Febrary's Writings and the Resolution for March

Well I managed to build the story up to 25 pages and more than 8,000 words, so that's not too bad. I am going to try and motivate myself to continue working on it, my characters are developing nicely, I think, even if a couple of them are a little nutty. The story is just beginning to unfold and I'd like to know where it is going. We'll see.

My March resolution is house organizing, a resolution which may bleed straight into and through April. This one I'm doing with my husband Brad and we are pretty motivated. We got a head start yesterday, worked on moving furniture for over five hours. Baby girl helped by showing us what parts needed to be baby proofed, but not before chalk pastels got all over everything, including the carpeting, oh well, a big dusty orange spot on the cream carpet leading into the closet is intriguing right? Makes you wonder what creature leaves that kind of trail and then hides in the closet? Maybe?

It is going to be Spring cleaning on steroids, cleaning and reorganizing top to bottom. I'm pretty excited about it and a little overwhelmed. It will be nice to get rid of the junk. I haven't decided yet what to work on today, but have to go to work at 2:00, so I better get off this computer and figure it out soon.

Inspiration

We went to the Dr. John/Neville brothers concert last night. In my former life I had aspired to be a professional musician. Jazz saxophone. This has obviously fallen by the wayside, but that doesn't mean I've lost my love for it. After seeing such an amazing show, it made me want to incorporate music into my story in some way, and maybe voodoo too. And masks. Scary, creepy, spirit-stealing masks...don't ask.

Writing in February Half-Way

This resolution has proven to be easier than meditation for me. I find myself thinking about my characters when I am driving to work, standing in line in the grocery story, the rare quiet moments when most of the rest of the house is asleep. When I start writing I usually also want to keep going, sometimes I lose track of time and before I know it I should have gone to bed 30 minutes ago and one of my characters has done something crazy...I want to see what they do next, but know that I am already going to pay the consequences for this when my alarm goes off at the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m. Then again, what's another 15 minutes when the morning is already painful. I find that writing my story makes me not want to waste time writing anything else. For example, my blog. I've had to resist writing at work too as I have the most fantastic ideas when I am driving to work. By the time I get home, I only find traces of them left. However, those traces grow and learn how to breathe, learn how to walk, sometimes learn how to punch someone in the face without using their hands, um, yeah. I hope that someday all of this sees the light of day and doesn't stay trapped in my computer forever.

Month Two: Writing Every Day

When I was a kid I really wanted to be a writer, I think that becoming a librarian has allowed me to experience a little piece of that. To me books are as essential as air. They are the doorways to almost everything good. They are beautiful and terrible, thought provoking, some are dangerous some endangered. I love the smell of the pages, how different new books and old books smell. I love the feel of a book in my hands, the weight of it against my palm, my fingers. I love how they can make me laugh or cry at the turn of a page. I love how much they teach me about the inner thoughts of other people, about humanity. I love getting lost in them.

I have been working on writing a book of sorts, I'm not sure what direction it is going. It is either going to be aimed at teens or adults and I don't know which yet. It has a lot of paranormal elements to it...I have always been intrigued by the paranormal and I think I can do it justice. It doesn't have any vampires or werewolves, at least I don't think it does.

I tried to do the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month): http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and I lasted about 4 days.

I also received emails from accomplished writers, some of my personal author heroes, during that month through NaNoWriMo that I found really interesting and they inspired me to keep trying, mostly because it seemed that they wrote like I write, with some idea of where I am going, no outlining and only a vague idea of how it is going to end. They emphasized to just get it down and worry about the rest when it is time to revise.

I also follow Neil Gaiman's blog and I think it was Gaiman who said that when he thinks his character is going to take a right and they take a left instead he knows it is a good character.

I hope that my characters will boss me around in the next month and tell me more about who they are, what they're doing and where they're intending to go.

Life Making Resolutions Difficult

So, I'm glad I didn't pick working out for January as that would be out the window. I have the stomach flu. Ugh. I am still meditating, but it has been a pretty relaxed version of it. I almost forgot a couple of days, but remembered right before bed. I am trying to decide what to do for February. These are some ideas I have for other months: try something new every day, do something that I enjoy and haven't done in a while, walk the dog every day, workout every day, be a vegetarian for a month (I think this one would be particularly nice in August with all the wonderful produce), write every day....I am open to suggestions.

Meditation So Far

So far I have been pretty lame in regard to this resolution. I have been meditating right before bed because I don't seem to get around to it until then. First thing or at least earlier in the morning is supposed to be better in terms of the benefits of meditation, which makes sense, so today I will do it this afternoon, for sure, no excuses. Maybe I can manage to make it in the morning sometime this week, too late for today. It has to be timed around the baby's sleep schedule because taking care of an infant who is crawling around and getting into mischief is not conducive to being able to successfully meditate. Sometimes I think she must have no taste buds with the things she likes to put in her mouth, dog fur is a particular favorite, although any small and fairly disgusting object found nestled in the carpeting seems to appeal.

I HAVE meditated both days in January thus far so I am giving myself props for follow through, even if it is a minimal/slacker version.

Today I am going to get my zafu and meditation cushion out of the closet and find a good spot for them. Maybe I should abscond with Brad's heater too. Part of the reason that I am dragging my feet on this is it is just so cold that I don't want to emerge from the pile of blankets that I have been cocooning myself in and it seems that meditating from within a blanket cocoon is maybe bad form?

On another note, a friend of mine is coming over tonight for our traditional January tarot card reading. After three years of turmoil and transition I am hoping for a relatively uneventful 2010. We shall see.

And So It Starts

Inspired by my brother who made a resolution to disc golf every day for an entire year-and actually did it-I have decided that 2010 is going to be the year that I try and do everything (or almost everything) that I always mean to do...but don't. I am starting this blog in order to try and keep myself honest. If I think I have an audience, even if no one actually ever reads this, I will be more inclined to keep my resolutions, or so I hope.

So, here it goes, a new resolution every single month for all of 2010.

Here is what I've got so far:

1. Each month will be a new resolution.
2. I will have to do - whatever it is - every day for that month.
3. After the month is over, I can stop or choose to continue, whatever is working for me.
   
4. The resolutions have to be about something that I want to do/add into my life but don't usually do (for example reading every day can't be one, because I already read pretty much every day).
5. The resolutions should be fun and/or good for me.
6. I am open to suggestions.
7. I invite people to do these with me-my resolutions or ones they come up with themselves.

My January resolution is to meditate for at least ten minutes a day.

Wish me luck!