The start of a new year often brings with it the desire to improve our lives over the next year. Are there ways we can improve our writing lives? Always!
Get Real
Although we’re all writers, we are as individual as the quintessential snowflake. It seems obvious, but a glance at any writing forum often reveals writers insisting that “everyone” should read a book a week or commit to 2500 words a day or write every single day without fail in order to find success. In 2019, maybe we should all find what works best for each of us as an individual and/or make a commitment to stick to our own plan. That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement, just make it your own and keep it real.
Read Five More Books
Reading makes for a better writer. Fiction or non-fiction doesn’t matter. Fiction allows the back brain to sort and categorize, absorb natural phrasing for whatever language we’re reading, study through lines and the building of plot lines, breakdown why we love a particular character or despise another. Non-fiction gives the solid foundation every story needs. It informs setting, behavior, character-building, and the myriad details of the time-period or culture being portrayed. For creators of fantastical worlds, non-fiction forms the basis for worlds and beings which human readers will find relatable.
“Read a book a week!” is a standard lofty writers’ resolution. What’s your reality? I’m going to read five more books this year than I did last year. Maybe I’ll keep a written list of the books I read this year, too.
Write 10,000 More Words
Most of us have pretty tight writing schedules already. But it’s true that writing begets writers. Trying to work more of it into your year will make a difference in your long-term writing goals. I’m a word counter. My realistic goal is to add ten thousand words to this year’s total word count on all projects over last year’s.
For those of you whose schedules are dictated in weekly writing hours, add time to your schedule in minutes. If you write five days a week for two hours, add five minutes to each session. If you only write for a total 48 weeks this year, you’ll still have added twenty hours to your writing time.
If adding five minutes to your writing schedule is impossible, practice writing more in the same time period by turning off your inner editor, outlining in advance, skipping punctuation until rewrite, or writing by hand rather than typing.
Learn One Thing You Don’t Know About the Business of Writing
Again, keep it real. You can always set another goal once you’ve accomplished your first. But accomplishing that one business goal you set yourself will mean you have improved your writing life this year. For example, learn how to properly format your manuscript, whether it’s a short story or a book. We’re not talking reviewing Shunn’s or basic manuscript formatting, although that’s a good start. Practice using Word or OpenOffice or whatever word processing program your use to learn to properly format your work. Figure out all the nitty gritty details so that you actually know how to use your tools to format.
Learn the details of writing a synopsis by writing actual synopses. If you don’t have much to work with, write synopses for your favorite books by other writers. Ditto query letters. Learn how to pitch to agents or publishers. Learn how to market or how to place an ad on social media or how to set up your booth at a reading fair or craft fair. This year, I’m going to learn to market on Pinterest. Pick just one thing you haven’t taken the time to learn and learn it in detail.
Please share your thoughts on, or your experience with New Year writing resolutions. Join me on the first Friday of each month for exploration, discovery, and discussion of the writing life.
Warren Harry
I appreciate what you have shared. Whoever you are as a writer, however you write is you. In a sense I think we all share the struggle to find a block of time to call our own. It is our time to write and how we use it is the writer in us. Whether reading or writing thank you for challenging each of us to be ourselves.
Elle Andrews Patt
You’re welcome, Warren! You put it perfectly. We all need to be our own writerly selves 🙂
Marie Brack
I’m glad to see someone putting forth the idea that no one way of writing works for everyone. Any creative endeavor is going to be to some degree free-form and individual.
Elle Andrews Patt
Always, right? We need to find the process that works for us, even if it’s not like the ones used by all the other writers we know. Thanks, Marie!
john d. tinny
MAD: Writing New Years’ Resolutions.
Elle Andrews Patt
It’s mad craziness to make writing resolutions for the new year? Or to write down new years’ resolutions at all, let alone writing resolutions seperate from the rest of our daily roles? I like it. I try to set hard boundaries on my writing life to keep it intact from the daily knocks it takes from the rest of my roles as wife, parent, business partner, entrepreneur, friend, sister, daughter, etc. Resolutions, goals, and deadlines written down where I can see them help me do that 🙂
Ken Pelham
I like your advice, Elle.
My approach is to set specific challenging but realistic goals each year. Some of them I’ll achieve, some of them I won’t. But I’ll have a blueprint spread out before me, ready for coffee stains and redlining.
I also like your last suggestion, learn one new thing about the business of writing. That gives me a couple of ideas to pursue.
Thanks!
Elle Andrews Patt
Thanks, Ken! Good luck and happy writing!