This year I had no plans to make any resolutions, but several things have altered my perspective. My health has taken a nosedive yet again, so I will take whatever steps possible to improve things involving boring tasks such as losing weight and increasing physical activity. However, some issues needed medical attention, so changes will occur with the doctor’s advice. However, we will delve into that later.
My author friend Jackie Is coming on Friday, for one of our regular writing days. And she is keen for us to set goals for the year and review last year’s achievements.
This is panic territory for me. Every year she achieves a load of stuff. Check her website. She has two wonderful new books, either out or coming in the next month, which are worth looking at here – Jacqueline P Vincent . She is full of ideas and enthusiasm.
I usually sit biting my cheeks to avoid self pity while she lists her achievements, knowing that my writing journey is going backwards. I can’t do much about my lack of achievement last year, so I thought I’d preempt things and write resolutions for the coming year in advance.
So I sat,
And I sat some more and gazed at my keyboard.
I tried a pen and then a pencil
Went on a walk and still my mind remained blank.
I finally asked my computer for a solution. I asked for ten practical and ten amusing resolutions for a crime writer. Here is what it came up with. I included the practicality of each resolution and the altered version.
This is part one of a four-part series.
1) Write every day. Commit to writing at least one page of your crime novel each day. (Serious)
Sounds easy and obvious, but I’m wriggling already. What does every day mean? Does that imply I never have a day off? What about Christmas or my birthday, or Sundays, or days when we want to take a picnic in the park? Eek. What does it mean by write? I mean, when do I edit, or do marketing tasks? Objections run through my mind like a herd of reindeer avoiding Santa.
So my verdict is…. I need to rewrite to make it work for me.
1) Write most days. Commit to writing at least half a page of your crime novel each working day. Devote the remaining hours to editing and marketing. Editing counts as writing when approaching deadlines.
2) Write a crime novel in a single day. Finish a full length intricately plotted crime novel in just 24 hours. (Tongue in cheek).
This got me thinking I know it’s a joke resolution, but I wonder how much I could get done in a 24 hour writing sprint. Very often it’s these sprints that trigger a sub conscious creativity which doesn’t happen, in normal planned writing. It can overcome procrastination and writer’s block, or so I’m told. This isn’t as silly as it initially seems; Nanorimo’s popularity amongst authors indicates this.
2) Plan two days a week in the next year to do long writing sprints and see where it takes me. Give myself a fixed period to write with a word target and see what happens.
3) Research diligently: Spend dedicated time researching police procedures, legal systems and forensic science. (serious)
Research is important, but it takes time and if you are not careful, it eats into writing time. Because it’s easy to disappear down interesting rabbit holes. This could be the time to prioritise efficiency over effort.
3) Make a research folder and keep it organised. Instead of doing separate research for each novel. Make a folder including both general and specific information. Design an indexing system ensuring easy access to all necessary information for the next novel, avoiding duplicated work.
4) Solve a real crime while writing about it. Simultaneously write about and solve an ongoing real life crime case. (Tongue in cheek.).
I don’t suppose the opportunity to do this would ever occur in real life, but it made me think. What if I could follow along with a crime case on the news and use that coverage as a basis for my research for a novel? The two would not happen simultaneously, but it might help me with some realism to my stories.
4) Look for a news story involving an ongoing crime and research it including motives and psychology. Plan a novel using the information gained. This will improve my writing I’m sure so I need to pick a time between books.
5) Outline Thoroughly. Create detailed outlines for your plots to ensure consistency and prevent plot holes.
This one is perfect timing. Jackie and I have dedicated almost a year to mastering this skill to enhance our storytelling, but I haven’t had the opportunity to apply it yet. This one is remaining unchanged.
I have always been a plotter, but we have studied books and watched endless you tube, to help us each to find something that works. It’s been hard work, but I feel as though I have learned so much about storytelling in the process. I recommend John Truby and his anatomy of a story. Not an easy read, but so useful.
Like most people I have a love hate relationship with Ai, but this time it really did work out well for me, Of course I changed almost everything suggested, but it gave me a basis for some really good ideas going forward into the New Year.
I like having tools that I can use like this.
I also discovered that my fear of failing stops me from doing so many things. You know as I sit here typing this, I realise it’s not a fear of failing. It’s a fear of looking stupid or being laughed at. Does anyone else feel like that? Or maybe it’s just me.
Back soon with more resolutions.
Abigail Thorne 