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Top Ten Reading and Writing New Year’s Resolutions

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Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones’s Diary

“I do think New Year’s resolutions can’t technically be expected to begin on New Year’s Day, don’t you? Since, because it’s an extension of New Year’s Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year’s Day isn’t a good idea as you can’t eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second.”
– Helen Fielding, “Bridget Jones’s Diary”

It is January 2nd and I still haven’t made any New Year’s resolution. Since I’m a little behind, I’m going to take a leaf out of Bridget Jones’s Diary’s book and start my resolution today. I should rather say that I will begin my resolutions today, since I have a whole list of them. Most of them have to do with reading and writing and are rather small, so I figured a list of small ones I could realistically attain would be equally as good as one big resolution that I cannot. So, I have for you here today a list of my top ten reading and writing New Year’s resolutions. Here goes:

 

 MY RESOLUTIONS

 

  1. I will work more on my fiction writing. (This one is important. I’ve got to get that YA novel I’ve been working on for years now published! Let’s say one day out of the week I have to spend an hour writing. )
  2. I will read at least one new classic this year.
  3. I will turn my articles in earlier. (It doesn’t have to be a whole day earlier, but something more along the lines of turning it in the morning rather than at midnight the day it is supposed to be published.)
  4. I will read for pure unadulterated pleasure at least once a week. (This has to be something outside of work even if I am enjoying my reading for work. This book must be something completely for myself. I deserve to take a little time for just me once a week)
  5. I will not avoid rereading my writing. (Some of the stuff I write I absolutely can’t stand when I go back and read it, which then makes me avoid rereading my work at all. This is not helpful, as I can and will learn from my mistakes.)
  6. I will try to branch out and read new genres of literature. (I often get very stuck in fantasy and romance, but sometimes it’s good to add in something new every once in a while. I need to spice things up this year!)
  7. I will not begin reading a new book until I finish the one I’ve already started. (I’ve gotten myself in trouble reading four or five different books at the same time because I get bored with one. But then I think I miss things and don’t get the full effect of any one book.)
  8. I will use a bookmark and stop dog-earing my pages. (I can’t stand how the pages look afterwards!)
  9. I will actually take the advice of all the quotes I’ve put up on Pinterest and not just leave them there to rot.
  10. I will make sure I read at least one truly good book this year. (I cannot stop until I find at  least one really fantastic novel to read this year. It has to be truly amazing! No making due with just alright books. Until then I’ll just have to wade through some dribble. Maybe I’ll try Oprah’s book club.)

 

There they are. My resolutions. Hopefully I’ll be able to achieve some of them if not all. I think they’re pretty good ones. Maybe they will inspire some of you in your effort to make a New Year’s resolution. Don’t despair because the year has already started. Beginning your New Year’s resolutions should be saved for the second day of the year anyways.

 

What New Year’s resolutions have you made? Sound off below…

 

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By on January 2nd, 2014

About Rebecca Lane

Rebecca Lane grew up in the hot desert landscape of Tucson, Arizona where she decided early on she wanted to write, if only to mentally escape her blistering surroundings. She has always been enamored of the arts and literature. As a child she often wrote short stories, and rewrote the endings of novels that she simply could not abide. She received her Undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she was lucky enough to also spend a year studying at Oxford University. While she began her journey dreaming of the day she would sing opera in a large Manhattan theater, she found in the end she could not stand waitressing and simply could not give up books and her hopes of someday writing them. She is currently working as a freelance writer/editor and earning her Masters in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

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