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Resolutions, a PRO Start on the Year^©
by Sandra Ferguson

In my simple take on life, Resolutions = Goal = Task = Jobs = 4-letter words, and I despise bad language. Something in my brain revolts, demanding that I stop over-organizing and get on with the fun of life. After all, aren’t we supposed to eat the steak and ignore the cholesterol? Savor the ice cream and forget the calories? Okay, so a few of my New Year’s resolutions have to do with food. If we’re constantly bombarded with demands to set higher goals, better organize our task schedules, or cultivate the next promotion, how can we enjoy life?

As writers, many of us, are patently comfortable being left-brained creatures. Not to imply that we can’t balance our checkbook, or compute our taxes, only that the worlds we create exist beyond the ordinary plane of reality. How do we achieve a balance that isn’t stifling to our creativity, but that will accomplish real writing goals?

Start with KISS. Not the rock band, they won’t help at all unless your characters are stuck in a time warp from the 70s. KISS stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. Ten years in outside sales and I learned this technique. Keep It Simple, Stupid doesn’t refer to clients, your family, your agent or editor, but to yourself. Each of us has a tendency to make things more difficult than they really need to be. Don’t overcomplicate your life--your goals. Boil it down to the ultimate accolade of success. That becomes your 2006 goal.

Is this year’s goal to be published? There are probably eighty-six steps to achieve that task. If you start a lined-out goal list, you’ll invest a month trying to think of all the steps, another month organizing the list, another month lamenting the fact first quarter’s end is upon you with nothing to show for the time, then the rest of the year desperately attempting to catch up. Save yourself the aggravation.

In order to publish you must finish the book, the article, the short story. That’s your primary goal. Emblazon it on a poster, construction paper, post-it notes surrounding your computer. Then finish your project. It is irrelevant the brilliance of your query, synopsis, or first three chapters if you don’t type until THE END.

Does that mean writing everyday? You betcha. Daily writing duty is a task that should be scheduled in your PDA, your wall calendar, your crayon filled parent’s planner. However, more crucial than listing this task is the art of putting your fanny in the chair. If you sit at the same time each day and write, your brain turns on, gears up, fires into creativity mode. I’m not promising greatness with each keystroke. I do guarantee completed pages.

It’s a given, your family will balk at these hours. The phone will continue to ring. There will be demands on your precious time. Eventually, your family will learn to fend for themselves during those pristine writing moments. Your hand will automatically set the answering machine to the ‘on’ position. You’ll learn not to schedule doctor or dentist appointments, or time with friends during your writing hours. It’s muscle memory. If you put yourself in a writing position at the same time on a consistent basis, your body and your mind will remember what to do. That’s the theory behind KISS. Keep your goal simple and your commitment to achievement equally as simple.

Don’t overcomplicate your life. As the Chinese proverb says, a long march starts from the very first step. So, KISS the goal and write. If you don’t begin, there can be no ending.