New Year, New Writing Goals
Four ways to get ready for a great year in writing…now.
With Thanksgiving now under our belts (literally) and the rest of the holiday season now in full swing, it’s natural for us to lose track of some of our usual routines and priorities to make room for all that holiday shopping, interstate travel, festive baking, ugly sweater parties, and quality time with the friends and family you may not get to see often.
It’s a hectic time of year, so forgive yourself if you’ve gotten a bit off track with your writing goals in the holiday madness. That being said, with New Year’s Eve — and those New Year’s Resolutions — right around the corner, what better time than now to set yourself up for a successful start to 2020?
Below are a few suggestions for what you can do now for your writing goals to make sure you’re ready to hit the ground running (or shall I say: writing) when the new year knocks on our door in a month’s time. That way you can enjoy the holidays and all the jolly festivities that come with them, knowing you’ll be charged up to tackle your writing goals as soon as Auld Lang Syne rings out.
4 Things To Do Now To Kickstart Your Writing In The New Year
1. Create a writing resolution for 2020 — And no, “write more” is not good enough. When setting a resolution for the year ahead, make it specific, achievable, and one that will keep you excited throughout the year. Complete your first manuscript. Write an original TV pilot and its show bible. Write and revise a screenplay to submit to a specific contest. Whatever your resolution is, set it now so you can enter 2020 with focus and a sense of direction.
2. Schedule your first deadline for the new year — Maybe it’s the date you want to finish an outline by, or maybe it’s the date you want to complete your final draft. Whatever it is, set it now so you can a) work backward to figure out what checkpoints need to be met along the way, and b) have a timeline to orient yourself around.
3. Streamline and simplify distracting tasks and errands — We all know that life can get in the way of our passions from time to time. But what is most often the case is that we let chores and distractions become priorities on days when we’re procrastinating particularly hard. You know those days when you want to write a chapter, but the laundry just has to get done and you haven’t been grocery shopping in weeks? Too bad. Schedule your writing breaks around your laundry loads, and maybe take this month to try out grocery delivery so you don’t have to spend valuable time running errands. In other words, set some habits now that will help you when you dive into prioritizing your writing in the new year.
4. Find an accountability buddy — Just as we sometimes need that health nut friend to show up at our house with a green smoothie in hand and a “there’s no way you’re getting out of going to the gym” attitude, we also sometimes need outside motivation to stay devoted to our writing goals. Take this month to consider what friends or family members would make a good accountability buddy. Bonus points if he/she is also a writer, so you can tag team playing bad cop.
With 2020 just around the corner, we hope these tips will help you start it off right.
Meg Hughes serves as Director of Events & Outreach at Writers Blok. If you’d like to learn more about Writers Blok, visit the website.
