Resolved
I’m taking the day off from writing today–I really need to get some projects finished, but it’s New Year’s Day, and given how the past couple of weeks have gone, I need a day off. So, here we are.
I was going to post a “best of 2003” list, but I really couldn’t come up with much that really exicited me in the past year (at least in the usual categories–Books, Movies, Games, etc.). There wasn’t a whole lot of entertainment-based leisure going on for me.
I moved from New Jersey back to Kansas at the end of July, and, looking back on it last night, I realized that the entire year was dominated by that move–I found out about the need to move early in the year (March), spent the time from then until July preparing to move (finding a place, packing up the house, etc.), and then we had the actual move itself. Spent most of August unpacking, and since then it’s been a matter of trying to get settled…Laura had more difficulty finding employment than we anticipated, finally getting permanent placement in December. So it’s only now that it really feels like the move is done.
I looked back on last year’s entry, and realized that my resolution for 2003 failed miserably (I wanted to complete, and if possible, sell, a novel), largely due to the events of the year. It’s no big surprise that my big resolution for 2004 is a more guarded version of the same thing (I want to make “significant progress” towards becoming a novelist).
As far as other resolutions go: I want to get a lot more writing done, in general. This year’s re-entry into the business was tripped up now and then by the moving and the financial panic, etc. Deadline troubles…the worst possible thing when you’re trying to get back into full-time work. My industry-related resolution is to get back on the ball, and be as good, in quality and in dependability, as I know that I can be. That also means occasionally creating work where none exists–folks should expect to see more stuff coming out from Adamant to fill in the gaps between freelance gigs. Most of the Adamant stuff will be PDF, but I’m currently working on some things that I’d like to release in traditional print as well.
I realize that I’m very lucky to be able to do what I do, and I’m going to try not to lose sight of that. It’s too easy to forget, when money is tight and the work gets tough, that my job is to use my imagination to create entertainment for others…and that is something that I should be enjoying. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, ever since I was a kid, and I’m doing it. That’s something that very few people get to say.
OK, 2004…let’s see what you’ve got.