Happy New Year!
I can’t believe it’s finally not 2020. Psychologically, at least, I’m ecstatic that I can close the book on the heartache and general chaos that was last calendar year. (Yes, I’m fully aware that a change in calendar year doesn’t actually change the state of the world any, but I’m going to continue enjoying the mental reprieve as long as I can.)
Due to circumstances outside my control (also known as 2020), I’m not as far ahead on blog content as I would like to be. This may affect my consistency for the next month or two, but I will do my utmost to get things posted. January is often a month of editing for those who participated in NaNoWriMo back in November, so that will be my theme this month. But, before I get into that, I’d like to share a bit of wisdom.
Writing Resolutions, 2021 Edition
I have personally given up on New Year’s resolutions, as they tend to be too optimistic and I just end up depressed because I couldn’t achieve them. Resolutions gave way to goals and ideals instead, which don’t feel quite as binding. That said, I would like to heartily recommend making a resolution with regards to your writing this year. Taking into account the craziness that is the pandemic, isolation and/or quarantine, and not being able to see people’s faces or hug your family, what might you be able to set as an achievable goal for 2021? I recommend two things at bare minimum: a reading goal and a writing goal. My suggestions for the simplest versions are below.
The key word in there is ‘achievable’. Don’t set something you won’t be able to accomplish, you’ll only end up dejected when you break it. But there are plenty of achievable goals that should be within your reach. Try aiming for progress instead of completing a manuscript. Discussion with beta readers over revising a whole draft. Especially when the world is so unstable, expecting any sort of finality is asking for disappointment – but when you succeed, you’ll feel that much better!
I will be mentioning writing resolutions throughout the year, so keep on track! Whether that means a hard copy list you can cross things off of or a new list in a to-do list app that you can keep on your device of choice, just find a way that works for you that you will remember. Sometimes setting a first-of-the-month reminder that will pop up and make sure you’re still doing whatever task your resolution is about is all it takes. Other times I find I need weekly or even daily reminders.
Write for fifteen minutes a day.
That’s not that crazy, right? Even if the fifteen minutes are spent ranting about the awful day you had at work, write it down. Putting words to paper (or computer) helps keep your brain in the right mindset to write creatively. Give yourself enough room so that heaven forbid you contract covid-19, you can still accomplish that goal. Even sick or with a migraine, I’ve been able to push myself to write down some thoughts each day.
I recommend writing things by hand in a journal. The physiology is beyond me, but I’ve found there’s something different about hand-writing as opposed to typing my thoughts. Perhaps it is just that we all spend so much time on computers these days; I don’t really know. If you don’t find journaling helpful, forget the journal and use whatever paper you have around. (Cheap composition books can be found even at supermarkets these days, but the back of a piece of paper from your recycling bin works just as well.) It doesn’t have to be fancy, it doesn’t need to look nice, all that matters is that you spend those fifteen minutes writing.
For those working on revising or editing, I recommend still finding fifteen minutes to write, not work on words already written. They may be words, yes, but they aren’t new words.
Read new books.
Whether you go dig through your local library’s digital lending options or spend a gift card on some books, read new books. Some people may be wondering why I repeat the word ‘new’, but many of us, myself included, have a habit of rereading old favorites as a comfortable reading exercise. That’s all well and good, and I certainly am not advocating against that. However, it is really the ideas and story lines that new books provide that keeps your creative brain active. If you’ve read it before, that’s hardly going to spark new ideas for your own writing.
I recommend tracking your books on Goodreads, especially since they will send you an email if there are giveaways for books you’ve marked as “want to read” (provided you check that box in your notifications). I also recommend finding new indie authors however you can. The Prolific Works giveaways/previews site has given me hundreds of new books in the last year, many of which I have enjoyed so much I’ve gone out and purchased the rest of the series or other books by the same author. I have new writers to follow, and I certainly enjoy the luxury of being able to try out the free copy giveaways or sample chapters of books by unknown authors before spending my limited monies on books I may end up hating. Similarly, follow the Independent Authors Network on twitter, or do searches on social media for the genres or themes you like reading. As much as I loathe social media, this is one of the times when seeing all authors with websites and social media accounts helps.
There are a number of reading challenges, if you need inspiration to find new things. I know my local library is running one, but there are a many worth mentioning; the first ones I came across when asking among my writing buddies were the Popsugar Reading Challenge and the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge. Both have social media and Goodreads groups you can join to keep you motivated. Both of these have a printable PDF version of their book prompts that you can fill out and check off as you go. If you don’t think the challenges are enough, try asking friends or family to do the challenge also!
Slow and steady wins the race.
One of the areas of my life that suffered most during 2020 was consistency. Whether it was writing daily, keeping up with planned progress, or getting blog entries written and posted on time, it was a struggle during the last year. I can only encourage everyone to aim for more stable and consistent goals rather than burning out doing everything all at once. Marathon writing weekends may accomplish a lot, but they also leave you feeling drained and may result in less productivity during the week.
What do you need to keep yourself going during the year? It varies greatly by individual, but I can suggest carrot/stick methodology (rewards for good behavior, chores/onerous tasks for punishment), writing groups that will help keep you accountable, and using challenges like the reading challenges above to motivate yourself with a little competition.
If these minimalist writing resolutions seem too small for your tastes, scale them up a little or add additional goals on top. I will encourage everyone to under-achieve this year because of how lousy the past calendar year turned out. In this instance, underachieving means keeping up with your goals and feeling accomplished when you go above and beyond. Personally, I think that’s more important this year than big milestones, but that is of course up to you!
Cheers,
~Marie
Marie Efromson 