As 2018 comes to a close, it’s time to start crafting those vows to ourselves that we always seem to break. You know what I’m talking about. Those dreaded New Year’s resolutions. Did you know that almost 80% of resolutions are broken by February?? And you know why? They are always about eating better, and working out, and saving money. BORING. You already know you aren’t going to do any of that. So why even bother with the same old, same old. This year, let’s make some resolutions we’ll stick with because they are focused on our favorite things—BOOKS.
I’ll start!
1. Try to focus on one book at a time.
Did you notice the first word in this resolution is try? See, I am already winning and it’s not even 2019 yet! I don’t know about you, but I am always reading multiple books at the same time. I start one, get a few chapters in, and then I hear about something else, or I get a book drop at work, and then I start reading some chapters of the new book. Then it’s late at night and of course I need to read in bed, so I start reading another book, this time on my phone, so I don’t wake my husband up. And then you know what happens, I don’t end up finishing some really great books! Out of sight, out of mind! This year, I am going to try to stop my ADD book reading ways and focus on one book at a time; OK two max.
2. Read more nonfiction.
I love thrillers. And that’s around 80% of what I read. I haven’t met a missing girl, an unreliable narrator, or a sociopath that I didn’t like (in a book that is!). I need to up my nonfiction game. I do like a good memoir—The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls being my all-time favorite—and I just finished Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders by Christopher Goffard, which I loved! I was intrigued by the Dirty John story, which is about a grifter who pretended to be a doctor and preyed on unsuspecting women online (see, I can’t get away from sociopaths). It’s so good, it inspired the launch of a podcast and the Bravo TV show. Dirty John has some other amazing stories, too, like one about a fledgling public defense attorney and a Syrian refugee living in Sweden. My resolution is to try to get to reading 40% nonfiction in the new year.
3. Write the next Great American Novel.
OK, that’s one of those resolutions that will get you in trouble because it’s so ambitious. But, I already have written 100 pages of a novel, so I will say that my resolution for 2019 is to write more of it! I don’t have a page count goal yet, but I’m thinking at least a page a day for six months, and then maybe I’ll have finished my story. I am going to be digging into these books to help me—Steven King’s On Writing and Charles Johnson’s The Way of the Writer.
This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.