I’m not one for New year’s resolutions, but I do love setting goals. For 2024 my goals are to eat right, exercise, and finally finish my book. I’ve been working on this for years. After my last book, I took a break to focus on my family and day job, but when I started to write again, it was disjointed. I’d lost the rhythm. When writing is relegated to ‘spare time’ there’s always a sudden dearth of the stuff.

So for 2024 I’m promising myself to spend at least two hours every night on my work in progress even if I’m staring at the screen thinking big thoughts and no words end up on the page. I will also be writing at least one blog post a month, with the hope that I’ll manage more. I’m in the bad habit of only writing when I feel inspired and as Stephen King says, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” I want to go to work.

Discipline trumps inspiration whether it’s for blog posts or writing a novel. It’s a hard slog writing when you’re supposed to versus when you feel like it, but that’s life. As much as I love gardening, I don’t love weeding or watering, but it must be done. I don’t wait until I feel like doing it, I do it when it must be done. The garden demands attention. Writing doesn’t so I’m trying to shift my writing habits to respond to the page like I do a pot of petunias, feeding, watering and deadheading when it needs to be done.

Here’s to 2024 and getting stuff done. I’m not going to promise a set schedule, but I am going to make a deal with myself that I’m at the keys for the bare minimum regardless of whether I want to be. And I’m going to post what I produce even if it’s cringe, so be prepared. 😊