December 23, 2008

Ten on Tuesday: Resolutions!

This is not an official 10 on Tuesday post but follows up last year's T10 about new year's resolutions. It comes in two parts: First, a report card on how I did against last year's resolutions. Second, a bunch of new resolutions in the greatest tradition of election year promises. Also, a question to all my friends: What are your resolutions for 2009?

Last year's resolutions:

  1. Vote. For this I get an A-plus because I voted the right way. Unfortunately, much of California voted the wrong way.
  2. Write. For this I get a B-plus because I did write some, and composed the Unlucky 26... but I did not write three short stories like I said I would. I did, however, write two.
  3. Submit. A solid C on this one. I submitted one story to a contest (no luck) and another to a different contest (honorable mention). But that was about it.
  4. Call and write family more often. Um. Maybe a solid D. I didn't quite fail, but close.
  5. Stretch. A on this. I now stretch and warm up pretty well before soccer and workouts. Not that it's done much good.
  6. Get trained for scouting. A-plus. Not only did I get trained, but I volunteered as a uniformed leader for both Cub and Boy Scouts. Not that I have the time.
  7. Revise. Solid B. I have worked hard on Andie's Gold (nee Gold Miner's Daughter), and it's much improved. But it still needs work in the later chapters.
  8. Submit. B-minus. GMD/Andie's Gold have been sent out, but only recently and only to a handful of agents.
  9. Tell people I care about them. I think maybe B-plus on this. I've been lots better, but I'm still pretty reserved in this area.
  10. Carpe diem. I give myself an A-minus on this. Although my writing goals suffered, my day job flourished and I took on several challenges I might have let pass in the past.
Not bad. No total failures. A few good successes.

Now, a few resolutions for the upcoming year:
  1. Do something proactive with the Unlucky 26. Agents, small publishers, or self publish. Not sure yet, but something will be done.
  2. Be more proactive with Andie's Gold. (Assuming none of the outstanding queries bear fruit.) I have faith that this book should be published, and I just need to find the right combination.
  3. Continue to write. I did pretty well until work got crazy; work will continue to be insane throughout 2009, but I should be able to continue writing at least as much as this year, hopefully more.
  4. Don't skip the gym. It's so easy to say "today is too busy," but the days that I go I feel so much more energized. When I don't go, I start getting down on myself. It helps that I now have a buddy who goes to the same gym.
  5. Be realistic about my time. This fall, I had too many obligations. I need to scale back something to retain my sanity.
  6. Reprise #4 of last year: Write and call family more often. Um, yeah. That's a resolution like for every year of my life.
How about you? What resolutions do you have this year? Which ones did you break last year or fail to break?

4 comments:

Sarah Laurenson said...

I'm doing really well with my one resolution from a few years ago. It was - do not make any more new year's resolutions. Still going A+ on that one.

Happy Holidays!

JaneyV said...

I can't remember most of mine but I'm sure "get organised and lose weight were among them and I have to give myself a solid F on both counts! I'll be thinking about this in the next week in the run up to New Years.

Have a Happy Christmas Pete (or whichever holiday you chose!)

I have no doubt that GMD and the Unlucky 26 will do great things in 2009.

Blogless Troll said...

Yeah, you get an A+ for remembering last year's resolutions.

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed that you revisit your resolutions from last year. If only political candidates would do the same with campaign promises!

I always make the same resolution - stop smoking. Since I don't smoke, it's an easy one and yet gives me a sense of accomplishment.