"#25 Failing Better - There's no clear path, no road without potholes, toward a piece of writing that says exactly what you mean to say in language that's clear and fresh. A couple of writers I know have a quote by Samuel Becket about failing better hanging over their desks. My personal favorite failure quote is by Thomas Edison. 'I didn't fail one thousand times. The light bulb was an invention with one thousand steps.' What we need to do is think of all our failed drafts as simple steps toward the final one, the one that works." Year of Writing Dangerously.
Last year I had the 'eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome' and yes, failed better. All the intentions I set went by the wayside except the big one. I successfully revised about a third of my current WIP-RT and am happy with the direction the story is taking. The revision has included adding new chapters as the story progresses, filing in plot holes, which has taken a lot more time than I expected. Hubby's been proofreading and providing feedback as I complete each chapter which has been an immense help. I finally found my revision rhythm and and I'm going to keep it simple and set a goal of one chapter a week. I've estimated I have about 30 more chapters to redo so if all goes well, it will be done by July, maybe mid august at the latest. Fingers crossed.
I've neglected my journal writing lately so want to get back in the habit of writing daily which is where my creativity also blooms and inspires snippets for short stories and poems and ideas. I also want to do another round of A to Z poetry and keep better track of my thoughts and opinions for the books I read.
Craft wise I have several books on my shelves I want to read which includes:
Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process edited by Joe Fossler
Architecture of Possibility: After innovative writing by Lance Olsen
Letters to a Young Writer by Colum McCann
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Marie Rilke
Every Tool a Hammer: Life is what you make it by Adam Savage
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
Cafe on the Edge of the World - John Strelecky
Reading wise the plan is to only read the books on my nightstand so I have instituted a buying ban until at least April. The library and I parted ways many years ago since I like to reread my books and hate giving them up. And I must resist all the Kindle Freebies as I've been reading way too many ebooks while I have an overabundance of physical books on the shelves, all calling my name. Fortunately most of the books on my shelves work with my 52 Books annual challenges and my 10 x 10 challenge.
I think my goal and word of the year will be simplicity and I'll keep it simple and not over complicate things.
~Cheers to a wonderful new year!
Way to go with all those writing intentions for 2021. It seems ambitious to me, so it is inspiring. The craft books you mention as wanting to read are now on my "Want to read" list as well (except Letters to a Young Poet, which I've already read.) Happy New Year!
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