In With the New

So.  With 2012 out of the way, it's time to welcome 2013 (not a prime number by the way - 3*11*61).

I've stated elsewhere my new year's resolutions but here they are again:

1) Write a publishable novel;
2) Record an album;
3) Learn Polish; and
4) Do more than four gigs in 2013.

There's also other stuff going on in my life during 2013, so let's talk about that...

January
In the first week in January, I need blood tests at the North Middlesex Hospital for heart, liver, pancreas and prostate problems.
At the end of January, I have a second x-ray to look at the shadow on my lung.

February
On the 2nd February is John Giltrow's Wedding/50th Birthday celebration, when I'll be performing something or other in Wood Green.  I'm tempted to use the stylophone but daresay it'll be guitar or dulcitar.  Let's wait and see.

At the end of the month, I'll be taking some time off work to use up leave at Eleanor's suggestion.  I hate when that happens and we'll see.

May
My court case against the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis has been postponed until 22 May.  Let's hope it actually happens this time.

Other things will arise but those are the fixed points at the moment.

November
Nanowrimo - let's use this even if I've managed to write a novel this time.

So, how will I do it?

Write a publishable novel
I'm actually good at writing scenes, poetry and writing to order, for example when I've been on writing courses, but the problem comes when I have this huge expanse to fill and no signposts to show me where to fill it in with Story.  That was the problem with Sodium Light/The Void/Moth, which I completed back in 1997 and failed to place.  Similarly with the screenplay The Rapunzel Ship/The Promised Child which I created in 1999-2001.

It follows that I need a map or framework to hang the set pieces onto.  If each set-piece is about 500 words, I will need, say 200 such scenes and then another 20,000 words of frameworking to hold them together.  I think the way I will do this is to mine the Mongol Gallery as well as the piece I've been working out as a paper copy (working title - The Songs I Shoulda Sung) for set-pieces and then mould them into a framework.

I also plan to take the opportunity to do some more writing courses this year.  I can't afford a BA or MA in Creative Writing (both run into thousands of pounds) but I can try the third term of John Petheridge's Creating Fiction course at City Lit (I did the first two terms a few years ago and found it bot5h helpful and enjoyable) from April to June.  I'm also thinking of trying the Writers' Workshop Getting Published Spring Jamboree Programme in March.  That'll cost me about 400 quid altogether but I think it may be worth it.

At base though, my plan is to write a scene of around 500 words as often as I can but I'm aiming for five times a week and then writing the framework to hang them on.  That should take 40 weeks followed by a rest and then I can write the Framework in November for Nanowrimo and then have a month to think about getting published.

Record an album
Before doing this, I have promised to produce toplines for a Gothic Rock project of which I'll tell more when it comes to fruition.  I also have an issue with my chest, which I hope will be sorted soon.

That aside though, there are two considerations:  lyrics and tune.

For Lyrics, I need to go back to carrying around a notebook, as I did from 1978 to 1983, in order to write down ideas that I can put into poems.  During that five year period, I produced over 300 poems or fifty a year (it was actually more like 80 a year for 78-79 and 35 a year for the rest.  I need ten to a dozen decent lyrics over the year, so that means one a month.  I can do it or I can't but I believe I can.

For tune, I can work the melody on the stylophone and then add chords, riffs and lead breaks on the guitar, vocals and perhaps xylophone and percussion.  Maybe then I can get Dave and John to help out on bass and rhythm.  Either way, it means recording a track a month, and putting the album on last.fm, Amazon etc. in December.

I need to practice working with audacity so my recordings can be worked into something usable.  This is a learning process.

Learn Polish
If I don't find a course, I won't do it, so I'll try this.

Do more than four gigs in 2013
I'm actually pretty good at getting gigs, so I'm guessing the way to do this is, stop procrastinating, keep practicing, find a band and get gigging.  Simples???!

This means some things may be on the back burner
I still plan to stand for election in 2016 but for now, what I need to do is look for a patron.  Anybody interested?  In the meantime, I note that I have a rival, Christian Wolmar, who is seeking the Labour nomination in 2016.  I wish him luck although obviously, I hope to beat him.  I hope 2014 is not to late to campaign in earnest.

I had hoped to revive my alternative worlds micro-fiction blog but I will not be as prolific as I hoped because  the other plans have priority.  Let's hope I am able to do some stuff though.

And there's 2013 - In with the New.