Happy New Year!

You see what I did there? Oh yeah, everyone can talk about New Years and resolutions at the start of January. Me? I like to hold back for the start of February so I get every one's attention.

Actually I don't. I just did it this year because I didn't want to think about what was rubbish last year and what was going to be different this year then crash and burn. So I've had a nice shiny month of writing, and thinking about what I'm going to write next month, and how this year is going to be the first of the the rest of my writing career.

I just finished my first draft script of the year, which I only started on the twelfth of Jan (that's like light speed for me).

So now I feel like I can confront the shit that was 2008 and expound upon the mighty bedrock that is to be 2009. Let's get it on then and look at what I asked for last year...

I didn't have a blog last year so I can't use it to gauge this years achievements. Unfortunately I'd say a lot of the things on this list would have been on it last year too. On the other hand I passed my driving test, changed my career and moved to the Midlands so it wasn't a total loss. Here is what we want from 2008

• Write daily, establish a routine.
• Complete a clutch of scripts in time for SFW '08 in Cheltenham.
• Make some contacts/promote myself more.
• (Finally) send a follow up script to Writers Room.
• Enter Red Planet '08.
• Send a steady stream of spec scripts to 2000AD.
• Most importantly - get something published or produced somewhere.
• At least one bog update per week - and on a broader range of subjects.
• Maybe a little fiction on the blog now and again?
• Low Carb diet and plenty of regular exercise.
• Possibly create a new website.
• Buy a house.
• Have a proper holiday (like abroad and everything!).
• Organise time so Emma and I have more 'quality' time together.
• Watch plenty of good telly, films and theatre.
• Read constantly.
• Build a Linux machine.
• Get more enjoyment from small pleasures.
• It's not that much really, eh? In the scheme of things. Just laying the bedrock for a productive writing career.

My greatest problem is not completing projects and if I can't beat that Devil in 2008 then I might as well quit. Yes, you can hold me to that.

Oh God it's even worse than I thought. Especially as it starts with a disclaimer/excuse. I was going to start this one by mentioning buying a house but we'll brush over that...

Write daily, establish a routine - I failed terribly with this last year. I continued to work in fits and spurts, mostly binge writing. This will feature in the list for this year, and to my credit I can tick this for January so I've started well.

Complete a clutch of scripts in time for SFW '08 in Cheltenham - Yeah right. I completed one script last year which I then went off immediately. And I didn't go to SWF.

Make some contacts/promote myself more - Kind of ironically I did less of this than I had the previous year.

Enter Red Planet '08 - Nope. (Finally) send a follow up script to Writers Room - Still no.

Send a steady stream of spec scripts to 2000AD - No, not one.

Most importantly - get something published or produced somewhere - Or not.

At least one blog update per week - and on a broader range of subjects - Negative.

Maybe a little fiction on the blog now and again? - What you mean like this list? Would have to write some first.

Low Carb diet and plenty of regular exercise - Actually yeah, I've done a bit of both of these. Unfortunately they don't really help with the writing.

Possibly create a new website - No, didn't need to. Might be something I look at later this year though.

Buy a house - Yes. Back of the net.

Have a proper holiday (like abroad and everything!) - Again, yes.

Organise time so Emma and I have more 'quality' time together - Another yes, mostly (I think Emma would agree).

Watch plenty of good telly, films and theatre - Actually I did well here too.

Read constantly - Not constantly, still a binge reader, read quite a lot though.

Build a Linux machine - No, and this is to be discouraged. No diversifying, I'm a writer, I don't have time for hobbies.

Get more enjoyment from small pleasures - See previous answer, or just dry up and fuck off.

It's not that much really, eh? In the scheme of things. Just laying the bedrock for a productive writing career. My greatest problem is not completing projects and if I can't beat that Devil in 2008 then I might as well quit. Yes, you can hold me to that. - And this just in... No, you can't hold me to that. Turns out it was a typo. Ha.

So there you have it. As far as writing goes 2008 was bad, but four little weeks into 2009 and it all feels so much better.

I do feel that I've spent the last couple of years putting myself in a good position, in terms of work and at home, to concentrate more energy on my writing career. I'm putting that to the test by devoting the first half of this year to producing spec scripts.

As I mentioned I already have a rough draft one for a feature to show for January's effort, next month I plan (between rewrites) to develop two new ideas I have for drama series with a view to writing an episode in March, I'll worry about April when we get to March, if that isn't getting a little too confusing.

Anyway, the objectives for 2009;

• Continue current routine for writing daily (more or less daily anyway, I do usually have Friday nights off).
• Produce a nice fresh bunch of spec scripts of various genres/formats by June.
• Participate in the scribosphere more fully, I've been a bit of a lurker recently (for which I apologise).
• From July onwards I intend to look at promoting my work more, start entering some competitions again, and basically get down to the proper hard part of writing - getting someone to do something with your work.
• On a similar theme, Make some contacts/promote myself more - NETWORK
• Yes, this year the Writers Room follow up is going in, even though they've probably forgotten who I am by now!
• It's another carry on, more books, TV, films and theatre. It's all about the words.

I've always taken pride in maintaining a professional attitude in the day job and working as hard and as well as I can. It's time to apply that to my writing and to make it stick. If I can't do that then I really might as well... no, I'm not going down that road again.

The good news is that so far I'm very pleased with 2009, which gives it a head start on last year already.