One Day at a Time

And here we are, at the opening of yet another brand new year. Made your resolutions yet? Broke ‘em already? Welcome to the club. I too was once a part of the resolution crowd. January 1 would find me making lists of long-term goals and plans on how I would achieve them. For instance, if I start right now and lose a mere five pounds a month, by the end of the year I’ll have dropped sixty pounds. And my pants, because they won’t fit me any more. And I’m going to do it, just as soon as I eat that ice cream I bought the other day. I guess I’ll have to exercise now. Too bad it’s too cold to go outside.

This is why I won’t be making long-term resolutions this year. The only thing easier to make than resolutions are the excuses for failing them. The average wait time between the making and the breaking of my New Year’s resolutions is usually about a week. Sometimes a day, if we’re dealing with anything food-related.

For 2015 I’ll be taking a different approach. I’ll be using the addicts’ method and taking my resolutions a day at a time. I’ll be measuring my goals by days and weeks. By the end of January I’ll reassess and see what needs to be done. Then it’s on to February. Lather, rinse, repeat.

At the end of the year I hope to have several more books added to my backlist and maybe a few stories out. A steady income would be nice. I may have to look for a regular job. I’m going to put that one off until April so I won’t have to drive in ice. Big plus for the writing life: you get to work at home. Big minus: the TV and the fridge are sitting right there, calling out to you. Dumping even five pounds a month may turn out to be tougher than I thought.

To help me stay on track, I’ve got one of those desktop-sized calendars with my monthly goals and deadlines on it, propped up where I can’t ignore it. This week I want to finish the first draft of my WIP and start formatting that porn story. By the end of January either one or both should be in submittable form, and I should have a draft of something else under way. That one I want to have ready to sub to a publisher by the end of February. And so forth.

QUICK SIDE NOTE: Office supply departments are getting skimpy in the big stores like WalMart and KMart, so I went to a couple office supply stores to price those big calendars. The cheapest I could find was $8. Others were close to $20. Screw that. I found a large sketch pad at the dollar store and made my own with colored markers. Take that, Office Max!

I’m hoping these deadlines and highly-visible reminders help me deal with my procrastination. Recall, if you will, my methods for making a million dollars: either get a million people to each give you a dollar, or come up with a million items to sell for a dollar each. I’m using a combination of the two. My overall goal is a minimum of twelve books/stories out, one a month, and hope that generates some income. Definitely need to get over the procrastination.

It always helps to have some kind of consequence for missing deadlines. In the working world, it’s called getting canned. For those of us striving to be self-employed, it’s known as homelessness. The money I’ve been living on for the last couple years is starting to run low, so I need to step up my game and get serious about this writing thing. It’s either that or look for a job, and prospects aren’t too numerous in my neck of the woods. I’d move in with and mooch off my brother, but I don’t like my sister-in-law.

Besides, Stray Kitty’s resolution appears to be “eat more.” Half a can for breakfast isn’t enough for him now. He sticks around for seconds. Then he comes back in the afternoon for a snack. Talk about a moocher. Of course he’s a cat, so he’s entitled. So I have to work harder in 2015. I’ve got a mooching stray who won’t even let me pet him to support. It’s like having a kid or a boyfriend, just without all the basketball.

I realize this is Thursday, but I’m typing these words on Tuesday so I can schedule the blog to post New Year’s Day, when the library’s closed. I thought I’d get a jump on the New Year and start the New Week on Sunday, but … well, things got in the way. I’m already running behind. I’ll see about catching up on New Year’s Eve, provided I can stay up until midnight. Maybe I can teach Stray Kitty to type. Make him earn his cat food. There’s a resolution for you. Happy New Year!