Tag: goal

• January 10, 2019

  The Birthday Resolutions Achieve Excellence

  

  Back in college, I read a lot of books by dead, old, Greek guys and I was surprised by how much their search for knowledge and meaning struck a chord with me. Aristotle in particular wrote that the highest achievement a human can reach is arête. This word is often translated as “excellence” or “moral virtue,” but my Classical Political Thought professor argued that a better translation was “reaching one’s potential.” To the ancient Greeks, living a life of significance wasn’t about being perfect, but about being the best person that you were capable of being.

  As I turn another year older, I’ve found myself thinking about how I am working toward my arête, my greatest potential. With that in mind, I’m channeling Aristotle today as I write my annual list of birthday resolutions. Here we go:

  Live in the Balance

  This past year has been insane. My wife and I bought a house, remodeled said house while living with my in-laws, traveled to eight states, drove 2,000 miles, and dealt with personal setbacks. 2018 was a year of extremes. My hope for 2019 is to find peace. There will still be projects to do and tumultuous storms to weather — there always are — but I would like to see smoother sailing this year, with fewer unexpected twists along the way. My hope is to take time to enjoy the little things and to make space for much needed rest after a year of constant activity.

  Run a 5K (for real)

  Last year, I finished a 5K and it felt pretty good. But I ended up walking a fair portion of the course and after the race, I stopped running. Now, months later, I’ve let the endurance I built up slip away. I’m increasingly aware that my physical fitness is well worth the investment of time and sweat. This year, I’d like to recommit to that goal with the intention of running again and this time, running the whole thing from start to finish.

  Carve Out Time to Write

  Two years ago, I set myself a goal to complete a novel manuscript by the time I turn 30. It’s been a difficult challenge. I spent a year not really knowing what I wanted to write, and last year, personal and professional upheavals made it impossible to create a regular writing routine. I have roughly 75,000 words to write and less than 365 days in which to get those words onto the page. This year, I need to get serious about my writing and carve out dedicated time to get the work done.

  Well, there you have it, my three step process for achieving my highest potential in the coming year. What are your resolutions and how do you keep yourself on track? Sound off in the comments!

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer in Tacoma, WA. His recent short story, How to Steal Copper Wire, was recently reprinted in Grit City Magazine, Volume Two. You can find him on Twitter or hanging around with literary types in seedy libraries.

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• February 9, 2017

  The Writer Does Math

  

  I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid it, those weird letters that are used for counting. I’m a writer, I don’t do numbers. They’re the antithesis of everything I stand for — mainly, letters arranged into patterns that form words, sentences and paragraphs. My brain has always been wired for language, as opposed to mathematics. In school, I struggled to find x or figure to calculate when two trains would collide if one left St. Louis at 3:22pm going 60 miles an hour and one left the Moon at 4:10pm with 29 cartons of precious Moon cheese going at the speed of light. It’s never been my thing.

  This week; however, I made an exception.

  WARNING: If you read any further, you may encounter third grade division.

  You see, I’m writing a novel and a novel is a big and daunting kind of thing to write. So, to figure out how on Earth I’m actually going to pull it off, I decided to break down my goal into smaller, less scary pieces. How long should my novel be? How long will it take to write? The answer to these burning questions led me back to my old nemesis — simple arithmetic.

  Pay attention, class; this will be on the test. A novel is typically defined by the publishing industry as a manuscript somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 words (epic fantasies tend to run longer than that; books about orphans who live in an abandoned railroad car and solve mysteries run shorter). So, I set my sights on the average: 95,000 words.

  After my writing retreat, I had written about 6,200 words, leaving 88,800 words to hit my goal. That weekend, I wrote in sprints and timed myself. I discovered that I average 450 words an hour. Do some stuff and carry the one and I’m left with 197 hours of writing to reach a total length of about 95,000 words. That’s a much smaller number, but still too big for my digit-averse mind to understand.

  If I commit to writing 4 hours a week (seems reasonable), then I can write 197 hours’ worth of novely goodness in 43 weeks, which puts me at December 5 and gives me three weeks of wiggle room before my self-imposed December 31 deadline. That’s three weeks to bum around Europe, binge watch Season 2 of Stranger Things and generally procrastinate. Sounds about right.

  I spent nearly all of my time in school trying to get away from math and swearing that in the real world, I would never need it. I guess I owe my freshman algebra teacher an apology.

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer in Tacoma, WA. You can follow his progress here as he writes his first novel, follow his procrastination on Twitter, or sign-up for his email list for exclusive excerpts from his work-in-progress.
• January 9, 2017

  Revenge of the Birthday Resolutions

  

  Today is my birthday. And five years ago, it was also a day when I couldn’t think of anything to write about. My blog was just getting off the ground and I knew I needed to write about something to keep myself in the habit and grow my small audience. I was drawing a blank, so I decided to take a risk and talk about something more personal. For years, I’ve been making birthday resolutions instead of New Year’s resolutions and that year, I shared my resolutions with the blogosphere. Five years later, that first blog about how I wanted to grow and change is one of my most viewed posts.

  Most of us make resolutions this time of year. We want to lose weight, cut back on the amount of time we spend on Facebook, put more money into our savings, but most of those resolutions are quickly abandoned.  It’s hard to change the course of a river once it’s found a course and human beings are no different, in my experience. Perhaps it’s no surprise that 88% of resolutions fail.

  Historically, I have struggled to keep my resolutions (except for that one time when I resolved to move across the country — that one worked out), but I’ve found more success when I limit myself to one or two, put them down in writing and hold myself accountable by telling people what I’m trying to accomplish.

  So, as I mark another year of wandering around this crazy world, I’m making one resolution. Just one. Possibly the most ambitious pledge to myself that I have ever made and the one that will have the most potential impact on my literary career. In light of that, I have also resolved to give it the time it deserves, by setting myself a three-year deadline.

  Okay, enough build-up. Here it is:

  I will complete a final draft of a novel by the time I am 30 years old.

  I have tip-toed around writing a novel for the better part of a decade and have little to show for it. Half a dozen unfinished (read: barely started) novels are cluttering my hard drive, but I have never devoted the time necessary to seeing any one of them through to a final draft.

  Writing a novel is big. Bigger than any writing project I’ve ever embarked upon. But I think that now is the time. I think I’m finally up to the task. I am fortune to have a loving spouse and a supportive web of friends and family to urge me onward. I’ll be documenting the ups and downs of the process from the initial idea to final draft right here — and I’m grateful to have you along for the ride.

  The clock is ticking. Wish me luck.

   — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer and soon-to-be novelist in Tacoma. You can find him on Twitter.

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• November 11, 2013

  Why I’m Not Doing NaNoWriMo (But You Should)

  

  For the past three years, I have plunged into the wilderness of creativity and wrist pain that is National Novel Writing Month (better known as NaNoWriMo). If you haven’t heard of NaNoWriMo, it’s a worldwide movement of literary minded folks where you attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel in just 30 days. If it sounds crazy, that’s because it is.

  I’ve never made it to the 50,000 mark, not once. A lot of people don’t, but the point is to try to write a crappy first draft, not a perfect one. It’s a noble goal, but not one that I’m pursuing this November. Here’s why.

  1) Dearth of Uninterrupted Free Time

  In my past attempts to cross the 50,000-word mark, I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands. In college, you’re frequently faced with awkward blocks of free time between classes and work. College is bursting with opportunities for a young aspiring novelist to write. Every building on campus has a suitable place to sit with your laptop and type away. November is also the perfect month because it’s right between the chaos of midterms and the chaos of finals (not to mention it has a 3-day weekend and a 4-day weekend built in to help you bulk up your novel). If you’re still in school, you’re already doing crazy things — why not add a novel-in-a-month?

  The real world is scheduled and regimented like college never was. That’s not to say a lot of working professionals don’t participate. People of all walks of life make NaNo work for them. But my life, with a new job in a new state, doesn’t give me a lot of extra time. The free time I do have is also spoken for…

  2) I Have a Writing Job

  I’m lucky. I get paid to write. Fully 50% of my income is generated by freelance projects. So, when I do find those times to write, I need to spend them wisely. I could blow off my commitments and write a novel, but first drafts don’t pay the heating bill. Articles and press releases do. When writing becomes your job and not just your hobby, its hard to add personal writing on top of the mountain of professional writing that you already do.

  Of course, that doesn’t mean successful (or unsuccessful) professional writers don’t do NaNoWriMo. A lot of them work on projects that they’re passionate about on the side. And speaking of projects…

  3) I’m Already in the Middle of a Big Writing Project

  NaNoWriMo is a fantastic way to jump start your creative juices when you otherwise wouldn’t write. The mad rush of trying to get it all done in such a small amount of time forces you to write without editing, which is really great for unleashing your inner storytelling genius. It works, trust me. You will be amazed at what you come up with while trying to meet that daily quota of 1,667 words.

  But I’m not in a writing rut like I have been in past years. I’m actually in the middle of writing a novella. In fact, I’m making excellent progress. It may not be a novel, but I think it has potential. It doesn’t make sense to interrupt my momentum — you don’t throw off the emperor’s groove. I’ve always struggled with seeing a story all the way to its conclusion. I think I can do it this time and finishing this is more meaningful to me than starting a novel that I will later abandon.

  Why You Should Still Do It

  If you’re rounding the corner of 18,337 words today, I’m cheering you on. You’re on an incredible adventure. I wish you success. If you’re behind your word count, you are just like me. Keep going, even if you spend page after page describing the blueish gray hue of your protagonist’s eyes. Your goal is not perfection. Just get something down — editing is for December. If you aren’t doing NaNoWriMo, you should try it. It unlocks potential you never knew you had.

  I’m not down in trenches of NaNo this year. But I have my reasons and I think they’re good ones. Next year, if I’m more settled and have some time on my hands, I’ll take the plunge again. Write on, Wrimos. Write on.

  — 30 —

  Jonny Eberle is a writer in Tacoma, WA. You can follow him on Twitter and read his articles on foreign relations on Grey Cell. Thanks for reading!

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