Looking Forward – 2014

In last week’s post I looked back at 2013, and so this week, in my last blog post of the year, I’m going to look ahead at 2014.

Whilst it is nearly the New Year, this time of year never really feels like a new year to me. On one hand, part of my brain still thinks in academic years, and so September-time often feels like the start of a new year for me. But now, at this time of year, I’m between Christmas, and my birthday on 27th January. And my birthday is always a bit of a big deal...

In November I exhausted myself with NaNoWriMo (as I now do every year). I don’t take any leave from work over the Christmas period, and whilst the few days we get off each year do help me to relax, I still feel really tired throughout January. However, at the end of January, around my birthday, I take a two week break from all forms of work, and just relax – and they are the best two weeks that I take off each year. Then in February I come back, feeling (relatively) refreshed.

And so the next four weeks are about me winding down in preparation for that. As well as getting things into a good shape in my day job, I have another assignment to complete for an Open University course that I’m doing, and I want to start doing some editing on one of my novels.

I’m also going to be keeping this blog going throughout the year, although I’ll also be taking a short break from it at the end of January. There are three more posts due before the break, and I already know what one of them will be about (that will be next week’s – don’t miss it as it should be a good one!). Then in February I’ll be starting a ten-part series of videogame related posts...

For the rest of the year I have my Open University course to finish. It’s the final module for an Open degree that I’m working towards (i.e. a degree where you can mix and match subjects based on your own interests). Even though I already have a degree (in Film & TV), I’ve been doing this one for the past few years out of self interest. I’m currently on course to get either a II(1) or a II(2) in it, but it’s too early to call it either way at this stage...

With my writing I’m going to do a rewrite of my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel “The Eiffel Tower”. The first draft of this came in at 160k words, but I expect subsequent drafts to be shorter, as I cut out episodes that don’t move the main plot forward, and tighten up the rest, but I’ll also be adding some bits to build on the story. This was one of my favourite Nano novels to write, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the rewrites turn out.

I’m also thinking of having another go at writing for children. I have drafted a children’s novel many years ago, and this draft is sitting on my computer waiting for me to look at it again one day. Some people think that writing for children is easier than writing for adults. But it’s not – in some cases it can actually be a lot harder. I already have an idea for a new children’s book to write, and it’s currently cooking away in the back of my mind...

And, of course, I’ll be back for NaNoWriMo in November, where I’ll be writing “The Millionth Word”...

Once my Open degree is completed I expect to have a lot of free time on my hands. One thing I’ve neglected over the years is reading, and I have literally dozens of books on my shelves waiting for me to read them, and so I want to get on and read some of them.

I’m also planning to have regular monthly Games Days in my flat, and I also want to use them as opportunities to try out some new games. Currently, we’ve mainly been playing games like Fluxx and Carcassonne. I don’t yet know quite what new games I’ll be trying out during the year...

And as far as my day job is concerned, I expect that to carry on ticking along nicely.

So, that’s about everything that I can think of regarding my thoughts for 2014 (well, everything that I’m prepared to share here). Happy New Year to you all! Let us all hope that 2014 will be awesome...

Next Week: Regeneration