I say this often: Even a week’s hiatus can be detrimental to the practice of writing.
The good news is I have many projects on the horizon.
I have taken (with the approval of my father) a year to focus on my writing goals.
My hope is that my new manuscript of old short stories is accepted for publication. I have been going through a list of all of the available publishers in The Writer’s Market 100th Edition. I have also sent out a proposal to an agent, and will be looking through the list of agents in the book as well.
It is time that I publish in literary magazines and contests. Hopefully this will give me some credibility.
I do well with lists.
- Write books and short stories
- Submit to literary magazines
- Find an agent
- Get published
If I make a list of things I want to accomplish, in some way or other it usually is done. Sometimes, there are new things that become prioritized, and old things linger on there for years.
“Business as usual against the heart.”
For example, I’ve wanted to write a certain book since I was 18 years old. This year, I decided I had three other books to write that would take precedence. Last week, a novel called to me to be written, and I am six chapters into that.
A change of plans can be a good thing. I hope I will be able to write my first book idea better with the extra practice. It seems so.
The good news is, I have an academic year ahead of me to accomplish all of these goals.
But I should keep a list of my duties. And a daily agenda to make sure that I am given the space to accomplish these things. And enough humanity to throw my agenda out the window every once and a while.
I will be your friendly-neighborhood-substitute teacher again this year. I am so happy about it. Hopefully, it either leads to a future job or future stories.
I have gained some weight. I will have to be wise about my diet, exercise, sleep schedule, and other indulgences to make sure that I am of sound body and mind.
I wonder if I have lost my great, in-depth analysis of everything; well, hopefully we won’t have to wait until next week to find out.
I will be at my desk.
Ben Bonkoske 