Resolving to resolve

Everyone is all about saying “I don’t make resolutions,” and “I don’t believe in resolutions” these days. Personally, I think that’s a copout. It says, “I can’t accomplish one single thing this year,” and ascribes to some kind of negative magical thinking that if you write it down, you’ll fail. Whatever. (Not trying to be mean to those of you who’ve said it. I’m trying to light a fire under my own derriere.) I haven’t been making resolutions for the past several years, using this same excuse. This year, I’m changing my tune.

First, I’m resolving to blog at least once a week, and to that end, this.

Second, I’m resolving to read at least one book a week. That’s right; I have not been reading even a book a week. I know many writers somehow read books in the triple digits annually. I am in awe of you. (I do wonder if you remember a word of any of them, but I admire your ability to devour literature just the same. And I don’t mean that snarkily. Be quiet, spellcheck. That is too a word.) I, on the other hand, have not even been reading one book a month since I started working on The House of Arkhangel’sk. So yesterday, I read a book: The Restorer, part of the Graveyard Queen series by Amanda Stevens. (I don’t do book reviews, but it was an enjoyable read, and I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads and B&N.)

Third, I’m going to finish three novels this year. This one is a bit of a cheat, because I’m closing in on the end of my Nano book, Prince of Tricks, and I’m planning yet another revision to Anamnesis (aka The Neverending Story), but I will write at least one novel from start to finish, and probably a novella somewhere in the mix. Again, this probably sounds silly to writers who crank out four or five books in a year, but unless you want to see 300 pages of “All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl,” this is all you’re going to get from me. Yesterday, I managed to get in my standard 1,000 words for the day on Prince of Tricks after being sidetracked by edits on The Armies of Heaven for a couple of weeks, so that’s three resolutions whose face I’m all up in already. (In whose face I’m all up…up in whose face…oh, forget it.)

Fourth, I’ve been telling myself for years “I’m going to learn to knit this year”…but I never made it a resolution, and thus let myself off the hook before I’d even begun. (That was a little knitting joke, there. Sort of. Well, a crocheting joke, anyway. Okay, more of a fishing joke, really, but I don’t have any interest in learning to fish.) And to that end, I’ve just purchased my first set of knitting needles and some pretty aubergine yarn, and have picked out a pattern for a scarf. Boom. I have pwned you, Resolution #4. (Which is not to say that I may not crumble under the weight of my January bravado as soon as the needles arrive, but I mean to give this a real go.)

And finally (aka Number Five), I resolve to cook at least one meal a week—in a real oven—that does not come out of a box, a can, or a freezer. I’ve, uh…made and eaten an entire batch of cookies this week; does that count? (No. No, it does not. And I can’t believe I just admitted that publicly. It was a small batch. ~shifty eyes~)

And why did I not just use ordered list tags to number these? Because this blog template refuses to show the numbers. Perhaps Number Six should be "get a better blog template or hire a pro to design a new site."

And as a bonus, I shall throw at you a random half-naked man. You're welcome. (And yes, I purchased this image. He's a potential Belphagor.)

Are you a resolver or a rebel in the great Resolution Revolution?