28 Dec 2008, Posted by Cat in News, 33 Comments. Tagged writing
summary: 2008
2008 was not a good year for me, overall, as I mentioned in a previous post. The message it left me with is clear:
sometimes your best is not enough.
Not gonna harp on about it because I’ll only attract messages from
ladnews and karenmiller telling me to shut the fuck up and quit whingeing. I guess what it really boils down to is the need on my part to employ tactics in my ongoing struggle against whatever the hell it is I’m struggling against (pointlessness? obscurity? invisibility? lack of sufficient achievement as determined by me — yeah, that’s the one I reckon).
I employed my first weapon of mass deflection for the new year this morning. Somebody asked me to do something for them and I said no. My unpaid holiday leave is for my projects only.
My goal for 2009? To get to the end of the year having said no to and offended so many people that I will not need to produce and send Xmas cards as I shall have rendered myself utterly friendless!
wish me luck…
33 Comments
December 28, 2008 3:14 am
karenmiller
Ha! I would never tell you to shut the fuck up and quit whingeing. On the whole, you’re not the whingeing type. You are one of the perenially dissatisfied, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s the PD folk of the world who get off their arses and make things happen. Also? Your current level of PDness is an indicator that you’re restless for more. Wanting more isn’t always a bad thing, especially if it means you’re requiring more of yourself in an effort to be a better and brighter you.
But I will stonk you if you beat yourself up by not recognising what you have achieved. Being too hard on yourself doesn’t actually help you achieve your goals.
December 28 2008 03:30 am
Cat @
I was sure you'd told me (albeit with less offensive language) not to be so whiney a few comments back but now I can't find it. Possibly my own conscience is speaking to me via invisible Karen Miller sock puppets...
December 28, 2008 3:21 am
tallaudrey
You are allowed to whinge at the end of Twothousandandhate.
You must keep in mind (says this to self also) that the goals you set for yourself may well be unreasonable and that you hold yourself to a standard that no one else could achieve. You *are* Wonderwoman but even she needs a break
xxx
I think this year feels like you’ve done *less* coz you’ve been doing the novels and novel years don’t feel like short story years – with SS years you can see that you’ve produced a lot and that it’s out there in the arena. Novel years mean a lot more time working on one or two things and you feel a bit invisible as a result – that’s what I found this year! I have resigned myself to more invisibility for 2009
Love you and you rock and you put us all to shame. Chin up, head down, arse up, write! Or something.
xxxx
December 28 2008 03:30 am
Cat @
they seemed like simple goals to me... but yeah.
December 28, 2008 3:41 am
girliejones
Well maybe not offended people and stuff, you’re allowed to say no and for that to not be offensive.
I think I know in part how you feel – like standing here looking back over the months and knowing you were hell busy yet didn’t actually complete the things that were the most meaningful to you.
Glad to see you have a plan and are actioning it!
December 28 2008 03:42 am
Cat @
hell busy yet didn't actually complete the things that were the most meaningful to you.
yes, this is it. Precisely.
December 28, 2008 4:07 am
Cat
but now you have the bestest excuse for saying no!
‘I’m sorry. I’d love to but my sprog just upchucked on my pants’ or sorry, that’s the day we’re taking junior for psych evaluation. etc.
also, I kinda liked the first pet detective movie…
December 28 2008 06:29 am
nyssa_p @
Saying yes costs money.
I don't care how bloody selfish it sounds, but next year is a "me" year. If I don't have time to do something for someone else, or if it will hold me back, I won't be saying yes (at least, this is what I intend).
I've adapted one of Dr Phil's litmus tests for this:
Does saying yes to *insert here* get you more of what you want, need and deserve? Or is it leading you toward or keeping you in circumstances that you don't want?
And coming from a person without the baby excuse, Jason, USE IT! :P
December 28, 2008 4:18 am
jblum
I guess what it really boils down to is the need on my part to employ tactics in my ongoing struggle against whatever the hell it is I’m struggling against (pointlessness? obscurity? invisibility? lack of sufficient achievement as determined by me — yeah, that’s the one I reckon).
You too? STOP POSTING FROM INSIDE MY BRAIN!
December 28 2008 04:20 am
Cat @
oops... sorry... adjusts antenna hat and tinfoil...
December 28, 2008 4:32 am
ex_benpayne119
Well done on the saying no.
December 28 2008 05:09 am
Cat @
ta!
December 28, 2008 4:57 am
wheatland_press
You’re my hero now.
December 28, 2008 7:09 am
battblush
Lee and I constantly struggle with a sense of inadequacy. Sometimes it makes us sit on our butts and write, other times it makes us curl into a ball and sob. Whatever we need to get through the day, it works for us.
I’m taking Jason Fischer’s advice and calling next year two thousand and mighty fine. Next year we all stop being short story authors and become novellists.
December 28 2008 07:12 am
Cat @
yes. I'm happy to leap on that particular bandwagon.
December 28, 2008 8:41 am
doctor_k_
I feel kind of guilty for having stolen all the goodness of 2008 away from you.
I promise not to do so in 2009.
December 28, 2008 8:42 am
cassiphone
hee, that’s a new year’s resolution I can get behind!
December 28 2008 20:42 pm
satyapriya @
Are you kidding me? I've been reading your blog all year and thinking "She's writing AGAIN, and look at those achievements" and comparing myself, and then going to curl up in the wardrobe and rock back and forth. I COULD use the excuse of kids, but hell, they're 19 and 16.
Look any time you want a kid excuse, you can always say: "I'd love to, but I'm friends with Satya, and she's having trouble with her autistic son. I said I'd be there for her."
There is no need to mention that the kid is no trouble at all, as long as there are Godzilla and Ben 10 movies in the world, Barbecue Shapes, and Pokemon cards.
December 28, 2008 9:29 am
nyssa_p
Oh wait – but I see through the excuse now, so I demand coffee sometime next year
December 28, 2008 9:59 am
nyssa_p
^_^ I like winning!
Coming out of the nursery for Natcon I presume?
December 28, 2008 11:23 am
Cat
IMHO Carey is a total Steve Martin rip. Early Martin I mean, such as the Jerk and the Man with 2 Brains.
December 28, 2008 9:30 pm
benpeek
pfft. like that’s a hard goal.
December 28 2008 21:53 pm
Cat @
i shall learn from the master
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