Happy (late) New Year, all. I spent most of December working through a pretty big miasma of, well, stuff.
Biggest of this was finishing the Second Draft of my Secret New Novel, though I also kept busy with some bigger editing jobs, personal projects, and a whole load of Christmas shopping.
All of that combined to burn me out in a pretty big way—I just barely got all of my gifts wrapped in time for Christmas, enjoyed some fun celebrations and holiday gatherings, then spent the last week of 2022 taking it slow, which I very badly needed.
What does taking it slow mean? In my case it meant sleeping in, taking some alone time, and enjoying time with family and friends, in between some light personal and work projects and some much-needed cleaning and organizing. It wasn’t quite a vacation, since I still did some work, and I even picked up a last minute editing job that a client needed for an early January deadline, even though I’d told myself I wouldn’t be taking on new jobs during the break.
Was it enough time off? Overall I’m satisfied with how the week went, since I recovered enough of my energy to put me in a better frame of mind and give me a solid boost for 2023. When I actually went back to my desk (and the Third Draft of my secret New Novel!) I felt more focused, found that I could concentrate better, and overall felt more positive than I had before the New Year, thanks to my break.
I also thought hard about some New Years Resolutions: things I want to accomplish in 2023 so I can keep moving forward with my work and creative career. Though I made a few smaller personal resolutions I want to work on, this is, after all, a blog about creative work, so I want to talk about my two work-related resolutions:
New Year’s Resolution #1: Finish My Secret New Novel
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s a really, really important no-brainer.
I started my Secret New Novel two years ago when I was still in Japan, with the rough draft alone taking over eighteen months. I didn’t set an actual deadline for myself when I started, but the early stages in particular took WAY longer than I wanted them to, and it wasn’t until six or so months ago that I settled into a pace I feel good about.
The Secret New Novel is a BIG focus right now for both my creative energy, and my next steps. I want to have it out there in the world for people to see, but I also want to put it behind me so I can move on to newer projects I have in mind. As such, finishing this draft as soon as I can so I don’t have to put it at the forefront of my creative work life anymore just makes sense.
Because each draft of a novel also takes less time than the one before it, I feel like I’m on a good track to finish within the next few months, by spring or summer. After the First Draft took eighteen months, the Second Draft only took four (!!!), so I’m expecting the Third Draft will take even less time, and so on.
A lot of people ask me how many drafts a novel takes until it’s done. The precise and very technical answer is, “It depends,” but five or six drafts seems to be par for the course for me. This is about the point where I’d feel comfortable letting a publisher see the draft without embarrassment.
That being said, wish me luck, and watch for more updates!
New Year’s Resolution #2: Clean Up My Long-Term To-Do List
A few months back I wrote a post about my Long-Term To-Do list: a list where I stick projects, ideas, and tasks I want to keep track of that aren’t necessarily immediate. At the time, I wrote about how I wanted to get through a lot of these tasks so I could simplify my overall life and clean things up. Less clutter = Less stress, and that goes for to-do tasks as well.
As of this week, my Long-Term To-Do list has 24 items on it, which is far too many. (This is even after I went through and deleted ones that weren’t relevant anymore, which I try to do from time to time.)
Some of these things have been on the list for a year and a half, while others were added just a few weeks ago. The shortest of them should take no more than a few minutes to finish, while the longest ones will likely take several days. For the easier tasks especially, it’s just a matter of finding the time and mental energy to do them.
Some of these tasks stay on the Long-Term To-Do list because they lack urgency, but others stubbornly remain there because they require me to invest more mental energy or learn new skills. This makes me less likely to approach these tasks, especially when I’m busy or stressed.
Apart from just my Long-Term To-Do list, I also keep a Correspondence List (friends I want to email or contact for one reason or another), a Movie List (movies I want to watch), a Books to Buy List, and a physical stack of books that I’ve bought and want to read. That’s a lot of things I want to do but haven’t yet.
All of these yet-to-be-done things take up mental energy, keep me mired in the past, and keep me from moving forward, since each of the things on the list would either benefit me in some way, or would just be fun and/or a nice gesture for someone else.
This issue has been on my mind for a long time, so I’ve decided to make it my priority: In 2023, preferably in the next few months, I want to trim my to-do lists down into something manageable that won’t weigh me down anymore.
Final Thoughts
I think it’s important to keep making new goals that will keep you moving forward, though this can really be done at any time of the year, not just December and January. Both of the goals I’m looking at are really things I want to accomplish in the first half of 2023, which would put me in a better position to re-orient myself and make new goals during the summer that will keep me moving forward.
I have a few ideas about what this next round of goals might involve, but I know I’ll be in a much better position to assess and plan them with a clear head once I can put these two projects from my past behind me. That’s when I can start making my way forward once again.