Closing Out Your Creative Writing Year
As the year draws to a close, it’s often the time when we take stock of our lives and set goals for the coming year. I’ll confess, my list of New Year’s resolutions is usually pretty lengthy, and it’s divided into different areas of my life. I always try to come up with a few writing resolutions, but like with any goals for the upcoming year, it’s hard to set ones that are both specific and achievable.
I was looking through some old notebooks recently and found a list of resolutions. Apparently my creative writing goal was to “write more” in 2009 (along with cleaning less and not eating French fries!). It’s a good thing to aim for, but not very specific. How can you really assess if you’re meeting your goal if it’s so intangible? If I were to create a similar goal this year, I would say something like, “Write three times a week for 30 minutes”.
And then there have been years where I’ve said things like “get this book published” or “write x number of stories”. Though you are the creator of your own goals, writing them down and sending them out into the universe can make you feel more accountable. Hey, that’s a good thing…. unless you’ve made your goals so specific or unrealistic that you’re setting yourself up to feel miserable if you fail to meet them by the end of the year.
I think it’s important that writers, in particular, women writers (let’s face it, we’re queens of multi-tasking, but sometimes we don’t know when to say no), challenge themselves, but not put so much pressure on themselves that it snuffs out their creative impulses.
So this year, I might say, “Query ten agents about book one, and complete a full revision of book two.” If this ends up making my list of resolutions, I’d be happy with it because I’m pushing myself, but the tasks are attainable and aren’t based on someone else’s response (and hey, if one of those agents happens to want to represent the book, great! Then I can tell her, “I just finished revising my second book, too”).
Creative Writing Community
Maybe you already have a good writing routine and you don’t feel you need to shake things up in the coming year. Another option for a resolution is to give back to the writing community. Perhaps you have a friend who is too shy to ask for help with a manuscript. Offer to give her feedback, or if she’s really not ready to share, give her your favorite inspirational book of craft tips for writers.
I’ve also seen a lot of posts going around on social media recently about showing support for writers you love by simply dropping them a line of thanks on Twitter or via email, or by rating and reviewing their books on Amazon. I think it’s easy to imagine accomplished writers sucking the juicy marrow out of every beautiful moment in life, but they too can be plagued with self-doubt, writer’s block, and legions of trolls that have nothing better to do on the internet. Even if you never hear back, there’s something lovely about sharing what someone’s work has meant to you.
So tell us, fellow writers, what are some of your writing resolutions for the coming year? We hope that 2018 will be an inspirational and prolific year for you!