Crowe's Nest Resolutions

Happy New Year from the Crowe's Nest! The start of a new year is of course a time to reflect on the past and to make decisions about how we want our futures to look. Here are the resolutions of the members of the Crowe's Nest.

• My 2012 resolution is to sell a new comic book series. (I already have a bunch of deadline-mandated items to tackle: two novels --a YA and a thriller I have to write next year--and a slew of short stories, novellas and comics.) --Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of Dead of Night and Dust & Decay.
• I resolve to have enough sense to recognize when to take a break from writing -- instead of stubbornly forging onward and writing dreck I have to delete later anyway. --Dianne Salerni, author of We Hear the Dead (Sourcebooks 2010) and The Caged Graves (coming from Clarion)
• In 2012, I resolve to learn and grow, to grab the words just beyond my reach, to write a book that's both impossible and true--one that's somehow, in some small way, worthy. --Jenny Martin, author and librarian (hooray!)
• My Writing Resolution is to read more poetry. For me, reading poetry slows down the world and makes me pay attention to what a poem expresses, how it's expressed, and my response to it. Reading poetry helps me become a better writer. --Mary Atkinson, author and poet
• I want to remember that it's up to me to protect my writing time. Though my husband and children and colleagues all care about me, most people in my life would prefer me to be available to them when it comes down to it. It's takes more than a little discipline and courage to protect that space. So here's to another go at it in 2012! --Vera Hiranandan, author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl, which releases next week!
• My resolution in 2012 is BALANCE. I love my job so much that I sometimes find it hard to not be working. There is a time for writing, and then there is a time for everything else (family, friends, hikes, movies, museum visits, travels, etc). I need to get better at finding the balance. I'd also like to spend less time on twitter, but I'm an addict and it's a guilty pleasure. If I resolved to cut down my tweets, I'd break the resolution in under a week -- more like two days, if we're being honest -- so I'm not even going to try. --Erin Bowman, author of Taken coming Winter 2013 from HarperTeen
  
  
• My resolution: To write short. --Brian Meehl, author of You Don't Know About Me, Suck it Up, Out of Patience, and the upcoming Suck it Up and Die
  
• For the first time since my debut novel came out in 2008, I don't have a new book coming out this year. It is quite strange and a little sad. But what that means is I should have lots of time to write. So I hope to write a lot. How's that for a resolution? Write a lot. At least two books. Maybe three. Though I also want to get in shape, read a lot, travel some, play and laugh, sleep. Okay, in actuality, the goal is to write but stay sane, which probably means write 500-1,000 words most days, which is what I've always done. Well, so much for resolutions. --Lisa Schroeder, author of numerous books for children and teens, most recently The Day Before and Sprinkles and Secrets
• Decide what I’m going to “default” to when I’m not on task, so I can read less Facebook and more actual books. --Katherine Grace Bond, author of The Summer of No Regrets (Sourcebooks, May 2012) and Legend of the Valentine
• I’m resolved that in 2012 I will be more fearless -- that I’ll write from my heart and have faith that if I love what I’m writing, I’m doing it right. --Frances Sackett, middle-grade author
  
• While drafting, I resolve to send my inner editor on vacation to a far, far away place. One that doesn't have cell service. Or WiFi. But that does have a great beach with awesome swells, so he'll be distracted by surfing until I'm good and ready for him. --Peggy Edelman, author of the upcoming Through the Bomb's Breath (Random House, 2013)
• My novel While He Was Away is due out from Sourcebooks this May, and so . . . I resolve to break (or at least balance) my habit of shyness and do my best to advocate for the book and more deeply connect with communities of YA readers and writers. Maybe this means blogging twice a week and tweeting twice a day; it definitely means reading posts like [this one]!I also want to more consistently embrace my own best rhythm of writing--which is a bit Pavlovian (ring the bell and I salivate). An hour a day, same time, same place, typically works way better for me than a binge writing weekend here and there (though writers residencies are a dream come true . . . and I'd like to resolve right now to apply for one of those too! :) ). --Karen Halvorsen Schreck, author of While He Was Away (Sourcebooks, 2012), Dream Journal (Hyperion), and Lucy's Family Tree (Tilbury House)
• I'm going to carry a little notebook with me and write a one sentence snapshot of something I see, hear, smell, taste or touch every day. --Leila Howland, author of the upcoming Nantucket Blue
  
• I used to make writing-related resolutions, but now I have to make my changes on the fly. It's like
  NASCAR: I try to make adjustments as soon as I notice something isn't working (or I'm running out of fuel). If I waited until the end of the year, I'm afraid the race might already be over. --Michael Northrup, author of Gentlemen, Trapped, and the upcoming Plunked
  

As for me, my resolution is to write a picture book. I've been noodling on an idea for a while, but I've found that just knowing I was going to publicly declare this resolution has me more focused. I've started plotting and even composing. So what about you? What are your writing-related resolutions for 2012?