Home
>
Writing
>
New Year Resolutions for Writers - The Best Kind to Make and How to Keep Them

New Year Resolutions for Writers - The Best Kind to Make and How to Keep Them

On the first day of a bright and shiny new year, stretching out ahead of us full of possibilities, it's so easy to feel a sense of determination. ("This year I'm DOING it! I'm going to write a book / lose weight / take more time for myself... etc etc.)

But as the first month of the new year gives way to the second, what happens? The old, comfortable routines are still there. The problems from the previous year haven't magically disappeared.

There's still not enough time to write.
There are still family responsibilities to be taken care of, and
editors still send out rejection letters.

So what do you do?

You ease into it. A new year resolution is, after all, just another name for a goal. Goals become difficult to attain when you set your sights too high. (Am I saying "Don't aim high"? No, not at all. Read on.)

Here's a step by step method of setting goals (or, if you like, making new year resolutions) that work.

1. Make A Resolution That Is Impossible Not To Keep

This one has to be ridiculously easy. Like "Write a polished first chapter by the last day of December." That gives you 365 days to plan, write and polish just that first chapter.

Or: "Join an online critique group."

Or: "Find 5 websites for writers and print out some good advice from those sites."

Your resolution may be entirely different. Whatever it is, make it so simple you'd have to be comatose not to achieve it.

2. Make A Resolution That Involves Your Family/Friends.

To be able to write effectively, most of us need cooperation from people who are important to us. Think about what you need.

Do you need more time to yourself, without interruption? (Start by negotiating small amounts of time with your family. You can increase this later.)
Do you need encouragement, not put-downs? (Talk to those who are negative about your career. Tell them that you really need their support if you're going to make it.)
Do you need to cut down on outside activities? (Be firm. If committee work is draining you, let someone else step into the role. Organize other parents to take turns driving kids to sport or dance lessons.)
Do you need to take action against time bandits? (Friends who talk for an hour on the phone; neighbors who drop in for coffee 3-4 times a week; relatives who are always asking you to do things for them.) Take a stance. Tell them you're going all out on your writing career this year. Use the answering machine; make appointments for coffee.

3. Make A Resolution That Keeps You Healthy.

Writers spend a lot of time sitting and staring at a computer. They get cramps from crouching over a desk editing drafts. In order to squeeze in as much writing time as possible around other commitments, good health goes out the window.

It is essential to look after your health if you want a long-lasting career as a writer.

Here are some simple, easy-to-keep resolutions to keep you healthy. Well, at least a little healthier!

Keep a glass of water on your desk at all times. Sip constantly, and keep refilling it as you work. Don't underestimate the importance of a regular intake of water.
Choose a form of exercise you can live with for at least one day a week. If you hate jogging, don't do it. If you hate the gym, don't go. Everyone can find ONE thing involving physical activity for a 20-minute stretch. Go bowling - go swimming - take up line dancing. Commit to just one day a week. If you choose well, you'll enjoy it so much that you will want to increase your time.
If your weight is a problem, commit to healthy eating for one day a week. Even one day is better than none! Choose simple food that's easy to prepare. If you can do it, opt for a healthy eating day every second day. (Another way of looking at this: decide to change your eating habits for the better, but allow yourself a 'junk food day' once a week or once a month.)
Check your desk and chair. If one or both are uncomfortable, resolve to buy something better before the end of the year - the sooner the better!

4. Make Stepped Resolutions About Your Writing.

We've already talked about the really easy resolution - the one you would have to be comatose not to achieve! That can be the bottom step of an imaginary staircase.

Let's say you have ten steps. The lowest step is your "easy" goal. Now you need to decide on the next nine. We're going to do the tenth and highest step first. (This is where you have to aim high!)

Goal number 10 should not be something out of reach. It should be something you feel you can attain with some hard work (and maybe a little bit of luck). A goal where you stretch yourself a bit.

It might be "have a completed, polished novel ready to send away".
It might be "have my own literary agent".
It might be "start selling my own e-book from my own internet site".

Once you have your very easy goal and your stretch-yourself goal, it's time to fill in the eight middle steps. These should be relatively easy - just ask yourself how you can move steadily from Goal 1 to Goal 10.

Here's an example: Step 1: Find 5 internet sites for writers and print out useful articles.

Step 2: Decide on the project you most want to work on. Outline it.

Step 3: Look for other writers to give you support. (An online critique group, a local group that meets in each others' homes, a writing buddy in the same town.)

Step 4: Keep working on the project decided on in Step 2.

Step 5. Look around for a writer's workshop or seminar or festival. Commit to going.

Step 6. Keep working on main project. (If it's not working, solve the problems or start again. Don't give up.)

Step 7. Decide on what you need to learn. (To develop characters? Write dialogue? Improve grammar? Write a proposal? Build a website? Create an e-book?) Take action to build your skills. Enrol in a short course, download information from the Internet, work with a friend to overcome problems.)

Step 8. Keep working on main project. Review your ten-step "new year resolution" program. What's working? What's not working? What needs to change? Be adaptable. Nobody knows what life is going to throw at them. You could have a dream year - or everything could fall apart. The important thing is to be flexible, call on supportive friends and family, and set some new goals if necessary. Just don't give up.

Step 9. The end is in sight. Keep working on your main project or projects. Are you close to your 'stretch yourself' goal? If so, that's great - you've had a good year. If not, analyse what went wrong. Rather than getting angry or frustrated, move into damage control. There's a solution for everything. Learn from roadblocks; see if you can turn obstacles into opportunities.

Step 10. Have a completed, polished manuscript in your hand/get an agent. If everything's gone according to plan, you're either one of the lucky ones (life didn't intervene!) or you're very well organized. If you didn't achieve what you'd hoped, go back over your ten steps and see what you did get done. Many writers, frustrated at their apparent lack of success, overlook how much they actually have achieved. You're sure to have moved ahead in your skills, your achievements and your career generally.

Just keep moving forward. After all, resolutions are not made to be either broken or rigidly adhered to. They're made to give you direction. Use them to cast a light on the path - and especially keep looking up to that bright, shining light on Step No. 10!

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers' tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/

pet-friendly home cleaners Lake Forest ...

In The News:

Uber teen accounts now feature live video streaming from the driver's camera, but encrypted recordings stay on Uber's servers for up to 14 days.

Router firewalls and software firewalls serve different roles in protecting your home Wi-Fi from unwanted traffic and suspicious connections.

A Chrome extension with 70,000 users and a 4.7-star rating began injecting fake update warnings after a threat actor acquired and weaponized it.

Amazon's Alexa+ rolls out free to Fire TV devices across the U.S., but hands-free microphones and stored voice data raise key privacy questions.

Meta's new teen accounts settlement sets a default two-hour daily limit on Instagram and Facebook, plus night mode and school mode restrictions.

The CareCloud data breach exposed Social Security numbers, banking information and medical records belonging to more than 3.75 million people.

Waymo reveals its custom 5-nanometer chip and dual computing systems designed to take over instantly if the robotaxi's primary computer fails.

Identity theft now includes account takeover, phone hijacking and payment card exposure. Here's what to look for in identity theft protection services.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

The FBI and Justice Department seized domains tied to QScan and QTRouter, tools allegedly used by China-linked hackers to breach NASA and other agencies.

Uber Eats drone delivery launches later this year through a Zipline partnership, starting in Dallas and Houston with a goal of one million daily flights.

Medicare Open Enrollment scams start with data broker targeting months before October. Learn why August is the time to remove your personal info.

The World Humanoid Robot Games' crashes show how far the technology still needs to go to be useful, "Survivor" reality TV star and robotics scientist Christian Hubicki says.

X-Humanoid's TianGong Ultra ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds at Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games, beating last year's winner by more than half.

A tap-to-pay charity scam is turning small $15 or $20 donations into charges of nearly $5,000, with victims losing thousands before they notice.

Kurt Knutsson shares seven emergency preparedness lessons from surviving Hurricane Katrina inside a New Orleans hotel as conditions turned desperate.

A contractor stored credentials in a Google Doc set to "Anyone with the link," and Google Search autocomplete eventually surfaced the password string.

New Orleans 911 uses Carbyne AI to triage repeat auto crash calls, but strict limits keep human call-takers in control of all other emergencies.

A single card skimmer can generate $1 million in stolen funds, and Secret Service video shows criminals installing them in under two seconds.

ChatGPT, Meta AI and Google now use memory, connected apps and past chats to personalize ads and responses in ways most users overlook today.

MagicalAuth by Glide.id uses cryptographic SIM credentials to verify bank logins without sending SMS OTP codes that scammers can intercept or phish.

A humanoid robot named Lightning Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, edging Usain Bolt's record.

An AI agent using Claude AI canceled another person's gym booking after finding a security flaw in the reservation system's authorization checks.

Trump signed a memorandum allowing vetted private U.S. companies to conduct cyber operations against foreign criminal organizations under oversight.

Your Social Security number appeared in a breach, but exposure and identity theft are not the same. Here's how identity restoration actually works.