The New Year and Your New Writing Resolutions

Do we need writing resolutions? Do we need resolutions at all, really? The basic answer is “yes”, but at the same time I prefer to look at the start of a new year as a review as opposed to a completely new, fresh start.

We’re not new at this. In other words, even if you’re reading this Substack for the first time, you’ve likely been writing for quite some time now. Whether you’re a novelist, a poet, or a screenwriter, this is not your first rodeo…and I’m sure this is not the first time you’ve heard some writing consultant remind you that we need to make resolutions and stick to them. Folks…of course we do. Intentions are the backbone of our lives. Without them, we wouldn’t actually make any informed decisions, and thus we wouldn’t actually take any action. So…a big fat “duh”. Yes, resolutions are important, but I suggest we also look back on the previous year and consider how much work we did (or did not *ahem*) get done. Did you finish a script in 2024? Great! Did you finish multiple scripts? Fantastic. Did you set time aside to work on marketing yourself, creating pitch decks, working within a writing group, receive feedback, etc etc etc? I assume that you likely did all of those things. Bravo to you.

Guess what? Now we get to do it all over again. But what’s even better? You now have the experience of the prior year to guide you into 2025, full sprint. That’s the primary point I would like to make in this little Substack post today. Don’t look at a new year as a fresh start. The new year is a continuation of all of the work you have already completed, all of the time you have put into your craft, and all of what you’ve already learned. That’s extremely valuable, and we have to be proud of ourselves for all of that work. We’re not starting over in 2025…we’re continuing. And through that continuation, we are only going to get better, stronger, faster, and more experienced.

Just think of who and where you will be this time NEXT year (2026 sounds like the distant future…that’s weird).

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