Maybe I Can't Go a Whole Month

without trying to write something.

After November's writing push, I generally take December to pause and do other creative things, like cook or bake or crochet, and catch up on whatever reading I want to do. So far this month I've gotten 2/3 of the way finished with a baby afghan for friends of ours who are expecting their first child in the spring, and I have "discovered" two talented YA authors who are new to the field--proof that it does happen to people to whom "it" (publishing) has never happened before. Of course both of them actually submitted manuscripts. :-P

And inevitably (I've quit fighting it) I start looking back over the year (though working on taxes jump-starts that in and of itself) to see what I did and didn't get done. I start toying with ways to improve next year, wondering what surprises will derail all my carefully laid plans. Or what old habits of mine I will fail to break and therefore stay stuck in the ruts that I'm already in. I'm only human.

All in all, it's not been a bad year, though not one of my most productive in any avenue. I find my life dividing itself into four fairly equal quadrants: family stuff, spiritual, writing, and personal, though I'm thinking one of the subtopics of "family stuff"--our business--should be elevated to a status of its own, and then maybe I could keep up with it month by month instead of squinting at a zillion pale receipts at this time of year. I have folders set up for these four major headings just about everywhere--the computers I use, the daily planner, and of course my head (Which really shouldn't be divided at all. There's not as much brain power available as there used to be, I'm afraid.) Which reminds me: put "do more crossword puzzles" on the list. I feel organized. I'd rather feel productive.

But back to the writing thing, I catch myself looking for story and article starters in songs, phrases, news stories. I start playing the what-if game and I start longing for a pen and paper to jot down ideas, and before you know it, I'm writing again.

I guess I should stop fighting that too.