New Year resolutions are novel. They typically fade away. Good intentions face the overwhelming power of routines. Everyday routines can be like an unescapable autopilot setting. Plans are better. The plan for 2015 has been devised. Writers write. It has been said, “That is what they do…” Being a writer is about being active. Therefore, without hesitation – it has been resolved that writing is the 2015 plan. The parameters of this plan are simple. Write a minimum of 500 words per day on any subject. Those words could collimate in a novel, an article, or just a passage of prose. Given my previous experience with Haikus those and other forms of poetry will have to be excluded from this endeavor.
Writing 500 words per day will have to involve some type of routine. It has in the past. Writing each day might have a well-defined purpose. It will important to be passionate about the action of writing. Being passionate about the act of writing is akin to being passionate about art. You know it when you see it or feel it, but it cannot be universally defined. At the same time, it could be about practicality. 500 words could be written on a cellular phone while walking on a treadmill. The words could be written in a number of ways. Perhaps during a 15 minute break, during a designated window in the morning, or on a whim. In this case, the process will not be as important as the outcome.
2015 will need to be an exceptionally productive year. I’m going to back to April 2004 and work forward across my shelved projects. 2015 will be a year where a variety of reviews, project progress, and ultimately productivity occurs. That has to be the point. Each day a sense of duty to the future has to the energy to strive forward. It has to be about being present and embracing each new day as an opportunity. Each opportunity has to stand for something. They all have to build toward something. I have been working toward a trajectory of making a solid contribution to the academy. 2015 has to be dedicated toward enhancing my craft and ensuring that my knowledge, skills, and abilities are being focused on the right things.
Striving forward has to be more than thought or intention. It has to be the clear consequence of decisive action. That action needs to occur daily. Occasional bouts of passion are fleeting glimpses of what is possible. This plan is about sustaining the creative process. Each day has to be a step forward. It has to be footstep along the path to a contribution to something. The grand academy of our collective knowledge was not built in a day. It contains more knowledge than a single person can ever hope to comprehend. That wealth of knowledge will only continue to grow. Some contributions will stand out. The ones that stand out will cast a shadow forward into the depths of the public mind. Their influence will be intergenerational.
