New Year’s Resolutions for Writers You’ll Actually Enjoy

Does the phrase “New Year’s resolution” make you cringe and immediately think of giving up all your favorite foods? You’re not alone. New goals for a fresh take on a new year are supposed to be motivating, but more often than not, they leave you feeling like a massive failure by February.

So, why am I writing about New Year’s resolutions for writers? I want you to see a resolution as something fun versus yet another responsibility to deal with.

Plus, if you’ve lost that joy that comes with putting your creativity into words, maybe this is the year you’ll get that spark back. Whether you’re a serious journalist blogging about the latest chaos going on in the world or you’re writing the most epic fantasy novel ever, you’ll find at least one New Year’s resolution here for you.

Free Write Every Week

It’s easy to get into a rut. For instance, I write numerous tech tutorials and business blogs. It’s not the most exciting stuff. Sure, I enjoy the research, but you can only spice up a Windows troubleshooting post so much.

To help reduce the chance of burning out from writing the same types of content day in and day out, I’m setting a resolution to have a free period each week.

For me, it’s 15 to 30 minutes on Fridays. You can set any amount of time you want. During this time, I write about anything I want. No research, no keywords, no worrying about what readers might think.

This is my time. I could spend 30 minutes writing about a dream vacation or a random scene that pops into my head for a short story. I might even throw together some crazy haikus about whatever strange thing my cat’s doing at the moment.

You’ll clear your head, stretch those writing muscles, and hopefully have something to look forward to.

Devote Time to Your Dream Project

Every writer has a dream project. One of the best New Year’s resolutions for writers is to stop procrastinating and do something. Stop letting that outline sit on your PC’s desktop judging you. Quit worrying about what will happen if you do finish the project.

Whatever your dream project is, stop planning and dreaming and start working on it. You don’t have to finish it in a day, week, or even a year. But, you do need to make progress.

My dream project — start writing a series of short stories. I’ve wanted to do it for years, but kept coming up with excuses not to. What if readers don’t like it? What if clients find my short stories and don’t take me seriously as a content writer?

Enough “what ifs”! Just write.

Try Something New

I know it sounds vague, but hear me out. When I first started writing many years ago, I had no idea what my niche might be. I worked in IT, so that was the easiest niche for me to dive into. But, I’ve always tried to branch out whenever possible.

If you always write in the same niche or niches, I challenge you to write in a different niche. Or, try a completely different style of writing. Are you a popular horror novel writer? Try writing a comedy.

Are you a tech blogger? Try your hand at writing poetry.

If you don’t really want your name attached to these new endeavors, just write for yourself. Or, ghostwrite. If you’re a creative fiction writer for instance, you might apply to write marketing content for a small business.

Enter a Competition

Both new and established writers can benefit from entering writing competitions. As far as New Year’s resolutions for writers goes, it’s one of the most challenging, yet fun.

I’m not going to tell you what type of competition you should enter. That all depends on what you like to write and what kind of new things you want to try. But, even as you think about all the reasons why it’s not worth it, in the end, it’s always worth your time.

Carma Barre wrote a great piece on why competitions are a great exercise for writers. From learning how to better accept rejection to sharpening skills, you will benefit.

There are both free and paid competitions, but I’d recommend starting with free ones, especially if you’re new to writing competitions and writing in general.

It doesn’t matter if you win or lose. You’ll have an extra piece for your portfolio and a fresh experience under your belt.

Connect With Other Writers

Tell someone you’re a writer and suddenly they see you as a hermit sitting at a dimly lit desk, muttering to yourself as you clack away at a typewriter.

In reality, I sit at a brightly lit kitchen table and only mutter to myself when I can’t find the research I’m looking for or my PC doesn’t cooperate with me.

My point is though, writing can be a lonely endeavor. Even if you have plenty of friends and family, sometimes it’s nice to talk to someone who understands the craft and all the highs and lows that come with it.

While I’m not a Facebook fan, I have to admit the platform does have some nice writing groups. Of course, I’ve been surprised to find such a welcoming community here at Medium.

Take some time to join a writing group or a writing platform. Ask questions, join in on discussions, share your work, enjoy other writers’ work, and make a few friends along the way.

See, these New Year’s resolutions for writers don’t have anything to do with upping word counts or writing an entire novel in a month, though I’d still love to try that when I have the time.

It’s about letting go and having fun with writing. The more you enjoy it, the easier it is to write even on those days when you’d rather do anything else.

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