It has come to my attention that we have entered the year 2024. I’m a bit bleary-eyed myself as I was up late last night finishing a messy first draft of a new middle grade novel, and much of my New Years’ planning has been put on hold.
As you probably know if you frequent these parts, turning the calendar means a time to reflect on my goals, schedule, and my creative direction, and I typically share some tips I’ve found helpful.
I just haven’t gotten there yet because I’ve been so focused on the novel. Nevertheless! If you’re in the same boat as me and are using your eggnog and Christmas lights hangover to contemplate a fresh start for 2024, here are some posts that might help.
For those needing a total refresh
If you keep finding yourself struggling to prioritize your writing or make creativity a central part of your life, you may need to hit the reset button and take a fresh look at where you devote your time and energy. These posts can help:
- How to live creatively
- How to set meaningful goals
- Get in tune with your writing goals
- Finding the courage to leap
- Stepping off the script in life
- Increase your productivity and happiness with extreme calendaring
For those needing a boost
Maybe you have all the right structure to live a creative life, but some pernicious doubts have been nagging you and you aren’t sure all this writing stuff is worth it. Try these:
- Your writing matters
- Prioritize yourself
- Don’t ever ask somebody whether you should keep writing
- Five ways to stay motivated while writing a novel
- It’s harder than ever to rise above the noise. It’s also a golden era for writers
For those struggling to get back in the saddle
Family gatherings, presents, decorating and un-decorating, and all that fudge on your counter may have interfered with your writing rhythm. Or maybe Uncle Pete’s abhorrent politics are still ringing in your ears. Here are some tips for easing back to your writing:
- Get the big things right
- How to return to writing after a long break
- How to keep writing when the s*** hits the fan
- Writing in Times Like These
- Just write
- The first draft is always the hardest (and why you shouldn’t fear starting over)
For those who are blocked
The new year is a great time to get back on track with your writing if you have been stalled out. You don’t have writer’s block. Trust me. You don’t:
- How to get over writer’s block (which doesn’t exist)
- How to regain your concentration
- Try this trick when your novel is stuck
- How to diagnose big picture problems in your novel
- The solution to every writing problem that has ever existed
For those who just need to step away for a bit
Maybe what you need advice on is not about how to write, but how not to write. I’ve got you covered:
Please share any tips or articles you’ve found helpful in the comments. Happy New Year, everyone!
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Art: Exciting Toboggan Ride by Theodor Kleehaas
Many great articles here that I’m sure will benefit me. Thanks.
I’m interested the most in the article about ‘writer’s block’ which I’ m sure I have. I can trace it back to Dec. 7, 2018 when my best and only cheerleader, Helen, my wife of 13 years passed away. She’d hoped that a memoir I’d been working on for about 8 years would get finished and published. She really liked it even though it is set in 1964, many many years before we met.
I finished the memoir 3 years later and spent a year trying to craft a query for it. Unsuccessful in that and seeing my health failing drove me to self-publish while I was still able. That done, I determined to finish another memoir I’d started about 2 years before and approximately half done.
A few weeks later I lost interest in the project and all writing. That was 22 months ago and I’m still stuck. My health has stabilized somewhat – even with chronic pain – so I’m able to write (obviously) and yet I just can’t get into it. Since I live with my daughter and her family I have plenty of free time, so that’s not it. Even reminding myself that Helen would be nagging me about this sorry situation hasn’t helped.
Wish me luck that in 2024 I can shake off the hup-2-3-4, I ain’t writin’ no more blues.
OMG! Right after submitting the above, I read Nathan’s article about how to combat ‘writer’s block’ (which he says doesn’t exit) and realized I have identified the very thing that’s caused my writing to stop: Writing is no longer enjoyable because I was writing to please Helen! When I no longer had her to applaud my work, I no longer had an incentive to write!
Here’s my remedy: Instead of imagining Helen is chiding me for not writing, which hasn’t worked, I’ll imagine her praising me instead.
The more I think about it, the more I believe this tactic will succeed. Yeah, it sounds corny, but I’m determined now to give it a shot.
Once again, Nathan, you have been a great boon to me. Here’s hoping for a productive new year for us both, and for everyone who loves to write.
Wow Neil, I’m very glad you found meaning in it! Best wishess for 2024.
Ooh! Thanks for making this a link hub. Definitely going to be reading some of these.