New Year... Page One

 

Make goals or wing it?

Another new year begins and I've already decided not to make resolutions, but I haven't decided whether or not to set goals for myself. 

I'm not the best at sticking to them - I have a tendency to get distracted - but I really want to publish my first Accalia book and to finish Martha's story. Then I have all the shorter stories that I want to do. Should I do it by setting missions or should I just take it one story at a time? One page at a time?

Compromise

I guess I'll do both. I'll plot, I'll write. I'll aim to achieve. This is where my weakness in organisation is going to cause me problems. I have a head for chaos and it doesn't bode well for goal planning. I've got a brand-spanking new diary, so I can plan, but the one thing you can't take into accord is the number of words you can write. 

My word count is always random, so I'll plan what I can.

Winter Solstice

 Winter Solstice, or Yule as it’s also known, is one of the oldest winter celebrations and has been celebrated for thousands of years, all around the world, in a wide variety of traditions and rituals.

The Norsemen saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons, and in mid-winter they would light bonfires, tell stories and drink sweet ale. Now, the wheel represents the year of sabbats for wiccans, and Yule is deeply rooted in that cycle.

Throughout history, bonfires have been an integral part of the Winter Solstice celebrations as many believed bonfires would work at protecting by keeping dark spirits away. Others thought that firelight would guide the sun back to the sky.

In many traditions, Yule kicks of the wiccan new year. It falls on the shortest day, and during Winter Solstice, darkness reaches its peak, giving the longest night. It usually occurs on the 21^st of December, but it varies depending on location, and on the daily rotation of the Earth. This year it falls on the 21^st at, I think, about 3.58pm in the UK. It’s the sabbat where the Goddess gives birth to the Sun King and this fire festival is strongly linked with fertility and the continuation of life. It’s the time to reflect on the past year, and to think about what you hope for the next. It’s a fresh start. A chance to begin again. Cleansing your home will dust away the negativity of the previous year.

Oaks have been seen as sacred and the mistletoe is a symbol of life. Yule logs were set alight at one end, and it was believed by the Norse that each spark represented a piglet or calf to be born during the next year. Fire festivals, celebrating the rebirth of the Sun, held on the Winter's Solstice can be found throughout the ancient world. In fact, many pagan customs are still followed today, and are used in the Christian celebrations of Christmas.

 

End of Year

 New Year... Same old me...

We're advancing toward the end of another year, and I always like the start of the next. 

I have no plans to make any illogical resolutions to change myself, because I don't think I've ever kept one, but, maybe I'll resolve to read more books. That seems attainable. 

As far as life changes go, though, I feel like I'm on a pretty good track. I could eat healthier, I could exercise more, but that's true of every month of the year. 

What I do like about the New Year though, is that it's like a reset. A refresh. 

All the things that I've been working on, that I might be wobbling on, that might not be going as well as I want them to... It's not a resolution to continue trying, but it's a new start in a way. Rejuvenation. 

I like the refresh of January first. I like the new year. 

This Book Won't End

 

I feel like I've been working on my current WIP forever. 

My shifter romance, the first book of the Acalia series, and the characters don't want to wrap things up. I reached 60,000 words and didn't feel very far along, and now even even further into it and the word count keeps growing. 

How do you make your characters sort things out when they just want to keep gong on? If anyone learns, could you tell me, because if not, Protecting Their Heart may never end. 

I think what could help would be if I could go somewhere with no internet and no people, and just a typewriter. Unfortunately, in real life, I have a day job, I have responsibilities and I have to work around those things. 

Trying to find time to write is hard enough, but when its for a book that won't reach it's end, sometimes it feels futile. 

This book has to end though, even if it's so I can find out what will happen to my characters myself. I need my characters to reach their resolution. 

Rebellious Characters

 

I’m not a pantser, and by that, I mean that I love a good book outline. I like planning who my characters are and where my story is going to go. I like the structure of following a plan.

But with characters like these, I may as well not bloody bother. They don’t behave. They just go off doing what they want. It doesn’t matter to them if it makes the book longer and longer. So, I ask you, why do we bother with outlines when characters have their own ideas?

On one hand, I suppose it’s a good thing. It means they’re very real to us, but on the other hand; what about all my story ideas that I wanted to write?

Either way, I love my mischievous, mind-of-their-own, rebellious characters.

Long Stories

 

Why do my stories never end?

I'm writing a book, that was initially title Short Shifter. I feel like I've barely started it and it's already at 60,000 words. That's not short! What the heck, story. You're supposed to be short!

But these characters keep throwing up obstacles, and generally being pains in the butt, with all their chatter and their reluctance to get the story going.

That's the problem with characters sometimes. Just because I have a plan for them, and an outline to follow, it doesn't mean, they agree, and it doesn't mean they'll co-operate.

So, for now, I just keep writing, hoping the end is growing closer with every world, but it probably isn't.

 

Writing. Not Marketing.

 

Last year I did a lot of work on my website, my blog and my social media. I regret that now.

I spent many many hours writing blogs, planning posts and generally trying to interact with other people. The impact that had on book sales was zero.

I’m a writer, and somewhere along the way, that shifted, and I felt like I was working more in marketing. The repercussions of that were that I wrote less, I published less. I missed out on doing what I love doing, and that is just writing stories. It was my own fault. I thought it was important to being a writer.

Don’t get me wrong. I like social media for engaging with others, but last year, I think I looked at it wrong. I concentrated on it too much, to the detriment of my writing, and that meant that word counts and completed works took a hit.

I’m doing it differently this year. This year I’ve decided to concentrate on writing more. Not because I think marketing isn’t important, but at the end of the day, you can’t market what you haven’t written, and I write because I love it. Because I want to share my stories with others, even if that story is only shared with a few people.

I appreciate each and every person who takes a chance on me by buying my books, and downloading my stories, and so this year, I want to get more of them out there.

I still want to engage, I still want to talk to others, but I want to do it so that I can share with you. I want social media to be fun.

This is my year of writing. Not my year of marketing. I am a writer after all.