Well, okay, I did leave you.
I left you for about two months. Two months without a word. Two months without my words. I’m not sure how you survived without me and will admit that I got a warm and fuzzy and guilty feeling when a couple of folks inquired about my disappearance. (Hi Allenavw! I’m alive!)
I’ve been an irresponsible blog parent. I’ve been a grade-A procrastinator. I’ve been working on a secret project that will remain unmentionable until it isn’t.
If you’re at all grateful for my prodigal return (fatted calf burgers anyone?), then you must be grateful for my friend Lisa and the New Year. Lisa is out of town, so I am dog sitting for her. With an empty house–apart from Ginger the sweetheart golden retriever, that is–it seemed like the perfect opportunity for some blog writing/brainstorming. Thus the where and the when blogging puzzles were solved. As for the why….
One of my New Years resolutions is to get back on the blogging horse. No more M.I.A. Oh My Words! This is actually my only resolution that made the cut. Those that have already hit some bumps in the road include:
1. I will not buy another book until I’ve read all those that are lining my shelves, piled on my floor, propping up lamps, hiding under coffee tables etc. etc. etc.
In theory, this resolution is top notch. It’s practical, fun, and good for the soul. I’ll feel so accomplished if I can finally read the books I’ve been meaning to read. The hiccup? There is another library used book sale coming up and, if you’ll recall, the last one had me swooning from sheer joy. I can’t not go to this sale. Can’t do it. And I can’t go and not buy anything. That would be Hell, pure and simple.
So, within 24 hours of making my book buying resolution, I was forced to amend it. I will try to go easy on the book-buying, I really will–but a book nerd and bargain hunter only has so much strength. For my new goal, I will tackle my To Be Read list and occasionally post about my reading. I’m not into book reviews (more specifically, the idea of writing them gives me the heebie jeebies), so this will likely mean just quotes or random thoughts. But look at me, combining one resolution with another! I. Am. Good.
2. I will spend more time on my creative writing.
The vagueness of this resolution is a problem. “More time” is relative, since I haven’t seriously devoted myself to my writing for quite a long time. I could spend a minute writing today, and it would be more than I spent yesterday (or the day before, or the day before that). Also, this blog doesn’t count. I know, I know–but it’s still writing! It’s still engaging the right (write?) part of the brain! Let’s not forget the blogging resolution already! All good points. What would I do without you?
What I need is a writing schedule. Or a daily word count goal. Or some stick-with-it-ness. What I need is a writing resolution without a lot of wiggle room. (See “more time,” discussion, above.) What I need is a cookie.
Other resolutions I’ve bandied about: working out/exercising more diligently (cliche and vague!), being braver (just vague), and following all horoscopes and fortune cookie fortunes to adventure (call it what you will).
For now, you can rest assured that I’m back, baby! As always, thanks for reading. You can expect more words soon!
“More” being relative, of course…..
Oh My Words! 
A hearty welcome back, and I am so glad to see that you are back and everything is OK! We were worried about you! Thanks so much for checking in and letting us know that you are still alive and well. I look forward to reading your next post!
A faithful reader and subscriber.
Awwww, thanks! I am so lucky to have faithful readers/subscribers like you! It’s nice to be reminded what a wonderful blogging world it is 🙂
I’m right there with ya! I haven’t blogged in weeks…..don’t really know what happened, but I need to get back on the horse! 🙂
argh It gets out of hand so fast, doesn’t it? A day goes by, another…another. I wish you a lot of luck getting back on the horse–clearly, I need to work on that, too
Aha!!! So I’m not the only one who carries on this way, eh? Good to read your post! Great stuff. Guilt does that for a person, you know.
Nope–not the only one! Glad you liked my return post! And yes, guilt is a MAJOR motivator in my life…
Welcome back & Happy New Years resolutions to you
thanks and back at ya! 🙂
Excellent! Welcome back, I look forward to more words 🙂
Whew, I can call off the search party! Glad to see you’re back and even more delighted to see you use a toothpaste for dinner comic. They crack me up every time.
me too! They’re hilarious! And yes, no search party necessary–though, I appreciate the sentiment!
Hi there, I’m not sure what type of creative writing you do, but writing is also a category of my New Year’s Resolutions. (There are about 6 bullet points underneath that.) Two events that I find really helpful are:
Script Frenzy in April – http://scriptfrenzy.org/ – write an original script or screenplay in 30 days, 100 pages minimum.
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November – nanowrimo.org – write a novel in 30 days, 50,000 words minimum
I’ve done NaNoWriMo for years and it’s a lot of fun…stressful but fun. And that feeling on Nov 30th when you have actually written 50,000 words is amazing. I did Script Frenzy last year and will definitely be doing it again this year.
It’s motivational, and because it’s only 30 days you can convince yourself that you just have to “get through it,” while hopefully also creating some good habits! Happy writing!
Awesome–I don’t have any real-life friends who have made writing a resolution, so it’s nice to hear from someone who has. I wish I had done NaNoWriMo last November (although, maybe I wasn’t psychologically ready?) but I will have to make it a sub-resolution for this November. I hadn’t heard of Script Frenzy but I think I’ll give it a go! Thanks for all the ideas! Now I know who to whine to in April…
Please do! My username is thesheesh, and I never have any “writing buddies” during either April or November…and I work better when there’s some accountability involved!