Do It December
Here we are at the end. And I am guessing you had plans. Big plans, You wrote them down at the beginning of the year, full of enthusiasm and optimism. You likely made some progress, either at the beginning, or as the year continued and you looked back on those plans and tried to make progress towards them. But now it’s December, and the plans sit there untouched.
Welcome to Do It December.
What is Do It December?
The idea is to take this last month of the year to achieve a few of the goals you had, but didn’t hit in the year. Do it. Get it done. A key part of this is a few of the goals. You can’t make up for a whole year in a month. But you can pick a couple of things to wrap up. And you can take this opportunity to remind yourself that your goals need to be achievable.
What will my Do It December look like?
This is what I have picked for Do It December. I had a lot more goals than this! None of the others are doable in a month (no, I can’t redo the entire front garden, or lose several clothing sizes in a month).
Goal 1: Daily writing/Complete NaNoWriMo
My ‘daily writing’ goal is to write the equivalent of every day, even if I can’t quite write every day. Some days are better than others. Some days are busier than others. In addition, I tried to complete NaNoWriMo this year, but just couldn’t. Aside from the mis-start I wrote about previously, I also was (still am) having a lot of pain in my shoulders and arms. There were days in November where I couldn’t work, let alone write.
How close did I get?
Not close at all, but I want to try and carry the momentum of NaNoWriMo forward. I also have a daily writing journal (a Hobonichi Hon in A5) to make it a bit easier for me to track next year.
What is my revised goal?
To write the equivalent of every day in December. I have a lot of time off in December, so this should be very achievable. But it depends on pain levels. The revised goal is to get as close as I can.
Goal 2: Read 100 stories
My reading goal was to read 100 stories. This could be a story in an anthology, or a novel, or an audio-drama. They are definitely a bit varied in terms of size. But I wanted to read lots of things and this was a good goal to have.
How close did I get?
As of this posting I am at 68 stories. I was ahead at the beginning of the year, and then fell behind as things got very busy.
What is my revised goal?
No revision. I read really fast and I have a couple of short story collections to finish. As I said, I have a lot of time off. Reading is also one of my writing warm-up activities, so it should work well with goal 1. It is also something that is less dependent on my pain.
Goal 3: Complete my journals
I had quite a few journals this year. My goal was to complete the following:
My personal journal (Hobonichi Cousin) should have an entry on each page
I should complete my commonplace journal
I should complete my writing journal
How close did I get?
I am on track to complete these. As of writing this I have the following blank pages in each:
Cousin: December + about 20 pages spread throughout the year
Commonplace: 25 page, some of which will be the index
Writing: 15 pages
What is my revised goal?
No revision. I am on track to complete this. It also ties in with December Daily. If I complete the commonplace or writing journals, I get a head start on the books for next year.
What else is going on in December?
There are a few other things you can expect to see. I have a techo kaigi that just needs photos taken and I am going to be posting (and using) daily prompts. What I worked out in NaNoWriMo is that I have a very strange approach to writing and prompts are really important to it. They also help me just write. I will be posting some detail about this method.
Tarot Prompts
My most common tool for prompts is to use tarot cards. I’ll post a card every day. These are great for any creative activity. Some suggestions:
Use the card as a journal prompt.
Use the card as a short story or flash fiction prompt.
Use the card to help create a character.
Use the card to inspire a piece of art.
Use the card to prompt the next step in an existing work.
What I like to do is look at the images or read through descriptions until I hit on a detail that inspires me. Or to generate a list of ideas from it that I can pick from.
