Seize the year!

With every new diet and exercise fad kicking us in to a healthier 2016, how do you approach the re-shaping of your creative life?









I am all for fresh beginnings. Like a new page, the start of another year feels crisp and full of promise. As the sun sets on 2015, there is a chance to begin again, to forget all the scrumpled-up false starts of last year.



But the moment has to be seized, quickly. Time has a tricksy habit of galloping on without you, whether you're ready or not. There is a very real danger of getting left behind in a heap. You will have missed your chance. The only option will be to wait for the fresh chance to come around all over again.

Having failed to manage any sort of exercise and healthy living plan last year, I have gleefully embraced an armful of apps that will do the job for me. Calories burned and activities logged is the way I'm headed. I'm a sucker for colourful symbols displaying my progress, graphs measuring my increased heart-rate, and prompts ordering me to get off my arse.

And so, with this in mind, I have devised a manual version for writing. It involves a wall calendar and lots of stickers. Each day I must complete a given set of tasks, the success or failure to do so will be displayed in full frontal exposure on my noticeboard. If I can tap in to this basic need to visualise my success, to ensure each day is completed nicely with a full complement of stickers, then it might work.

I'll be starting tomorrow. Last week was a complete wipe-out. I was lurgified - which is just about enough of a valid excuse to not make me feel like I've missed my chance…

A very Happy New Year to you all.


Words & Pictures will also be having a re-shape very soon. Watch this space!









Nancy Saunders is the Editor of W&P. You can find some of her short stories here, and on Twitter @nancyesaunders




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