New Year’s Resolutions: Redux

Around this time last year I wrote this post about New Year’s Resolutions, and what I was hoping to achieve throughout 2015.  Without even looking at those resolutions I can already say I’m really happy with the past year and what I’ve accomplished.  I’ve done things that, if not life-changing, are certainly milestones for me in my life.  Let’s take a look at my resolutions of yesteryear…

Last New Year’s Resolutions: 2015:

  1. Maintain my blog.   Well, I resolved to post on liamsdesk at least once a week and, whilst I started off strong, you can probably see that by June I was posting mostly once a month.  A failure then?  Nah.  I made this resolution in order to build up a body of writing and to learn to write on demand.  Just because I haven’t been writing blog posts doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing – which reminds me, let’s take a look at Resolution #2…
  2. Write creatively at least once a week. I’ll give this a tick in the box.  I’ve written pretty consistently throughout this year and I’ve got a lot to show for it: I published The Witching Hours in May.  To say I’m happy about self-publishing my very own book is an understatement.  But I also wrote and released The Patchwork Carnival, my second publication, as a birthday present to myself in October.  Two books to my name is a great turnout for 2015 and I’m desperate to add another title to that list!
  3. Crack the morning jog.   Back in January I would go for a short one-and-a-half mile run before work a couple of days a week.  At the weekend I’d stretch to a three-miler.  Not only have I cracked the morning jog, it’s now actually my favourite time of day to go.  No one is around, the roads aren’t busy.  The sun isn’t too bright and it’s not too warm.  Additionally, using stats I’ve recorded on the handy WalkJogRun, I’ve gone for 69 runs (averages at 1.3 runs a week) and run a total of 246 miles.  My average pace wass 08:58 minute miles; an improvement on last year.  And in November I ran a half-marathon!  Loads of improvement here: I’m really happy with my progress.
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How to Write a Novel: First Impressions

I remember far back into my childhood when I dreamed of writing novels.  It couldn’t be that hard, I reasoned.  I could write a page every night after school, and more at the weekends.  It would be just like reading a book: I’d find out what happened as I went along.  And for the record, I still think there’s mileage in my idea of an alternate medieval universe in which everyone is accompanied by their own gargoyle, but I’m learning now there’s a lot more to writing a novel than one seed of an idea. In fact, how to write a novel is a multi-faceted question.

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