Blog 1: Welcome to my first Blog

Happy New Year and welcome to my first blog!

Hello, I'm Angie Halliwell of Angel-Editing and as the title above indicates, I am a blog virgin. But there's a first time for everything, so here goes: -

I’m going to hop onboard the New Year’s predictability train, choo choo and talk about, yes, you've guessed it, New Year's Resolutions!

I heard recently about someone who, along with his colleagues, was asked to write their New Year's resolution down for 2024 and hand it in to his employer. Then, when 2025 arrived, in some sort of embarrassing, torturous and shameful exercise, the list was pulled out and read aloud, as each person was asked if they had in fact been successful in keeping, and maintaining, their chosen resolution. And shockingly, they all had kept them! Okay, no I'm joking. As you would of course expect, not one person had even got close, most had probably forgotten about them as soon as they left work that evening.

Year after year numerous people make their resolutions, with the buzz of a new year and the motivation of a new start. From losing weight or cutting down on the alcohol, to having more time with family and friends, the list goes on. Yet not many people are able to keep them. I guess the motivation of a ‘new year’ isn’t really enough to give people the drive to keep at it, or even start in some cases. I mean, it is just another day, only with a new number and just saying you are going to do it, isn’t enough to make it happen.

So, let’s get serious about it this year and make a plan to put ours into action. If you want to lose weight, for example, get on an app that will make you accountable and give you tips on how to do it successfully. Not by starving yourself and exercising every second of the day, but a good plan that gets results. More importantly, make it part of your routine, so it becomes the norm. Make a scheduled time to exercise, buy in the food that you need to succeed and keep a tally of what you are having, so you don’t go overboard and regret it later.

In the same way, if you want to become better at writing, then join a writing group or take a course, talk to others with more experience, read A LOT, not just stories but research the skills. And practice, practice, practice. Sign up for writing prompts and competitions. There is so much out there to help you. So, if this is your resolution, go after it. I believe in you!

What is mine, you ask? Or perhaps you haven’t, but I will tell you anyway. Like a lot of others out there, I’m reluctant to make them as I would be like the person I mentioned earlier, red faced and admitting failure. However, with the start of my website for Angel-Editing and my passion for helping people get the best out of their stories, I am hoping this is the year I get the opportunity to work with a lot more authors and make a difference.

So, if your New Year’s Resolution is to finish your story, improve your writing in general, or even if you have a few questions about how to go about writing a specific scene or other query, then I’m here to help. Perhaps you don’t have a resolution this year, but if you like to write, you could help me fulfil mine, or someone else’s. Let’s encourage each other this year to take a leap and make it a successful and happy 2025.