New Year’s resolutions for arts lovers

We are now two weeks into January and well into the new term. It’s time to put aside the Christmas pudding and mulberry wine and pick up our text books and notepads. Oh, how I have missed this. Only 346 days to go until the next one. With this time frame in mind, perhaps it’s time to take a hard look at myself and consider how I intend to spend this year. How will the arts feature in my 2019? Well let’s go through my resolutions, step by step.

First of all, I have to start going to the theatre more. Being an impoverished student is no excuse for the decline of my cultural enrichment. Perhaps I’ll attend Jack Thorne’s The End of History at the Royal Court Theatre this June. Or, better yet, purchase a front row seat for the return of Cyprus Avenue to the Royal Court. I am certain that under the direction of Vicky Featherstone, named “the most influential person working in British theatre” by The Guardian’s Mark Brown, it will be quite the spectacle. The point that can be derived from these examples is that I intend on seeing a lot more theatre, and in no way does that exclude the student theatre of my fellow Warwick students. I already plan on attending as many Freshfest performances as possible (and so should the rest of you) as well as The Frogs, which is being put on by the Warwick Classics Society. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the dates of these performances!

It’s time to put aside the Christmas pudding and mulberry wine and pick up our text books and notepads

And let’s not forget about performance art and stand-up comedy, the blood brothers of the theatre. I’m already looking into buying tickets for Jonathan Pie’s The Fake News Tour. For any of you familiar with Tom Walker’s work as his eccentric, misanthropic and outrageous alter ego, I’m sure you will understand how much I am looking forward to seeing the legend himself on stage.

When I’m not indulging in the theatre and squeezing my bank account for expensive tickets I plan on being far more disciplined with my own writing. The Bridport Prize’s Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a first novel is fast approaching. Which means it’s time for me to knuckle down begin writing and re-writing my chapters. The Masters Review is also currently accepting submissions for their Winter Short Story Award. Although these aren’t the first writing competitions I have entered, I’m crossing my fingers that they will be the first competitions that I win! Or, at the very least, get shortlisted. More than victory or cash prizes however, what these competitions will provide is a hard deadline. I’m a procrastinator. So much so that it could probably be classified as a medical condition. As a result, it’s always a struggle to get my mind in gear to squat in front of a laptop for hours on end, doing everything I can to stave off existential nihilism and the urge to discard all my notes and story drafts in frustration.

And, as long as I can hold off that urge until Christmas comes around once again, I will consider this year a success.