2019 a big year

2019 promises to be a busy year for me with the publication of my debut novel (and all the editing and marketing work that goes along with this), co-authoring a non-fiction book and getting on with the rest of my life, which includes opening a new business, doing more training for that, and renovating or selling a house following legal machinations.

It’s a lot and I’ve been feeling a bit daunted about how I’m going to fit in writing as well. At one point, I even contemplated giving up fiction writing for the year. But that thought made me feel sad to the point that when I read a good book I felt a sense of longing to put down more words, when a good book usually fills me with joy.

My partner also reminded me how I’d put in more than 10 years into my first novel, and that the investment I’d made in learning how to write is simply been too large to abandon. Not writing is simply not an option for me. I need to write to feel fulfilled—it’s a bit part of my life purpose.

The plan

But now I need to work out how to fit writing into my year. I need a plan, although as my partner says, no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy (he’s ex-army), the enemy being all my other obligations.

My plan is:

• To get up early 3 mornings each week (like at 5am) and write for 2 hours
• To write either every Saturday or Sunday afternoon for at least 4 hours
• I also hope to find the odd whole day to write, maybe once a month isn’t too ambitious

My strategy is to:

• Re-create a writing routine. I’ve blogged about this before here and it involves diarising writing time, unplugging and persisting
• Remind myself to write whether I’m in the mood or not, which I’ve talked about here
• Remember not be too hard on myself if I don’t stick to my plan 100%. Every word I write is better than not writing. Staying in a writing rhythm will be critical so I don’t have to restart over again
• Continue to read good fiction regularly to soak up those beautiful words and inspiration
• Be aware that having down time is essential to creativity as I’ve discussed here, though it needs to be mindful.

What are your writing plans for 2019?

‘The repetition itself becomes the important thing.’ 

Haruki Murakami