57 am
Best of luck on it all, d00d. See ya when you come up for air.
January 17, 2008 at 8:38 am
I guess I write differently than anyone else I know- I need distractions while I write- not big things, just momentary small things. Before the internet I had a pile of nonfiction books I’d flip through in between pages of writing and editing.
Either way though- more writing from you is awesome. I already the reviews you do in Realms of Fantasy.
Also- Thanks for the help you’ve given me.
January 17, 2008 at 8:56 am
Just so you can bust me, I’m typing this in the morning. (I’m sure Ann’s cackling like a mad woman right now.) On a weekday. (I have a crapload of stuff to catch up on so I can go ahead and implement my new schedule next week.)
A couple of people have intuited this post to mean I’m going to be hermit-like. Um, no. I just will be cutting out some distractions. I’ll still be posting on this blog and answering my email–just on a new schedule is all. I don’t want anyone thinking they can’t ping me in email. I just don’t want to be ruled by email.
Paul–no worries. I have to say, I need complete and utter concentration to write fiction. That’s why the Predator experience was both so fulfilling and so frustrating, because I, for the first time ever on a novel, got to just focus on it while writing it, but that also meant I was pinned down and couldn’t fulfill a lot of other obligations/responsibilities.
Jeff
January 17, 2008 at 8:59 am
I don’t think I could have complete and utter concentration while writing a novel! I would go crazy! Heh, but I say I’m different, that’s because *everyone* I’ve talked to (including my wife, who writes romances) needs complete focus and cannot write with distractions.
My wife even unplugs the wireless from the computer when she’s writing. I would go insane! I need my brain to breathe. That’s how get insparation for half the stuff I’m doing…damn, now you’ve given me an idea for my own blogpost.
I know the feeling about being ruled by email. I think that and IM’s are the exception to the “I love distractions” rule. IM’s are a pain in the ass when I’m trying to write.
January 17, 2008 at 9:07 am
I’d like you to reconsider your determination not to comment at all on other blogs. That’s how I’ve found out something about you and what you believe in. Not on your blog, which I’ve only just located. In your comments on the blogs of others. I agree it should be limited and not interfere with writing, not provide a distraction to same. By all means. But to not comment at all?
I had heard your name. I saw your antho with Ann because, hey, it was blogged by Sean (and others), including the cover design, and I read my f-list on lj that day. I heard of you as someone teaching after my friend Greg at Clarion this year on a blog. I heard of your work with friend Cat Rambo on a blog.
And that’s what I knew. Where I really learned something about you was when you commented on someone else’s blog about whether anthologies should be open or by invitation only. And I respected your comment. I cheered, in fact. And at that point, you became more than a name to me, you became someone I would really like to talk to someday when our paths cross.
So. That’s my two cents. On your blog. As a comment. From someone you’ve never previously heard of.
Oz
January 17, 2008 at 9:11 am
Well, a resolution isn’t something you can actually *keep* 100% of the time, so I imagine I’ll slip up at times, but by issuing myself an absolute, it’s so I’ll do less of it. I just find myself pulled into ridiculous discussions too much in responding to blog entries and because I tend to be very passionate about my positions, I think I come off too strong sometimes, creating the wrong impression. But I’ll think about it, Oz. Thanks.
JV
January 17, 2008 at 9:19 am
Good thing the Lotus Lyceum closed down then, eh? Talk about a time sink!
January 17, 2008 at 9:40 am
The fastest novel I wrote, The Translation of Father Torturo, I did in 3 months. But part of the reason it was so quick, was I was only able to log onto the internet in the evenings, because my internet plan at the time was one that charged by the minute during the day. There is no question this thing is distracting!!!!
January 17, 2008 at 11:37 am
About #4: Does that also involve checking the Amazon Rankings? I’ve been reading about where a few of the newer authors have become addicts to this ;)
January 17, 2008 at 11:59 am
I never was addicted to this because I know how meaningless they tend to be unless it’s in the 1,000 or lower range. JV
January 19, 2008 at 1:58 pm
[...] An Afterword,” offers his strategy for writing a novel in two months. As a bonus, read his resolutions for 2008, which seem eminently [...]