Is 2014 the Year of the Reasonable Resolution?

Let's be honest: 2013 was a terrible year! We should have known it would be since there was a 13 staring us in the face every single day. How could that possibly be a good thing for anyone?

I won't go into details about all the obstacles and challenges of my year. You have your own. And if you don't, then you probably know someone who does. Around me were divorces, job losses, deaths, and health problems. Friends, neighbors, and students all went through many trials of the spirit and body. It was hard to be sympathetic when you had your own problems to deal with.

Which is not to say there weren't a few bright spots and this is where I'm going to start with my "reasonable" resolutions:

 - in 2013 I got a dog whom the shelter named Peaches. She's a chihuahua-terrier-something mix, perhaps 8 years old, with an utterly unknown history. I love her so much and am so happy she's in my life, even if she does hate other dogs. In 2014, we'll work on that, one pup at a time.

 - in 2013, I got a new literary agent and finished a couple of books. In 2014, I'll have product and a means to get it out there into the world (that's far more reasonable than resolving to sell a book!).

 - in 2013, I discovered kale, my new favorite vegetable, and I rediscovered my love of Brussels sprouts. In 2014, I want to try quinoa.

For 2014, I've got plans - big ones like moving and shooting a short film and starting a new business - but those are hardly "reasonable" and nothing that can be "resolved" to be done. Taking steps to accomplish them will be my next challenge.

Happy 2014~

Ambitious Writing Projects; Or, the Big Idea

All writers have them.  If you love books, love the written word, love stories that suck you in utterly and completely and don't let you go, then you probably have one or two Big Ideas.  They are the stories that you have been thinking about, dreaming about, since you were a kid or first even considered writing as more than a hobby.

I have a couple of Big Ideas.  They began as tiny seeds and have grown in my imagination bigger and bigger - but they aren't quite trees yet.  They're still just sprouts or maybe saplings. In other words, I don't know when I will be skilled enough to write them.

Because that's the problem with ambitious writing projects: if you have any self-awareness as a writer, you know what you're capable of.  I, for instance, could never write a multi-generational saga like Alex Haley's "Roots" or epic high fantasy like JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." I love both of those books and I admire the hell out of them but I know I am not skilled in those areas of writing.

Some writers tackle their Big Idea over and over again.  They try it this way and that, tinkering with it in different ways, some successful, some not. They may even publish these stories over and over again as well.  For them it may be a particular character or theme that keeps them pushing forward. But I'm not like that.  I'm afraid of taking my Big (Cool) Idea and screwing it up.  I'm afraid of not having the right skills to do the Big (Cool) Idea justice. 

In recent weeks, I have been approaching one of my Big Ideas with caution. After successfully completing a novella that was miles away from what I had been writing for publication, I feel like I may be able to attempt one of my ambitious writing projects.