2024 and Me: To Write or Not to Write? That is the Question!
I have even occasionally posed the question to old friends who’ve known me since forever: ‘So what do you think I should be doing?’ And they all say ‘write’.
An equally long time ago I had ambitions to be a columnist. And if not that then a medical writer. And if not that then a ski writer. And if not that then a travel writer. And if not that then a freelance writer. And if not that then a magazine editor. And if not that then a sub-editor. And if not that then a copywriter. I think we can spot a theme here, can’t we?! Oh, and when we went to live in Italy, I wanted to write a book about that, in the style of Peter Mayle’s famous ‘A Year In Provence’. I did actually start it but my ‘Videowriter’ computer overheated one day and melted the disc and I lost the lot. Many tears, I can assure you. But no book.
Truth to tell, I have, I suppose, done most of the things that I wanted to do in that above list: I write about health in my healing blog which I started once I became a reiki healer and house energy healer; I write about food and the influences of Italy in my food blog; I write about gardening in my garden blog; I have written freelance articles on skiing; I have written freelance articles on travel; I have written press releases as a travel PR; I have written, produced and edited a client magazine when I worked for a travel company; I have written huge amounts of travel brochure copy and other bits of copywriting. But I have never been a columnist (unless you count blogging as that, which I suppose, in a way, it is…?); and I have not yet written a book which has become a standing joke (‘How’s the book going?’) amongst family and friends.
So…my resolution for 2024 is WRITE! Write more on my blogs, for sure, but also write that wretched book! It’s been on my ‘To Do’ list for 30 years. I think that’s enough. So I’m going to chant the mantra ‘Write, Write, Write’ on a daily basis and I am going to guard my time so that I can write. Perhaps, most significantly, I am going to give myself permission to write. I have long reflected why I self-sabotage the writing aspect of my being: and what I have realised is that my father was ‘The Writer’ in the family - a career journalist since the age of 15 with many accolades and successes, primarily within sport, and Winter Sports in particular. It was very much his territory which he guarded fiercely and being a sensitive soul, I realise now how much that has held me back.
The next thorny issue, with regard to the book at least, is what sort of book do I write? I have started many and finished none as my life has evolved and moved on. It certainly won’t be anything historical or fantastical, and it won’t be a Mills & Boon romance or a bodice ripper! It may involve love, in more subtle ways, or it may involve healing, or it may involve ghost stories. It may be a novella, or short stories, or it may be a bit longer. It may be fiction, it may be non-fiction…
One thing I do know is that it is best to write about your own experience so perhaps, as I enter my 7th decade, this is indeed the moment that I have been waiting for all my life…
Comments