To a New Year…

Being a writer is more than a job, it’s a way of life. It defines me. Someone said to me once it is not a real job. Er… yeah it very much is, we all need a way to pay the bills… but it is a privilege. I have said it here before and it’s true… I feel as if I created for myself the ideal job. I used to dream away the hours working for a big ‘corporate’ wishing for the kind of job I now have and the kind of life I now have. Sometimes, and not just when the New Year brings its shiny clean pages, it is good to look back as well as forward and see just how far you’ve come.

2024 marks ten years (later this year) of packing up my old life in Wales and moving to be closer to family. And it marks beginning my fitness journey joining my first gym. Now that’s a commitment I have never failed on. New Year often inspires people to take stock, get fit, eat healthy. We struggle to get into our regular classes because of this sudden swell in numbers… only we know deep down that by February most of the newcomers are gone. Cynical? Yeah but true sadly, along with most New Year resolutions. I am happy to report I do not make such resolutions at New Year, I make them any time of year I need to make a change and I DO STICK TO THEM. You?

So this ideal job of mine? Yeah, I truly love editing and mentoring and seeing the success in those around me, I might even be quite good at it now 😉 but writing will always be my first true love and every year I put my heart and soul into another novel which I finish by the end of the year and it finds its way to my lovely agent. Then every year feels like a waiting game. One full of really terrific near misses for which I am now the queen. But that hope, that desire, dare I say it, that hunger, never goes away. If it did, I would stop.

I am ready to manifest the next part, where I will still help people, sure, but one where I get to be just the writer. What do you think?

While that waits to happen and I plan the next novel I am opening up my mentoring programme again to writers of novels and short stories who need some guidance. It will begin when I have six people. Group sessions will depend on who we have and what help people need. If you’re interested in some hands-on help to get your masterpiece into shape to submit or self-publish, email me writer@debzhobbs-wyatt.co.uk and let’s step into 2024!

That time of year

Last week posts on Facebook and blogs were full of looking forward to 2017, ringing with optimism and resolutions. The irony of the term ‘resolution’ is it implies,  in a more literary sense, a solution, an ending of a story and yet it marks the beginning. Of course, it means resolving to do something; and yet only 5% of us see it through.

I pride myself on being a ‘doer’; if I resolve to do something then I do it. Hence I did not need to decide to work harder or submit more, although I am making efforts to make 2017 the year of good news with regards to novels, but that is simply carrying on much as I was before!

I did not have to resolve to drastic dieting or gym membership; I will continue to go to the gym five times a week, I will step up my classes again as well as Personal Training, and I have set a challenge for one week soon (for Haven Hospices UK) to do all 38 classes on the timetable with a fellow gym member… JustGiving page to be set up soon. But this is not a drastic change to lifestyle, just stepping it up, I might lose a few more lbs now and see if I can work on muscle definition, but that is it. No drastic plans that sadly so often fail. But why do they fail?

Because we are a nation of ‘good intention’ that we mean when we say it, but we don’t see it through with the conviction we need. It’s hard work and it’s too easy to make excuses. All you’re doing when you do that, is cheating yourself. So why not take a leaf out of my book; it’s a philosophy that has worked for my whole life. If I want it I will work my socks off to make it happen: no matter what. When it gets tough, be that having to cycle to the gym in the pouring rain for a spin class (spot the irony) and a circuit class … oh and why not throw in a kettlebell class (as I will be doing Monday morning on my birthday… well not so sure I can predict it will be raining but it was yesterday!)… it can be hard but I will do it: no matter what. Of course, it would be nice to stay in bed in the warm eating toast. But if you want it you do it, you make it part of your lifestyle.

The same applies to writing goals. There is always something else to do, or it doesn’t always flow and you have to deal with rejection… but if you want it that much you will make it a way of life and once you do that… you will succeed.

So as January moves on and resolutions start to fail remember this post and ask yourself if what you want you really want and not a fad — or if you want to make it a lifestyle change, not just a January one.

Be strong. Believe. You can do it.