Monday, January 3, 2011

New Year, New Plan or Putting Theory Into Practice

2010 was not my best year ever. I said it. It feels good to admit that I got lost somewhere along the way in 2010. Writing went meh, reading went meh and nothing worked the way I wanted it to. But that's okay, because we started over three days ago. At least that's what I think.

Last week I was at the grocery store, and thinking about my habits. In theory I consider myself a fairly green person. I recycle a lot. We fill up our recycling bin faster than our trash can, and I've worked to reduce the amount of stuff we buy in the boxes and cans. And I've bought the reusable grocery bags to take with me on every trip to the store. This is where my theory falls shorts of being reality. Even though the bags are always in my trunk, they sit there and I get plastic (not even paper ugh!) bags at the grocery store. My mother-in-law on the other hand grabs her bags every time she goes shopping. It's not hard and she's put the theory into practice.

As I was thinking about the last year writing wise I realized I had a lot of theory that did not quite make it into practice. A lot of it came from doubting myself. Like this blog for instance. Will I have something worth saying? There are so many funny, well-written, helpful writing blogs out there. So what am I doing trying to put this out there for the world to see? Am I a funny person? I don't know if I'd list that as one of my strengths. But I'm committing to put my blogging theory into practice this year. Three blogs a week. Hopefully on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Another theory I haven't put into practice this last year is actually finishing a stinking book. I have my book that I've revised, and revised, and revised out on submission. But I haven't finished any of the four other books I've started. Why? Ask me why. The truth is I've not been putting my butt in my chair enough and actually writing for me. I write online to supplement my family's income and it makes me tired, so that's my excuse. But writing for me (meaning my stories) makes me happy. This year I will finish at least two possibly three of those books. I may completely scrap the fourth or I may not. They may not be submission ready by the end of the year. But they will be finished.

My major focus is putting my theories into practice. Other than that look forward to book reviews, random thoughts and my general outlook on things. Happy Writing!

1 comment:

Jessie Oliveros said...

I think those are worthy goals. And way to go on the green. You are way greener than me. I don't even try to go for the reusables because the plastics work great for putting my dirty diapers in! (See, if I was green, I'd use cloth diapers.)