A New Years Resolutions thread at Sequenza 21 reminded me about making New Year’s resolutions. There’s so many needs tugging at me, but all I want to do is make musical plans. I want to remedy my lack of momentum of the past few months.

Everyone knows – economic times are tough. They’re tough here right now. Do I have to look for a good paying job? Go back to technical writing? I still have lots of music ideas, and I don’t want to give up that kind of time. I have my parents to look after too, and that has taken a lot of my emotional energy away from composing. I’m no super woman. I don’t do well at trying to do it all.

So these are the resolutions I’d like to make, and I hope the coming year will let me keep them:

• Actually write music regularly, instead of getting distracted by others, by email, by self-promotion efforts, by housecleaning, by avoidance. My custom is to clear those other tasks first, but those tasks never seem to get done. Instead, I ought to write first each day, before the other tasks, or schedule specific blocks of time, although once I get involved in writing I don’t want to stop to do those other things.
• Don’t neglect networking, just don’t do it instead of creating–write in my blog; write the newsletter I’ve been avoiding; contact someone and follow up every week.
• Increase income–promote improv workshops to music teachers and recording services to chamber music presenters; arrange for commissions, maybe through Spindrift Commissioning Guild.
• Continue recording pieces for a CD.

Then there’s the would-be-nice stuff:

• Make my studio a more pleasant place to be — clear out stuff and make the filing storage work.
• Get some of my neglected titles ready for publication, especially sets of parts for my larger pieces.
• Practice ear training — there are good tips about that on the Sequenza 21 blog. Andrea mentions Transcribe! from SeventhString. David Salvage mentions MacGamut.
• Write about music — reviews concerts how-tos.

Oh dear, this sounds overly ambitious. Maybe my only resolution should be to focus on one thing at a time and gain the satisfaction of finishing it.