Happy New Year to each and every one of you! I hope this year is a little (or a lot!) kinder to us than the past few have been.
I bet some of you have made New Year’s resolutions, and some of those resolutions include plans to produce more writing this year. If that’s worked for you in the past, great! But, here’s a word of caution: we all know that resolutions that are ridiculously ambitious (lose 100 pounds in 2 weeks! work out 5 hours/day! write my novel in 3 months!) can leave us feeling ashamed of ourselves for abandoning our goals (usually in a matter of weeks, if not days). And, I don’t know about you, but shame is definitely not a motivator for me.
My advice? Go small instead. Set deadlines for yourself, find a writing accountability partner, and/or consider doing one or two of the items on this list:
· Sign up for a writing workshop class—in person, online, or by Zoom. Grub Street is one of the leading writing centers, offering workshop classes in every genre by experienced writer-instructors. If you’re interested, I’m teaching “Developing Your Personal Essay” starting next Wednesday, so check it out.
· Become part of a community of writers, all dedicated to setting/meeting specific writing goals during the same time period. Register for free for author Jami Attenberg’s winter mini-1000 words, running from January 7 to 12. You’ll receive a thoughtful, motivating letter a day from Jami and can also communicate with other participants.
· Go to in-person and virtual readings by authors you already love or are curious about. Here are upcoming ones for two new novels I can’t wait to read by two popular authors: Laura Zigman and Elinor Lipman.
· Do a ton of jotting down, voice memos, and doodling to keep your writing alive and present in your mind throughout the day. As a side benefit, notice how your creative ideas march to the front of your mind, pushing fruitless worries and obsessive thoughts out of the way.
· Give writing by hand a chance, and see what effect it has. Your laptop keyboard—the very one you use for pedestrian activities like Googling, emailing, signing documents, and producing task lists—is simply not conducive to creativity. And the distractions it offers are endless. Indulge in some writerly tools that feel good to you: a journal, a special pen, maybe even a paper tablet like reMarkable. (I haven’t tried a tablet yet, but I’m tempted, so please let us know what you think of the experience if you have.) I just ordered these journals because they’re small enough to carry everywhere and…because I like the color. Whatever works!
· Don’t write—or, don’t only write. Immerse yourself in beauty: read poetry, head for the ocean or the mountains, go to a museum and be moved by the magnificence before you. Ernest Hemingway drew inspiration from the deceptive simplicity of Paul Cezanne’s paintings (see The Cracked Walls, below). They accomplish, visually, what Hemingway described as one of his writing goals in A Moveable Feast: “If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut that scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written.” Maybe you, too, will discover a painter whose style inspires your own.
What achievable plans do you have in mind for your writing this year? Please let us know in the Comments section. And thank you, as always, for being part of this growing writing community!
You will!!
Good advice. I hope to finish my book in slow and steady steps!