The End of the Year Means Organizing Something. (I don’t make the rules.)

Here is what I started last year–a year ago this very week, in fact. But then, I put this journal in a place where, of course, I didn’t see it again until a few days ago when I rearranged a few things.

So, let’s try again. That’s life, isn’t it? Trying and trying again and again. Who ever gets it right and keeps it that way? Monsters? The dishonest? Angels in disguise? Well, not me, that’s for sure.

First off, I can’t have a journal without adding doodles and cards.

What’s the point? Well, if things we do must have a point, the point is just to keep track of everything. I’ll have notes on what’s been submitted, published, left unfinished. After decades of writing, it gets more and more challenging to remember it all. Maybe much of it should be forgotten! Plenty of the stories aren’t great. I don’t mean to imply any of them are great. That’s a lot to ask of any story. So, let’s just say, many of the stories are not worth reading. But some are! Or will be. Eventually.

We’re leaving one year and heading into another (unless you follow this calendar or another), and putting things in order feels like a necessary part of the transition, as if organizing is a protective spell. The stars know we need all the protective spells we can get.

Binders of every short story and novel I’ve written since 1998. Most of these I printed out when I wrote them, but some I printed out this week. And some I had newer drafts of, and those had to be printed out, of course. One digital file nearly went missing and I had a panic attack, so everything is printed out now. Should there be a digital apocalypse, at least I’ll still have these. You’ve been warned.

I also hope to organize a few shelves and some photographs. Honestly, part of the reason I’m doing this now isn’t because it’s the New Year as much as it’s the time I’m off work. I like to sort things every semester break because that’s when I have time. Beautiful time. Another reason though, to be blunt, is death. I don’t know if I have months or decades of life left, but it would be nice for my son to understand how the papers, the photos, and whatever else are organized. I have unrealistic expectations about how well I can organize everything, but I like having goals.

Actually, the other day, I heard someone talk about having experiments instead of goals. Mostly, she was talking about ways to avoid the stress and sense of failure that often comes with goals that we aren’t going to reach. So, what if you said you were just going to experiment? Not “I will write a new story every month,” but “What if I write a story every month?” Maybe the distinction is meaningless, but the idea is to make what you’re attempting sound more achievable and friendly. An experiment is easier to change or even give up on if it isn’t working. After all, not reaching a goal usually feels like a failure. But with an experiment even failure is a result. Oh, did that experiment prove you can’t write a story a month? Let’s experiment with every other month then. It may be silly, but humor me. You see my journal up there. I don’t always have sensible ways of doing things.

Thanks for reading! If you want to help support my work, there’s Patreon, KoFi, and PaperOctopus. A massive thank you to those who’ve already done so! You mean so much to me! THANK YOU! Hope you’re enjoying this last week of the year.