New Years Resolutions?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Or should they be called goals?

No, no To Do List today….this is my 2nd week off 🙂

Ok, I make a list every year (don’t we all?) but I can’t share with you last years list as I don’t know what I’ve done with it lol. I thought I’d stuck it on my blog, but I didn’t 😦 I think that means we can safely assume that I didn’t stick to them lol

So, what am I planning this year?

1. Read a fiction book a week/a writing guide each month. I’m so fed up not being able to find the time to read, well, that’s what I tell myself, that I don’t have time 😦

2. Have at least 1 writing session per week “out” somewhere. Go to a coffee shop, or the library, anywhere to get me out if the house to write!

3. Tidy and declutter the house. *groan* but it really needs doing.

4. Continue with the diet. I lost a stone, but half of that has gone back on (what can i say, its Christmas! lol) but I need to keep going to get back to what I was in 2008 🙂

5. Go to the gym more. Isn’t that on everyone’s resolution list?

courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos

6. Write every day! I’m use to this, I’ve done it for a whole year already. Plus I’ve joined Sally Quilfords 100K in 100 Days Challenge.

7. Get WIP finished by the end of Faber course. First 5000 words of The Last Word Cafe needed for February.

8. Go out somewhere once a week. We use to do this, I’m not too sure why we stopped lol

9. Cut down the smoking. *gulp*

10. Keep a “Writing Journal.” Like Jill Dawson described.

I have a few other goals like drink more water, have a Peter Jones style Boxing Day once a month, plus cook more lol. But the 10 above are the ones I really wanna stick to 🙂

Wish me luck! What are your Resolutions/Goals for 2013?

If you’re off out partying tonight, have a good one. It’ll be a quiet one here on the sofa as hubby’s not very well. Not that we’d planned anything anyway lol 😉

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Two Most Common New Year’s Resolutions and How to Keep Them (herfitnesshut.com)
Goals and Resolutions…Part 1 (allthingsmidcoast.com)
While Thinking Of New Year Resolutions (sunnysodday.wordpress.com)
New Year’s Resolutions – think big and eat more chocolate (earlyinitiative.wordpress.com)
Points I’m Taking Into 2013 (journeytomoksha.wordpress.com)

New Blog Schedule

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

As from the first of January I’ll be changing the blog schedule (and the layout) and will only be posting 4 days a week. It’s gunna feel weird, as I’m so use to posting every day, but, it will free up my time to do other things.

So the new schedule looks like this:

Mondays: Plans for the week
Tuesdays: Faber until April
Wednesdays: Nope, sorry, day off. Apart from one post once a month, IWSG!
Thursdays: Fraid not.
Fridays: A random post.
Saturdays: Faber once a month until April and random stuff.
Sundays: I’ll be chilling 😉

Some of the random posts will be fiction, inspirations, reviews and I’ll even share some pages from my journal. I’ve been working on a timetable (which I may share at some stage). And so far I have filled 12 hours every day with stuff I need to do *gulp*

Awwwww, it’s the end of an era! 😦 What will I do with myself? lol. Probably start wading through this lot and trying to write a novel *snigger*

I’d just like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to everyone who’s commented, liked, followed and read my blog. 2012 hasn’t been a bad year all told. There have been moments where I wanted to give up (blogging and writing), but I’m glad I stuck with it. I’ve met some fantastic people on this journey, and I’m so looking forward to sharing 2013 with you all 🙂

Don’t they say a change is as good as a holiday? 😉

Got any plans to change your Blog for 2013?

Faber Session 11 – Guest Tutor Jill Dawson

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve had a real hectic few days so I am behind with blog reading….I will catch up today I promise, so bear with me. 🙂

It was bloody freezing yesterday morning as I made my way to central London at 8am. I don’t normally have breakfast, but yesterday, I was desperate 😉

Today our guest tutor was Jill Dawson who’s book, Lucky Bunny I’m reading at the moment (and really enjoying!).

We all agreed that Jill’s passion and enthusiasm for writing was infectious and inspiring. A thoroughly enjoyable session where I made lots of notes (you know me! Lol). Here’s a few snippets that I wrote down that I found interesting and helpful 🙂

The best way to be motivated to write is to be in love with it!

How to deal with rejection: Don’t dwell on it, it will infect your writing and the feeling of failure will go into your work.

Have a monthly goal (word count) rather than a daily or weekly one. Make your goals manageable.

Time your ideal writing session then duplicate it. Find what works for you.

Jeanette Winterson told Jill that her first novel was crap, she’s grateful for that now. Peter Carey had written 4 or 5 novels before his first that was published. Jill beleives that ALL writers have at least written 1 book that will never be published. The book you’re working on now may not be THE ONE, it might be your training ground.

Jill keeps a journal while shes writing a novel, where she reflects on how she feels and works out problems.

Learn to tolerate chaos. Get the writing done first then worry about the other things you have to do in your life!

Ask yourself when you read through your first draft – Is it alive? (Something interesting or exciting) or Is it dead? (Something boring or flat).

And finally, my favourite (and also that of my tutors!)

“Know the rules but have none.”

I made 8 pages of notes! Lol….I just couldn’t help it, she was brilliant! 🙂

I love this whole idea of keeping a writing journal! Jill says it helps her work out her own processes and is like talking to herself. I’m a huge fan of journal keeping, but I’ve never tried using it just for my novel writing. Have you ever used a journal to work out problems with your writing? I’d be interested to hear if anyone has. I think I might just give it a go 😉