Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that I can churn out essays in a handful of hours and novels in a single month. There is almost nothing in the world like suddenly having a eureka moment in which a plot or a character just descends upon you as if from heaven. But there is a downside, and it’s a major one: you act like a crazy person. For instance…
Writers are always thinking of unexpected ways to kill people (and hide the body)
Just today I went onto the NaNoWriMo forums to find out if my character would die if he was shot in a particular place. The terrible thing is that I didn’t have to go far to find what I was looking for: the answer was in a topic on the first page!
If you look just a little further, you will find plenty of information on poisons that kill, non-lethal arrow wounds, and whether or not a bottle of Pinot Noir to the back of the head would render a person unconscious (note to self: yes it would, but they would also be dead).
See, we writers don’t just want to kill. We want to be original and accurate killers. I could kill someone with a paper cut in my book if I wanted to, but it would be so improbable that my reader would likely disown me (but what if it was a thousand million paper cuts?). So I have to learn how to actually kill people, which could be a disconcerting thought to some people.
Beware. This is the face of a true killer (my friend Daisy).
The good news is that I married the right person. In the fall, a large pile of leaves accumulated next to the staircase leading from the parking lot to the library at my college. The first day I walked by it, I immediately thought, “Someone could hide a body there.” Of course, it might not be the safest place to hide a body, but it’s possible. A few weeks later, I walked past it with my husband. “Hey!” I said to him. “You know what I thought when I saw that the first time?”
“Someone could hide a body there,” he said, interrupting me. Yup, I married a keeper.
People live in my head and I don’t control them
Before you write me off as needing immediate psychiatric help, I am only referring to my characters. The thing that non-writers don’t understand is the fact that characters sure know how to assert themselves. It would be a lot easier to write a novel if they didn’t.
For example, sometimes I write my character into a situation and I’m not exactly sure how to get him out of it. Maybe he could get away from the bad guy if he shot someone, but he won’t. (Or a more likely scenario: he won’t be killed if he shuts up, but he has to keep babbling on, so if the story is to be continued he needs immediate rescuing… /sigh.)
Other times, characters just up and decide to do exactly what you told them not to. Like marry the wrong guy. Or jump six chapters ahead. You can’t do anything about it; it’s what they had to do at that moment.
The weirdest thing is that most of these characters—if they’re good ones—seem to simply show up one day in the mind of a writer, mostly cemented and ready to go. The only thing the writer must do is get to know them.
When writers get together, they have weird conversations
Conversations between writers usually involve endless debates over killing characters in which we often refer to them by name, describing how the character leaped off a building (and survived), and asking other writers seemingly random questions, such as, “What would you do if I told you I was an alien?”
No, seriously. How would you react? I need to know.
My 2011 resolutions in a nutshell? Improve my spiritual, marital, financial, physical, and academic health, and enjoy life more.
- Pray every day. The importance of prayer has become very real to me in the past week or so since a friend of mine was in a terrible car accident. But I know I should pray during the good times as well as the bad times, so I want to make this a habit.
- Read the Bible in 90 Days. I managed to make it through a few weeks last time. This time I will not be moving in the middle of the 90-day period, so hopefully that will help me stay on track.
- Have one date night a week. We’ve had date nights since we moved, but we need to make them sacred. It’s too easy for date nights to get canceled or to turn into “hanging out with friends night.”
- Read Love and Respect. I’ve been meaning to finish this book for a long time and I just haven’t done it yet. But I know this book will be good for my marriage, so I’m making it a priority.
- Create a monthly budget and use it. Matthew and I intend to make a new budget every month at the beginning of the month and review it weekly. My ultimate goal is to pay off our debt (except student loans) and establish an emergency fund.
- Log 8,000 fitness minutes. I will be using SparkPeople to track this goal. This breaks down to a little more than 30 minutes of exercise five times a week. I can break it down even more—15 minutes twice a day, or 10 minutes three times a day—if I need to make it more manageable to me.
- Plan meals weekly. Planning ahead saves so much trouble and ensures that we’re always eating something good rather than having crackers for dinner or having a pizza delivered. I might try Once a Month Mom.
- Get homework done early. After way too many stressful Sundays and all-nighters, I have resolved to get my homework done earlier than the day before it’s due so that I don’t give myself an ulcer next semester.
- Rest on Sundays. Last semester, I felt tired and burnt out all the time. Every day of the week was a work day for me, and I know I need more rest than that. So this year, I’m going to relax on Sunday.
- Take a photo every day. I attempted to do Project 365 last year and quit after a month or so, but I think it will be really cool to finish the entire project this year if I can.
- Write every day. Getting into this habit will definitely develop my skills as a writer and will help me when NaNoWriMo rolls around. Even if all I write is a haiku, it’s still something.
Although a lot of people are sick and tired of New Year’s Resolutions, I don’t mind them. First of all, I love to make lists, so that is a definite bonus.
Second, to me New Year’s Resolutions are a positive thing—a plan for growth.
Sure, I will fail to achieve some of my resolutions. I might fail epically. But at least there is a chance for me to make some well-defined progress if I so choose, and I like that.
Setting Goals
I think that the best thing you can do when making resolutions is to choose things that are realistic.
For example, I want to lose weight this year (who doesn’t?). But that is not my resolution. Instead, I have resolved to take the steps that will enable me to lose weight.
By making your resolutions into small, realistic steps, you will always know how to work toward achieving your goals.
I might not know how to eliminate all of my non-student loan debt and take control of my finances in one fell swoop, but I can always sit down and make a budget.
Keeping Track
The other way I am trying to increase my odds of success is to tack up my resolutions in a visible place in my apartment. If I get used to seeing it day after day and stop paying attention to it, then I will move it to a new spot.
I am also using the fabulous Streaks app on my iPhone for some of my goals. It allows me to create separate calendars for each goal, specifying how often I want to do it.
Making it Happen
Perhaps the biggest key to success for me is to make it easy. If the exercise equipment is out in the garage, it’s not going to get used. Pull out the book you want to read and put the scale in an obvious place. You probably won’t even start if too many obstacles stand in the way of your goals.
The basic principle is to make achieving your resolutions as simple as possible. Even then, you might not do everything you would like to do this year. But hopefully you will get a little closer to your goal than last year.
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