I woke up on New Year’s Day smiling.
At least I think I was smiling. I felt smiley, anyway.
Because I LOVE New Year’s Day. Sure, a lot people feel compelled to remind us it’s just a flip of the calendar, no different than any other day, really. But I can’t help it. I will latch onto any opportunity for a sense of newness and refreshment, for a “fresh start” even if, technically, I could’ve had said fresh start anytime I wanted in the past weeks or months. Maybe it’s silly symbolism and maybe I’m fooling myself, thinking January 1 is all that different than December 31.
But I don’t care. I love New Year’s Day. And…confession time: I love New Year’s Resolutions.
I know, I know, it’s kind of passé in some circles to make resolutions. We make jokes about how resolutions don’t last more than a couple months…or couple weeks…or, as in the case of the one c-r-a-z-y year I resolved to drink less caffeine, a couple hours. Some people choose, instead of resolutions, to pick “One Word” for the year—a word to focus on, study, spotlight, reflect upon. I really like that and have done it myself a few years.
But I STILL make resolutions. Even write ’em down. This year, using the mutli-colored fine point Sharpies I indulged in with a little Christmas money.
*****
One of the questions I’m asked most often as a writer—and I reckon this is probably true for many authors—is whether I am a “plotter” or a “pantser.”
Plotters, generally, outline their story in some way, shape or form. They may not define every detail. They may only come up with the main plot points. But they have at least some sense of where the story is going.
Pantsers, a name derived from the phrase “seat of the pants,” slant toward blank slate writing. They don’t know where the story is heading. They simply start writing…and see where things go.
What plotting looks like in my world.
If you’d asked me when I was a teenager which kind of writer I was, I probably would’ve said “pantser” because it sounded more romantic and exciting. If you’d asked me three years ago, I would’ve said plotter to the core. Realistically, I think most of us tend to fall somewhere in the middle.
That’s definitely where I am these days. In more ways than one, as it turns out.
*****
You know why I enjoy making resolutions?
Partially because I love lists. And, yes, an excuse to use colored Sharpies.
But I also love goals. I like having something to shoot for. I like the thought that I don’t just have to wish my way through life…I can take action.
I have to admit that in many ways, 2014 heckled me. It definitely had its high moments. Sending HERE TO STAY off into the world was a blast. Time spent with family and friends was, as always wonderful. I had some fun travels, and there were days when my day job felt more fulfilling than it has in a long time.
But it was also an incredibly full year. A rushed year. A year in which I found it hard to catch my breath and relax. If I had to sum up 2014 in one word, I think the word I’d choose is disjointed.
And I’ll tell you, I’ve had moments when my temptation is to look back and list all the ways I failed in the past year. The things I didn’t accomplish that I wanted to. The things I did accomplish that didn’t turn out the way I’d planned. The big projects I just couldn’t fit in down to the hair that never got trimmed.
But silly as it may sound, on New Year’s Day, as I sat down at my newly organized desk in my newly cleaned and decluttered writing room, as I took out my sharpies and crisp new notebook, it wasn’t a list of last year’s failures that hounded me. Instead it was hope for the new year.
I listened to a sermon recently in which the pastor called hope “confident expectation.” As I wrote out a list of resolutions for 2015, that’s exactly what I felt…confident expectation. Making that list of resolutions was a chance to reflect and plan and goal-set and even dream, yes, but it was also an opportunity to hope.
*****
I’ve learned something about myself as a writer over my first few books:
I LOVE plotting.
I love constructing a story’s foundation, filling each room of its house with characters and layers and themes. I love building a storyworld. I adore brainstorming and dreaming up plot twists and best of all, getting to know my characters. It’s one of the most fun things to me about writing.
But you know what’s even more fun? When something happens in the story that I totally didn’t plan on. It’s happened in every book so far.
And in every book, I can look back at that plot I wrote out in the beginning—either in synopsis form or chart form or bullet points or on post-it notes (I’ve done it all)—and see where the story veered from my original plan. It’s almost hilariously fun to do…going back and looking at what I’d thought the story would turn out like.
I’ve learned I need that plot in the beginning.
I need a sense of direction.
I need something to shoot for.
But I’ve also learned to get comfortable with—or at least accept—that chances are my final story isn’t going to look anything like I planned. Characters will surprise me, events will pop up, dialogue will seem to come from nowhere. It’s one of the most magical parts of writing. Frustrating sometimes, yes, because one little surprise in one early chapter can throw off an entire plot. But I’ve learned to go with it, to be flexible.
Because it’s in that flexibility I discover the story gems I never saw coming.
*****
Those New Year’s Resolutions I made last week? That was me plotting my year. Coming up with a story for 2015, filling it with some hoped-for plot points. Giving myself something to shoot for.
But I’ve learned—or probably more accurately, AM learning—to be okay with the plot points I don’t see coming. To recognize the story God’s telling in my life might look different than I planned. Doesn’t mean I can’t set goals and work to change and improve, acknowledge dreams and desires and take steps those directions…
Does mean things’ll go so much smoother if I can get comfortable with being flexible even in the midst of sprinting towards goals. Being okay with the goal potentially changing mid-course. Trusting God. Remembering that, much as I may still love the actual calendar day and cliche as it may sound, every day really can be a New Year’s Day.
Which is why, at the bottom of that color-coded pretty list of Resolutions I made for myself, I wrote this:
Comments 14
Happy New Year!! Love your markers. I can never have enough:)
Resolutions? Depends on the year. This year I’m making a “resolution” about just overall health. Not plotting it out though:) I am all about sitting with God and writing out my “confident expectations” too. He’s a God of hope, and there’s still many things I’m hoping for, so trusting Him is a big one for me. And I definitely do One Word. I think that helps focus me for the year, but it’s more about growing with Him. So yeah, kind of a potpourri. And I love your plotting and pantsing talk. I’m sliding somewhere into the middle too, though I’ll always land more heavily onto the pantser side.
Author
I like your potpourri! And I love that you write out your confident expectations.
And yeah, with plotting and pantsing, it’s hard for me to imagine 100% pantsing my way through a book. But it’s equally as hard, three books in, to think I’d ever 100% stick to my original plot. It just never happens. So somewhere in the middle is my sweet spot.
Happy New Year 2015.
FABULOUS post, Melissa. You’ve again written a wonderful reminder for all of us. Thank you.
I don’t think I really go for the whole resolution thing. Sure, some years on my mental list, I am may say, “this year I’d like to…” but overall, I don’t go all out for resolutions. Best of luck with yours and we’re anxious to see what comes for you in 2015. 🙂
Author
Thanks, Rissi! Yep, resolutions definitely aren’t everybody’s thing. I don’t know, for me, there’s just something refreshing about sitting down, taking out my Sharpies and thinking about the year I head…what I want to do, what I plan to do, what I hope to do…all the while knowing probably I’m in for plenty of surprises regardless of my list. 🙂
I confess: I’m a bit of a plotter when it comes to resolutions. But I do have a word.
Dangerous.
Because sometimes I get so afraid of making the wrong decision that I choose the safe decision. In my experience, safe decisions do more harm than good. I want to challenge myself this year and grow… But “flexible” is so good I might have to adopt two words for 2015. 🙂
Thanks for the post.
That’s really an impressive word, Nichole!
Author
OOOH dangerous! I love that. And honestly, I can very much empathize with being afraid of making the wrong decision and thus choosing the safe option…or sometimes not choosing at all. Great word.
I was emailing with some friends, talking about the “one word” thing…and originally I told them if I had a word, it’d be flexible. Then last night I wrote back and said, wait, I want three words: Flexible. Focused. Fearless. (Score one for alliteration!) So I think adopting two words for 2015 is totally acceptable.
Melissa, this is so good!
I absolutely like the transition you made in this post from learning to be flexible in your writing and learning to be flexible in your life with the plans God has in mind for you.
”Remembering that, much as I may still love the actual calendar day and cliche as it may sound, every day really can be a New Year’s Day.”
Yes. Brilliant. I’m all about New Years and fresh starts, too. Happy (belated) 2015!
My 2015 word is Focus.
Author
Now that is a GOOD word! And something I need a lot of…especially during the next couple months. 🙂
Author
It seems God likes to teach me through writing and the process of writing. So yeah, as he’s been shaping my way approaching stories, I hope he’s been shaping my way of approaching life and this New Year too. 🙂
Happy belated New Year to you, too!
Hi Melissa!
Late Happy New Year! I loved hearing why you still make resolutions! I’m honestly one of those people who forgets it by the next day, so I don’t typically bother. I thought about it, but the last year has thrown me for such a loop that I can’t even begin to think of anything more than just keep breathing. In. Out. Keep moving. One step in front of another. Try not to get run down on the way. Because that’s what this year has felt like. Me holding on for dear life, hoping I don’t fall down and get stepped on. I’m not big on change, so God almost has to do that in order for me to move out of my comfort zone, but I’m just hoping this year is better.
And I’m sorry to be the party pooper. I’m trying to get it together, or maybe just let it go. Though my letting go usually resembles me throwing whatever it is at God, yelling, “I give up! You can have it!” LOL I haven’t completely abandoned my temper tantrum days, at least not with God. Thankfully, He still loves me. 🙂
I hope you have a great day and year, Melissa!
~Sarah
Such a sweet comment, Sarah! I truly pray you’ll know a year of stunning grace. I’m sorry to hear that 2014 has been difficult for you.
Author
Sarah, I agree with Ganise…such a sweet comment. And yes, so sorry 2014 was hard. Truly, it wasn’t my best year either. It wasn’t horrible…but it certainly felt suffocating at times. But possibly for the opposite reason as you…you said you don’t like change. I tend to sometimes crave it. So in a year when I really needed to keep my head down and just work, work, work, the restless “I want change!” side of me threw a fit.
But I’m glad for your comment and that you were honest. You’re not a party pooper. And if you are yelling at God…I think he can take it. Look at David in the Bible. He’s one of the most emotionally distraught people in the Bible. Over and over, he rants and whines and vents and shares his fears and worries. I think sometimes other Christians can make us feel as if we shouldn’t have emotions or shouldn’t let them out. But then I look at David, who didn’t back away from spilling his thoughts and emotions…and the cool thing is, every time he did let them out, at some point he circled back to trusting God. So sometimes I think those temper tantrums days…they’re good for emptying the well of our spirits, so God can refill it.
I hope you have a wonderful day, too…and a wonderful year, Sarah!!