New Year’s Resolutions for novelists.

This list will consist mostly of New Year’s Resolutions that I would make if I were to make any (I haven’t decided), and of things I already do that I think help keep me sane and productive, so some might be pretty specific to my own personality, and therefore useless for others. I suspect, though, that at least a few people share each of my own failings. On with it:

1. Try to stay in shape, even while working on a book.

I have no problem staying in shape between books. I’ll go running, do push ups and sit ups, do yoga every other day, and so on. But as soon as I sit down to write, the rest of the world disappears. I begin eating horribly. I drink more. I move less. Two days ago, I threw out my back — carrying a cardboard box to the trash. Not as bad as the time, a couple years ago, when I threw out my back sneezing in a fast food restaurant, but pretty close.

2. Get out every day, even when working on a book.

Sometimes I go days without seeing anyone but my wife. Sometimes I go days without seeing the sun. I should try to make sure I go for a short walk every day, get outside, see people. I like people. And it’s probably not healthy to stay locked in solitary confinement. Prison movies have shown me it’s a good way to go crazy, and I really don’t want to start drawing on the walls with my own shit.

3. Read fifty-two books.

That’s only a book a week. I rarely read that much. Now, I buy well over fifty books a year; but I tend to read between thirty and forty-five (yes, I keep a record of every book I read). Maybe it’s time to bump that up a bit.

4. Write every day (if you are working on a project).

I don’t believe in writing every day for the sake of writing every day. If I’m between books, I don’t write much. I do research for the next book, I read novels, I play Resident Evil 4 and Red Steel 2, I go for runs. I don’t even know what I would work on if I was between projects. Do people who write every day, no matter what, just type whatever comes to mind?

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

I do, however, believe a person should write every day once they have a project going. I think it keeps the story and characters fresh. If you aren’t waking from dreams about what your characters are going through, you’re not enough in their world.

5. Take up a creative hobby that has nothing to do with writing.

If you’re writing every day with the goal of a sale, or publication, there’s pressure there. I think it’s important to then have another creative outlet for which you have no professional goals. Paint, play an instrument, build an instrument. Anything. So long as it’s creative and there are no pressures attached to it.

6. Shower and get dressed upon waking.

If you’re working out of your house/apartment, it’s very easy to stumble into the kitchen, put on the coffee, stumble to the desk, play online backgammon, drink some coffee, play online Scrabble, check your email, look at your manuscript, play solitaire, answer a few emails, decide you need to look up the cost of hand-painted ties in Los Angeles in 1952, get lost in a series of hyperlinks, and end up blowing hours of your morning and accomplishing nothing. I think that by getting up and showering and putting on clothes (work clothes), you are telling yourself to get ready to do a job, and you’re more likely to get things accomplished.

7. Write 100,000 words of polished copy.

That’s not all that much, but it’s a good-sized novel or a hundred thousand-word articles.

8. Meet all deadlines.

I haven’t yet missed a deadline, but this year’s novel is going to be close, only because I’m working on a big, ambitious book that also requires a lot of research. I think I’ll make it, but just barely.

9. Write at the same time every day (if you’re working on a project) and do not let yourself do anything else until you’ve got the words in (I try to do a minimum of 1,250 a day).

It’s too easy to sit down and fuck off. Don’t let yourself get caught up in useless shit that only steals your time. If you’re sitting down to write, write.

10. Give yourself time off between big projects without feeling guilty about it.

Everybody needs time to get out in the world and recharge.