And now that it's all over... by Cathy Ace

Okay – time to confess…those “New Year Resolutions” you made way back in January…how well have you done?

Earlier this year, at this very blog, I wrote the following:

Yes, I do have some writing resolutions for 2023:

Write better

Write smarter

Write faster

Not beat myself up if I don’t achieve any of my resolutions (this is an annual resolution I ALWAYS fail at, whatever the others might be!)

How have I done? 

Write better: who knows…only my readers can answer this one. I always try to “write better” in that I always do the very best I can do at the time, and I try to hone my skills by not only writing, but by reading and trying to work out what it is that authors I admire do so well, then emulating that (not copying it, because that just leads to loss of voice, which isn’t good). My post in January said I hoped to write another DI (retired) Evan Glover book – that hasn’t happened, but I have written and published three books this year, which have been the best books I could write while still clinging to a normal life too!

Write smarter: I am still working on this but, yes, I think I’m making progress. As a plotter, I never “just start writing” before I know exactly where a book is going, so I rarely have “wasted writing”, in that I don’t lack direction as I write so am usually making good progress. That said, we all have to admit that sometimes we know we could have written a scene better than we did, so rewrites are inevitable, even if the general content and direction remain the same. What I have learned this year, specifically, is that using Post-it notes when I write a WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery works well, because I am usually juggling several different cases for the four detectives to solve, as well as stories about the duke and duchess at Chellingworth Hall. Sticky notes allow me to shift scenes easily, then – once the entire order is sorted – I stick them to the wall and work through them. This doesn’t work for a Cait Morgan Mystery, where I prefer to use my trusted method of chapter outlines in a notebook.

Write faster: I have always written fast…at least, I have always written first drafts fast. I plan, plot, research, outline, write up character backstories, then write chapter outlines BEFORE I tackle the first draft. Then it (now) takes me about two to three weeks to write the first draft of about 90,000 words, working at my desk for about twelve hours a day. Then I collapse, have a good sleep, and revise, revise, revise…etc. This pattern seems to work for me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write faster.

Not beat myself up if I don’t achieve any of my resolutions: I have done well with this one! It’s been a challenging year in some ways: I have lost friends, friends have lost spouses and parents, and my sister and I have sold our family home. It’s been a year when I’ve faced a few issues that have forced me to admit that I’m not, actually, getting any younger and that bodies do, apparently, begin to break down a bit if you don’t maintain them well.

So, yes, maybe reality has chosen to show me that not doing exactly what you’ve planned is just fine, as long as you don’t feel you’ve let others, or yourself, down in any way. And I can honestly say I have done my best to not let my family, friends, or readers down this past year, so I’m good with that!

I hope you've considered reading my books! You can find out about me and my work at my website: https://www.cathyace.com/