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Do you have a writing New Year’s resolution?

January 4, 2016 by Nathan Bransford 19 Comments

It is 2016! Still no flying cars or hoverboards (no, it’s not), but um, at least Crystal Pepsi is coming back? Bueller?

Anyway, as we move ever more squarely into the twenty-first century, it is that time of year where we make resolutions for how we will self-improve, conquer worlds, and burn off all those Crystal Pepsi calories.

Do you have a writing-related New Year’s resolution?

I’m hoping to make more progress on my sloooooow going novel. And hopefully blog a bit more consistently. And look at Twitter a little more often.

What about you?

Art: The Sun by Edvard Munch

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: You Tell Me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Toni says

    January 4, 2016 at 6:24 pm

    I've been working on my novel for two years. This year it WILL be finished. Also have 3 children's stories I need to illustrate and publish.

    My resolution is no less than two hours of writing every morning on the days I work and no less than 6 hours on the days I don't.

    Reply
  2. Neil Waring says

    January 4, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    Finishing up one, researching my next nonfiction and hope to get another western completed this year. That is likely too much, so I call them my – I hope I can's- instead of resolutions. I also hope I can read a bit more this year.

    Reply
  3. Sonya Elliott says

    January 5, 2016 at 1:30 am

    I set a goal this year to go to the "office" every weekday for a few hours to write. The "office" being a coffee house of my choice where my chores are not in view. Today I wrote for about two hours on both an article and on my YA novel, and then when I got home I wrote a blog about setting goals for the new year. Happy 2016!

    Reply
  4. Whirlochre says

    January 5, 2016 at 8:21 am

    I'm still trying to fix up my hairstyle resolutions from 2002.

    It's funny, but you never realise how time consuming some of these dreams turn out to be.

    But, yes: more writing and blogging.

    Without output, there can be no input.

    Reply
  5. CourtLeighLove says

    January 5, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    My biggest writing/publishing goal/dream is to find the perfect agent for my current MS (and my career). Next to that, I'd like to write a couple short stories and finish a new novel. Fingers crossed! Good luck with your goals this year!

    Reply
  6. Jaysonc says

    January 5, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    Hopefully I'll finish the second draft of my second novel (a sequel to the first) and get a good start on the third and final draft.

    Reply
  7. Ray Robin says

    January 5, 2016 at 7:59 pm

    Continue blogging and epub the next book in our Space Freighter series. Start pulling stories and writing and illustrating a few more stories for a collection of short stories. Do more camping as that is where we do our best writing and live through stories yet written.

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    January 5, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    New Years resolutions – gave them up – not frequent enough.
    I re invent myself every Monday morning,
    seems to have worked in the last year.
    Eva

    Reply
  9. wendy says

    January 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    This year – within the next two weeks – I AM self-publishing an epic novel that has taken an epic amount of time to finish. I once had problems with syntax so fine-tuning was what took up the time, but now I have a much better feel for sentences that flow and read well.

    Good luck, Nathan, and to all for success in 2016.

    Reply
  10. Marion says

    January 5, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    I don't do NY resolutions. But what a stunning painting by Munch. I'd never seen that one. Some inspiration for us struggling scribblers! 🙂

    Reply
  11. Ellen T. McKnight says

    January 6, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    I like to call them New Year's aspirations: finish a draft of my new novel, submit my completed one, work on shorter pieces, continue to blog and teach about craft. Oh yes, and invent a clone.

    Reply
  12. sammo says

    January 6, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    oh yes, this year shall be the year I finally publish something (maybe)…

    Reply
  13. Mrs. Haughee says

    January 6, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    I will not just hand over the kids to my husband when he gets home and run off to write, holing up in my cave. I will talk to him, maybe even spend some time with him. I hear he is a pretty cool guy.

    Reply
  14. Sara says

    January 9, 2016 at 11:40 am

    My *plans* for writing in 2016 (not resolutions!) are three-fold:
    1. Write a short story every month. I started a challenge on Pinterest – I give the storyboard, you give me the story – and it's only right that I actually do a story myself!
    2. Do morning pages. So far I haven't gotten a lot out of them (in the 8 days I've been doing it), but I think once I start working on a large writing project again, it will be a good way to work through some story problems.
    3. The big one: enjoy writing again. It became slogging a couple of years ago, and I want to enjoy it again. So I'm giving myself a break from the bigger projects and focusing more on just writing for the fun of it again.

    Reply
  15. Liz Mallory says

    January 11, 2016 at 4:59 am

    Sara, I'm on board with your #3. I have been in a mental health rut that I'm only starting to climb out of. As such, my goal is simple:
    –find a project I love,
    –work on it at whatever pace I'm capable of without guilt, and
    –finish the editing process in less than 6 months (instead of procrastinating as I usually do).

    Reply
  16. Liz Mallory says

    January 11, 2016 at 4:59 am

    Sara, I'm on board with your #3. I have been in a mental health rut that I'm only starting to climb out of. As such, my goal is simple:
    –find a project I love,
    –work on it at whatever pace I'm capable of without guilt, and
    –finish the editing process in less than 6 months (instead of procrastinating as I usually do).

    Reply
  17. Maya says

    January 14, 2016 at 3:12 am

    Glad to know you're still writing! I'm hoping to finish *something* this year, if I can beat back the brain fog.

    Reply
  18. Joann Keder says

    February 2, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    Not a New Year's Resolution, but definitely some resolutions for living a focused life. My husband had a heart attack and had to be resuscitated several times. It tossed away the frivolity of life and showed me where my focus needed to be – on my writing. You never know when your time is up, make it count.

    Reply
  19. seven@heaven says

    March 4, 2016 at 6:23 am

    Continue blogging and epub the next book in Space Freighter series. Start pulling stories and writing and illustrating a few more stories for a collection of short stories. Do more camping as that is where we do our best writing and live through stories yet written.

    Reply

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
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