Embracing 2024: My Journey of Writing, Growth, and Self-Discovery
kevinrunsblog.com – 2024: My Year of Writing, Growth, and Change. There’s no ‘new normal’ for me. There’s no ‘going back to how it used to be’. Nope. I’m starting right here, in this moment, with all that is happening right now. As I promised in my last post, I’m going with a full manifesto.
My Public Pledges for 2024
I’m making some public pledges to hold myself accountable in 2024.After discovering myself dabbling more and more with poetry and snippets of creative nonfiction during 2023, I’d like to keep this going.
Submitting to Literary Journals Weekly
I’m going to submit at least one piece of writing to a literary journal every week in 2024.
I was chuffed as a chuffed thing to find poems of mine in Unpublishable Zine and Neuro Logical. One was even read out on a podcast. Kevin, you should have confidence.
Creating New Content Consistently
To achieve the above, I’m going to write one new piece of poetry, flash fiction, or other vignette. Every single week.
Working on My Novel
Da da da, the novel. Well, what can I say? The working title has been there from the start. The two protagonists are very well-formed and researched. As is ‘the big thing’ from the past, which defines one of them.
Sadly, there’s probably only 10,000 words of the first draft written. And, to be honest, they’re in danger of being completely rewritten anyway. BUT, the story is always with me; I’m learning more about my characters every day. They talk to me, you know!
Setting a Weekly Writing Goal
If I want it badly enough, I’ll write it. My goal is to write 2,500 words per week on the first draft. This should allow the draft to be completed comfortably by the end of 2024. Do it, Kevin; just freakin’ do it.
Committing to Blogging and Reviews
What about the blog? This is the blog. There are so many ideas I have as I’m driving around delivering. Time to put some of these light bulb moments into action. I see another commitment coming:
I’m going to email at least one ‘trail running character’ every 14 days to see if they fancy being featured (more about this later). I’m going to add new content to the blog. Every single week. I’m going to review at least one book a month.
Maintaining a Daily Journal
I already keep a journal, or notebook, with me pretty much all of the time. When inspiration comes—a voice on the radio, a headline, a quip from a colleague, a shade of green—I try and scribble it down. How many flashes of ideas pass us by unnoticed otherwise? My pen and paper act as a keepnet while I fish for words.
I shall write in my journal. Every single day, just thoughts. Observations. Even a note to say nothing of note. Never dismiss a thought; it will end up being used somewhere.
Why Writing is My Passion
So that’s writing. Why am I going to do all of that? Because I bloomin’ well love writing. I may or may not be proficient at it. I’m certainly not going to make any money from it. People either will or won’t read it. But even the odd comment about a piece, telling me that what I’ve written resonates, really is the chocolate on the log.
My Reading Goals for 2024
Yup. Going to do lots of this too. I actually have quite a large ‘to-read’ pile, but you can never have too many books, right? In fact, I’ve just placed a sneaky order for a novel with the book token I got given for going the extra mile at work in the build-up to Christmas. Nicky and I also have a rather impressively sized book token waiting to be unleashed. This was also a ‘thank you’. It’s almost like these people know us.
There’ll be novels, biographies, short stories, and…
Reading Poetry Daily
I’ll read at least one poem every single day.
I’m going to buy one book a month from an independent publisher by an author I haven’t read before. And I’m going to read a minimum of six books during 2024 that were published at least ten years ago.
Avoiding the Latest Trends
It’d be simple to lazily follow the new releases and read the most popular books, the best sellers. Nicky and I are already quite proud of the diversity of the topics we tackle (here’s my list from 2020), but there’s always more out there. It used to be the same with music; listening to John Peel and Tommy Vance back in the day gave me a window into artists beyond Radio One and the top 40. Now, of course, there are podcasts (like the excellent A Good Read on Radio 4) and book bloggers (there are some brilliant examples; try John Fish’s The Last Word Book Review as a pretty decent starter), as well as the usual reviews in the mainstream press.
Focusing on Books Instead of Phones
Don’t forget these occasional ramblings about some of the books I’ve read.
I’m going to read rather than ‘phone’. Particularly when I get gaps in my schedule at work or on breaks. It’s so much more rewarding than wasting time scrolling through Facebook.
There is no target for the number of books I’m going to read. There are big books, small books, slow burners, and page turners. Who knows how many it will be… Will it be more than that by 2024?
Running, Fitness, and Health Goals
Here we go then: firstly, I’m making no predictions for any events that I may or may not complete. As I write (New Year’s Eve), the current regulations and guidance would mean no events taking place.
As regular readers will know, I’m writing occasional pieces about some of the characters behind trail-running events. Tough times for everybody, and particularly hard for these guys and girls to not know when they’ll be hosting again.
Preparing for My Next Big Challenge
Like most events, the big winter ultramarathon I was hoping to tackle is postponed for a year. This shouldn’t stop me; I bloomin’ love those big trail runs. I am going to continue to prepare for the distance. A route is being planned nearer to home, an attempt to tackle the distance on the day anyway. I am also going to prepare for the 100-mile event I have planned for May. I will keep training for this, assuming it happens.
Drawing Inspiration from Nicky
There’s very little, which will stop Nicky! She is my absolute inspiration. I’ll never be as organized as Nicky; she has every session penciled in for the next eight months. Then again, she is attempting something HUGE, which involves swimming, cycling, and running a very, very long way! She needs to balance her training. Where I am naturally more chaotic. The trails will be my long-run destination. Aside from that, I’ll run whenever I feel like it, wherever the mood takes me. If I’m exhausted from work, I’ve found there’s no point in forcing myself. I just want to carry on enjoying every step.
Choosing Not to Follow a Training Plan
In fact, I will pledge to NOT attempt to follow a training plan.
I’ve got my first triathlon, a couple of cycling events, and a few running events planned. I’ll prepare them all as if they’re going ahead.
Prioritizing Rest and Recovery
My goal for all of these events is to do as much as possible to give myself the best chance of completing them. I will not train if I’m overtired from the combination of working, training, and any other aspect of life; I will rest if rest is what’s required.
Daily Conditioning and Strength Exercises
BUT, I will pledge this: I will, every single day, do either some conditioning work, strength exercises, stretches, or other body maintenance.
This will hopefully give me the best chance of keeping healthy as my aging body builds towards these challenges.
Improving My Diet
And so to the aspect of my fitness and health, which I neglect rather, my food! I tend to eat healthy breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and spoil it all by scoffing random bags of donuts or fighting Nicky for the last liquorice allsort. My commitment needs to be one I believe in. Every time I shovel a pile of chocolate fingers into my gob, I need to tell myself that I’m undoing the beneficial work of all the other commitments I’ve made up until now.
So, I am going to not snack at work. I’m going to only snack in the evenings after big training days (as in 2 hours plus). Of course, pudding will still be the law after roast dinners.
Improving Sleep Habits
Sleep. Ahhh, the dreaded sleep (or dreaded lack of it!). Recently, there was a wonderful piece about sleep. They spoke to ultramarathon coach and nutritionist Joe Wenman, as well as marathoner Tish Jones and trail running legend John Kelly. It was reassuring that Kelly’s life is as chaotic as most of the rest of us! Like him, my life will in no way suit me making any pledges for hours of sleep I’m going to get. I’ll just say that I’m going to keep turning in early, hoping for plenty of zzzzz’s!
And Finally…
Everybody is living today. Right here. Right