Writing Resolutions – or Resolutions for Writing?

 

picture credit: keepcalmandposters.com

As I write this a few days before the deadline – resolution no.1 is perhaps to start writing earlier(ish) – and with the news media speculating what the latest scientific data may have in store for us, I began to give some thought about the new year ahead and what impact Covid and its variants might have on our planned – or possibly unplanned – literary endeavours.  

 Most years I resolve never to make any resolutions for I very rarely achieve any of the milestones I set myself. All things considered it is usually an exercise in futility for which I am well qualified. Being someone who generally subscribes to the concept indicated in the image above if an idea pops into my head then so be it, but I try not to stress about it too much. As my wife often remarks, “Discipline and structure are not words I would usually use to describe my husband”. She obviously knows me too well which probably explains “the nearer to a deadline I get the harder I start to work” way of doing things. Doubtless I’m not the only one, which is why I admire those whose writing schedules are so meticulously planned out and adhered to whatever the prevailing conditions we find ourselves in.

 And yet, while studying for my Theology degree (graduated 2019) I did plan out my reading and writing schedules for each module assignment not forgetting the 12,000 word dissertation. As a Local Preacher and Worship Leader, I know well in advance when I am leading a church service although the two planned for January may yet fall victim to a circuit breaker lockdown, in which case perhaps it’s hello to my old friend Zoom again and death by powerpoint! My one resolution for the past year to start writing more poetry came and went as my September blog alluded to. While the blog on my talking about faith website www.michaelcronogue.com/blog/ has been regularly updated particularly with past sermons and devotional material, my sometime creative blog which includes mainly poetry and other musings https://blackcountrylondoner.wordpress.com/latest-posts/ has been left to lie fallow since August, so hopefully over the coming months I will be on the lookout for ideas reflecting the less serious side of life as has been my want before.

As a blue light chaplain, I do write up a brief summary of my visits in the aptly named, Chaplain’s Log, but because of the sometime sensitive nature of the conversations I have, cannot allow its contents to become public. Although that said, I haven’t quite given up on the idea of creating my own version of a Chaplain’s Blog at some point in the future.

 So perhaps my resolutions for writing in 2022 should be to re-instil the discipline and structure which has been present in the past and occasionally still is, for who knows where the next few months will take us as we approach the second anniversary of the first lockdown and all that has happened since.

 The first step was to acquire a copy of that essential Christian Writers aid, Write Well, which Amazon have promised will be here on December 29^th, (God bless all those Couriers who kept us supplied with books, stationary, printer cartridges and other essentials during lockdown and since then). Secondly, to make use of a most useful Christmas pressie from Mrs C; called A Prayer for Every Day, it’s a desk calendar containing a collection of daily prayers from around the world and across time representing all faiths and none. Being a pluralist in religious outlook, I feel that we should not be unafraid to learn from other faiths and cultures to enrich our own faith which can also be reflected further in our writing outputs.

 Will these resolutions be any more successful than previous ones, who knows?

 Update planned for January 02^nd 2023!

 

 

Michael Cronogue originally from London now resides in Walsall in West Midlands region of UK. Writer and blogger discussing matters of faith and theology on his website www.michaelcronogue.com .  He is also a regular contributor to Black Country Urban Industrial Mission (www.bcuim.co.uk) writing on workplace chaplaincy issues as well as a Chaplain to the West Midlands Police Service. He blogs creatively at https://blackcountrylondoner.wordpress.com