Writing resolutions for 2009

Hmmm...

A couple of days ago, following a conversation with my writing buddy Laura, I drafted a list of resolutions for the upcoming year. They don't have anything to do with word counts, hours at the keyboard, pages submitted, etc. In some ways they're easier resolutions to keep and in some ways harder. They're all about the mental part of the game. Here goes.

For 2009 I will:

1. Keep the holy trinity going. Each day I will a) dance b) meditate and c) journal. I know all these things work wonders for me in terms of my mood and my sanity so why do I have so much trouble doing them?

2. Look for more writing colonies. Stat!

3. Practice gratitude daily. Hokey, yeah, but I suspect it might be the key to everything that matters in the creative process.

4. View the things that happen in the publishing practice as learning opportunities not punishments from a vengeful god. With this in mind, I've started a file literally labeled "Things I'll know when I sell the second book," which reminds me.....

5. Write the second book.

6. Hold tight to my writing friends and foster a sense of creative community. Encourage other writers, not in a vapid "Love ya, babe" sort of way but in terms of telling them repeatedly where I feel their writing strengths lie. I think most people know what they're doing wrong but I'm not sure most of us know what we're doing right.

7. Don't take everything so damn personally.

8. And on a related note...don't react quickly to anything and everything that happens on the publishing side, whether it's emails from my editor, reviews, feedback etc. Wait twelve hours (twelve) before responding.

9. Continue to develop my craft through both teaching and taking classes from other writers I admire.

10. Try to remember what initially drew me to the idea of writing a novel. Sometimes I feel that inital impulse waning, slipping away, being drowned out by the louder noises from the marketplace.