Hello, 2008!

Whether it’s the new job after 4+ years at my previous one; or my creative writing getting a much-needed kickstart thanks largely to a focused return to the slam scene; or my ending a $100+/month, love/hate relationship with comic books and along with it abandoning the one outlet that had kept me writing since 2005; or finally tackling my dream of publishing with the soft launch of Spindle — to say 2007 was a year of personal transition would be a bit of an understatement. Plus, I quit smoking, lost 15 lbs. and started going back to the gym on a regular basis, getting back into shape and pushing the inevitable mid-life crisis back a few more years!

All in all, hindsight being 20/20, while it wasn’t a perfect year by any means, the pros outweigh the cons and I feel like I’m in a pretty good position to continue to move forward in 2008.

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, generally speaking, but I think having a To Do list is always a good idea and January 1st is as good a time as any to revise and/or update it.

1. Relaunch loudpoet.com as Command Central for all things Guy: Writer.
   1. Welcome! Bookmark, add the feed, and poke around.
   2. Minimum 3 posts/week, focusing on publishing, politics, behind-the-scenes Spindle infomation and other things of interest.
   3. NOTE: Everything from my original Blogspot, Comic Book Commentary and First Drafts blogs is now stored here. I’ll be keeping the Vox blog for the more personal stuff, like family updates, silly memes, and non-essential rants. LiveJournal will be for x-posting from Vox (as long as the Russians allow) and commenting only.
2. Write. Submit. Publish.
   1. My own creative writing has always found a way to take a back seat to everything else and, as a result, I think I’m grossly underpublished. It’s a vicious cycle that I took baby steps towards breaking last year but will be making a concerted effort to completely demolish this year.
   2. Goal #1: Submit to one new journal/month; publish (or have accepted) three new poems/stories/articles by the end of December.
   3. Goal #2: NaNoWriMo 2004 revision. I cranked out approx. 15,000 words of my zombie Babe Ruth “novel” back in 2004 and re-read it recently and there’s enough unseasoned meat there to develop a pretty good first draft.
3. Perform.
   1. I did a pretty good job of reading at almost every open mic I attended last year, and almost always something new, but want to make a concerted effort to improve my performance skills which have atrophied pretty severely over the years.
   2. Goal #1: Memorize at least 3 poems.
   3. Goal #2: Slam at least 3 times.
   4. Goal #3: Attend at least 3 new readings and hit their open mic.
   5. Goal #4: Do at least 3 features.
4. Mentor.
   1. One of the most rewarding things I miss about running a little bit louder back in the day was the opportunity to mentor newer writers, whether in navigating the slam scene, writing and performing better, or simply offering a friendly ear when needed. I got a limited taste of that again this year via my return to the scene and Spindle, and want to make a concerted effort to do it on a more focused basis with a handful of select writers.
   2. Writers’ Services is the first step towards addressing that.
5. Read more books, including poetry.
   1. My attention span has narrowed sharply over the years but last year I read more non-comic book Books than I had in several years.
   2. Goal #1: Read at least one novel or book of poetry/month.
   3. Goal #2: Post a review of that book here, on Amazon and, where appropriate, for Spindle.

Well…that ended up being a lot more than I’d intended to lay out right now but you can’t always control when and where the ideas flow!

Happy New Year!

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.