Setting Goals for the Coming Year

Hi, everyone! I’d like to talk about things that I want to do differently next year. I don’t make new year’s resolutions. I just, this just happens to coincide with the end of the year. And the holidays are really kind of a logical time to rethink things anyway.

So even though I don’t make resolutions as such, I just want to take a moment to think differently about things. And one of the things that I want to do is learn how to say “no” better.

I think that’s really important. Knowing when you should pursue something and when you should just say, “Oh, look that’s just going too far,” or “I’m not that interested” or “I’m vaguely interested, but really there’s, I need a break.” We all need a break sometimes. And for instance, this weekend, I spent most of my time reading the Hammett submissions as well as …

We spent Sunday baking. Well, not all of Sunday. It was just for an hour or so, maybe an hour and a half, when you count in cooking time, I guess, making cinnamon scones. And I’ll share that recipe with you in a blog post, which I will link to in the description.

How’s that work for you? I think that works. Hopefully it will work one way or the other. It will work somehow. And what else? Oh yeah, I did some reading, some light reading from the ABA Journal. Yeah. I can’t seem to stop being a lawyer. I don’t know why that is. Even though, in one interview I had with somebody, she noticed that I didn’t self-identify as a lawyer. It’s just for years, you know, I’m a writer. This is what I do. And it’s not like I’ve stopped being a lawyer.

I’m trained as a lawyer. That makes you a lawyer, whether you’re practicing law or not. So anyway, I still remain interested in legal matters. I get the ABA Journal. I’m still a member because this stuff interests me so much. And here’s an article that kind of gave me a smile, “Finding Your Flow”. Okay. I mean, my gosh, you know, yeah. That’s something that writers deal with all the time, isn’t it? Funny, isn’t it?

Oh, here’s another one that I thought was kind of funny. Hang on a sec. Okay. “A Case for Exposition”. This writer, Bryan Garner always writes about things like grammar, exposition, things like that.

A word on exposition:

In legal writing, exposition should be clear and concise;
In fiction writing, it should be hidden;
In screenwriting, it should be forgotten.

There, I’ve summed up a whole class for you right there. All right. Thank you, Bryan, for writing “A Case for Exposition”, which made me think of that.

So yeah. Oh. Is there anything else? No, I guess not. There probably was. Oh yeah, that’s right. There was an article on gun control, not just the NRA. “It’s Not just the NRA, anymore.” Amy Swearer. Swearer? I’m sorry. Yeah, Swearer. I swear, it’s Swearer. I think. Anyway, I’m a little bit blind even with these glasses. These aren’t my reading glasses or maybe they are, I can only read some things with them. Anyway, this has gone on too long, hasn’t it?

But happy holidays. And until next time take care. I’m going to do an end of the year video. I’ve got light shows and stuff in there. That’ll be fun. So here’s to a great new year, much better than this one, anyway, and take care. Talk to you later.

PS: Do you have trouble saying “no” to things? Feel free to leave a comment! 🙂