The only thing worse than a writer who doesn’t write is one that pens nothing more than inane Facebook statuses along the lines of “Jonathan is restless.” The sole purpose of setting up a blogger account almost two years ago was to jump me out of this same unproductive rut that I’m in at the moment.

If you had the misfortune to see my old blog, with nothing to cover its bones but a thin layer of posts and a far thicker skin of dust, you will know that I failed. This was a failure I carried through into real life, going on to fail two more years of various courses before the university saw sense and decided to terminate my degree.

In those two years I didn’t write much for the blog (six whole posts), for my course (based on my hazy memory and some rough calculations I’d say about 600 words a year) or for anything else (two paragraphs I was happy with and those got me thrown out of a house).

This shiny new blog and updating it at least once a week is point 1a. on of the “Let’s sort out Scribs’ life list” (point one being “Write more”). Thanks to Antonio for suggesting it and for making me quit Blogger (I’ve been clean for almost an hour and a half now). Other sub-sections include;

1b. Hook the blog up to Facebook. This will mean the blog has a guaranteed audience (at least until they figure out how to remove notes from their news feed/ me as a friend). In theory this should encourage me to write something worth reading and, with my daily pilgrimages to Facebook, will make the blog unavoidable.

1c. Install the Visual Bookshelf on Facebook so I can look all edumucated like Gingell. This will encourage me to read more (something close to the rate I was getting through books in China would be nice) and when I’m done I can write some short and snappy reviews (inspired by Dave’s 50 word film reviews).  If I get really desperate I can then count these book reviews towards my minimum one post a week target.

1d. Do one day a week of work experience at The Sentinel. This will improve my writing, increase my experience and also provide valuable blog filler eg. Class Act: New outdoor classroom won’t cost the earth (I got to interview genuine eight-year-olds for this article, you should definitely read it).

Also I’m going to cut out all the dead tree versions of my articles and make a portfolio of my work.

1e. Freelance. I should write articles for newspapers and magazines, I should actually write something for all these Arts Council listings Antonio keeps sending me.

1f. Nanowrimo. No, that wasn’t a typo, nor was the word “edumucated” up in 1c. National Novel Writing Month is exactly that, write a 50,000 word novel in April 2009. Typing 1,666 whole words and ²/₃ of another a day sounds like mad craziness at the moment. To help me decide whether to do this one I’m going to save up £6.99 and buy No Plot? No Problem!: A High-velocity, Low-stress Way to Write a Novel in 30 Days and see how I feel after that.

Well, that seems to have exhausted the “Write more” section of my list.  The finished list which I’m going to publish sometime in the new year will break down into two categories; the bleeding obvious (get out of debt, get a degree) and slightly more curious suggestions from my friends (swear less, give blood).

So, if you have an idea that you think will improve my life, or just something horrific you want to put me through and then hear me blog about, hit the comment button at the top of the page.