In 2015 the Australian government ran an anti-smoking campaign with the tagline, “Every time you quit you get a little better at it.” The point of the campaign was to try to reframe the common perception that it is a failure to try to quit smoking and cave in to the cravings. In truth, every day that you don’t smoke is a success, even if it’s only for a day; and every time you last a little longer, you are on your way to success.
Why am I writing about this in a writing blog? Because last week could be seen as a failure or a success. Of the seven tasks I set for myself, I only did four: the blog, review, and two stories. I didn’t record a new episode of the podcast, submit a story for consideration to a magazine, or get 1000 words written on a long-term project.
Resistance is keen to emphasise the pessimistic view. I could even get all my work done in the first week, what a joke. Well, Resistance can go jump in a river.
After building a new computer the week before and going back to work and trying to readjust to nocturnal life, the week was plagued with niggles that made life more difficult. I went to write the script for the podcast, and my word processor had died and needed an entire re-install – the joy of the freshly minted computer, with old copies of software.
If I were writing full time, then I’d be pissed that I only got half the week’s work done – although if I were writing full time, I’d have a lot more to do than just these few things. I need to find ways to get my writing done and fully acknowledge that my content plan can’t account for the unknowable bumps in the road that I face.
But every time I get words on a page is a victory. A step further is better than no steps at all. If I listened to Resistance this week I would not have written at all; instead I wrote two stories that I’m proud of.
So I’m drawing a line under last week and starting fresh again. I suppose the cynical might say that I’m resetting the reset, but they can go jump in that same river as Resistance.
It’s Monday, and my blog is done. One job down, 6 to go.
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