Let’s Wear Out Another Keyboard Cover

I had to purchase a new keyboard cover recently, my anxious and distracted fingers peeling at and further damaging the plastic of the caps lock covering. While it was a nice fidget item, I couldn’t help but feel pity for the few letters that had already been worn away from repetitive use.

Rest in peace letters, K, R, F, N, L, and S.

And before anyone asks, I honestly cannot explain why those specific letters were as worn as they ended up. They were just weaker than the rest.

Of course, a new keyboard cover also means a new toy to play with. A clear cover this time that wouldn’t show the obvious wear and tear from constant use; compared to the baby pink cover I had previously, matching my laptop’s case quite tastefully. However, this cover, being both clear and made from a fairly sturdier material, only poses a challenge to me this year.

How long can I make this cover last? How much can I type (write) to destroy this seemingly imperishable keyboard cover?

Disclaimer: This will be done without the use of liquids and foods for my anxiety is much too high to have any of that near my Macbook. The destruction will be from my fingertips and ambitious writing schedule alone.

I suppose that means I also must have the details for that ambitious schedule, some sort of meat to it to threaten the keyboard cover with.

Let’s write 1,000,000 words this year! 2,000,024 words by December - if we want to be 2024 appropriate and clever.

Let’s write the first 24 chapters of your novel and post them!

Or let’s write 24 new stories for Vocal!

And while all ideas are honestly great, it’s…lacking to me, such simple details for a goal.

Could I write 24 stories to equal 2,000,024 words exactly?

Based on my 2023 Vocal Reverb, I was pleasantly surprised to have even published 17 new stories with 38,775 words total - being that I haven’t touched my Vocal profile since 2018 when I initially created it.

Could I maybe try to follow at least 24 new authors on Vocal? To comment, like, subscribe to their works to also encourage their goals this new year?

Again all great ideas, and all ideas I might take into consideration - especially following and interacting more with the Vocal community. Yes, believe it or not, I am an introvert both on and off the internet.

But, I suppose my main goal this year though is just to write.

After learning from this past year that I am such a perfectionist with my writing, going back and editing the SFD instead of letting it be what it is: a Shitty First Draft; I’ve found myself getting rather frustrated with the author within me. The maddening internal author who wasn’t allowing me to write for the sole purpose of writing.

I’d never allow myself to use pens in journals because I have to be able to go back and edit, erase, and change my mind. Never allow any notes in the margins or words to be scribbled and crossed out. And don’t get me started on even thinking of allowing a highlighter to come near those journals to draw my attention back to important ideas and details. That’s what those little asterisks are for…*if and when I could actually find them in my pristine paragraphs.*

No. This year, I want those messy journals with ideas brimming. This year, I want to purge every thought from my head - well, most thoughts - and allow my writing to be itself in its most raw form. To write and not care about live editing, worrying about grammar, spelling, and if what I’m writing has any plot to it. To write and regain my voice before all my technical writing classes in college - knowing sentence structure is very important, trust me, but also damning to a voice with an incredibly descriptive nature who originally couldn't give a shit about commas.

Regardless, if I can get myself to just start writing, and not stop for a good say - 24 minutes? Then that’s 24 minutes of writing I had not allowed myself to do because I’d either get distracted by live editing, trying to find the perfect song on my Spotify playlist, or just become too involved in finding a synonym for “chuckle”.

Because how many goddamn times can just one person chuckle?

This year will be different because this year I will allow myself to be ambitious.

So, how about a goal? A solid objective that caters to such progression, and pushes me from my comfort zone? A potential plan that may or may not completely convert my career path and drive me down a new road of writing - a change in my overall life's purpose.

Ah, I’ve got it.

As is set forth by the New Year of 2024 - I, Nicole Fenn, will work to publish 24 new stories to my Vocal profile (not including this piece here) this year all equaling 20,024 words in total (about 834 words per story). I will also strive to follow 24 new authors and comment on their works, follow them, and encourage them to stay hungry for their own writing goals this year and beyond. I will also work on my perfectionism, consoling it and reassuring it that we are very much allowed to keep messy journals - for they are a sign of blooming ideas and cluttered, abstract thoughts made physical.

I also very much aim to destroy my keyboard cover by the end of this year - let’s not forget.

While I may have set this goal for my Vocal profile, it very well does not limit me to just this platform. Let’s say those 24 new stories spark something else, a plot hole, detail, or sentence I’ve been struggling with for my novel. Or maybe one of those stories evokes an emotion so strong within me that I must type everything out in a flurry, or else they’ll be lost to the recesses of my mind. Never mind another story of mine already a year into its progress…equal to about 150,000 words at this point and 27 chapters…also potentially influenced by this year’s ambition. That will certainly be an exhilarating journey with a hopefully gratifying end.

So, nevertheless, let's hope this combination proves too much for my keyboard cover to handle. And if it does survive by the end of this year well…then it’s a very well-made keyboard cover I’ll have to rate very high on Amazon.

Happy New Year, everyone.