More about Resolutions for a Better Writing Life

In my last blog about New Years resolutions I made it simple...

Eat less

Write more.

But in my experience it takes a few weeks into the New Year, after the holiday settles, to reflect and consider the challenges of the coming weeks and months. For example I am still eating more because we have been on vacation. Writing less with the same excuse...vacation time.

However upon further reflection I realize I forgot to add, "Read More" to my list of resolutions. BUT does reading count as writing time? Probably, if it is for research but then the definition of research can be broad...is just reading in the genre for which I am writing count as research? Possibly.

Another resolution I have considered adding to the short list is: LESS FACE BOOK time. While reading FB is well...yes...reading, it is also huge time suck thus detracting from writing time.

The only reason I joined FB in the first place, 4 years ago was to keep track of my last born who was off to India. He setup the account for me suggesting this was the best way to see his photographs. In the end he was never near an internet that allowed for him to post photographs and I ended up with...well let me check....166 friends by current count. I mean I had to friend my other three children, daughter-in-laws, real friends, distant relatives, virtual friends. After that things got out of control.

The real problem is that I spend and average of 23 1/2 minutes of valuable writing time stalking my son. Recently his posts do not automatically show up on my newsfeed. This is alarming because I suspect he may have changed his settings to eliminate his mother from his private life...or is this just the result of all the new FB formatting? Add several minutes of nervous reflection since I must consider, whether ANYONE is receiving or reading MY posts. A writer is supposed to have many friends reading and responding to posts which in theory should make said writer rich and famous.

I feel the need to check up on my youngest daily because once in a while he implies he has no friends which leads me to believe he may be unhappy or somehow maladjusted...so I check his wall. He has 524 friends and there are 967 photos of him. This looks pretty good to me so I can relax...except there are people out there with say 1070 friends. Still in my mind there is a problem with too many friends so I'm OK with this. He must at least be average on the friends scale. He has after all more friends that his mom has.

But then I can't ignore that fact that there are many comments on FB referring to my son as Party Dad. What does THIS mean? Should I worry? I spend too much writing time trying to find out if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

On the other hand I note many pithy posts referring and sending the reader to obscure memes (I learned this word from my son... while stalking him on FB). I feel like this is a good thing putting him on the intellectual scale above much of the FB posts I see out there.

Still...I must worry about his time management skills. Would he be less anxiety ridden about the upcoming finals if he spent less time ranting about how he hates pennies and posting articles about discontinuing the penny. I might agree with this but wonder what will bring good luck if we get rid of pennies...and perhaps I should pay more attention because I do not think anyone has written a children's book or a poem about the demise of the penny.

So....in 2012 I still resolve to Eat Less and Write More. I hope to read more too. FACE BOOK? Unfriend everyone or make new friends? My son is off to New Zealand, you can bet I will have to stalk him down under..and maybe write that book about pennies. A word to all his friends...watch what you post in the New Year.