REALISTIC WRITER RESOLUTIONS FOR 2023

 by Judy Ann Davis

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

MAKE TIME FOR YOUR WRITING ~ This tops the list for almost all writers. We resolve to make more time for writing every year, but it’s so easy for life to distract us. We rationalize we have other tasks and chores to do for our kids, our husband, friends, or family. If we wrote only 500 words at day, we would have 15,000 words in a month. One thousand words would net us 30,000, quite an admirable word goal. Don’t feel like writing? Research, writing exercises, outlining, reading for information, and editing also count as part of the writing process since these activities propel us forward.

READ, READ, READ ~ Not only do we need to read in our genre to stay on top of the latest trends and to study other writers’ styles, structure, plotting, voice and pacing, but also we need to read outside our comfort zone. We need to delve into a memoir, a nonfiction book, editorials, the newspaper, and anything we don’t normally read. This will give us a new perspective when we sit down to write again.

GET ORGANIZED ~ Organize your writing space. File that pile of papers you were going to take care of. Clean out your emails. Clean up your hard drive. Back up your data. Review and update your blog, website, Facebook page and Twitter account. Set a timetable for writing a certain project and determine how you’re planning to track your progress.

SET REALISTIC GOALS ~ Stop beating yourself up when you don’t accomplish what you planned. Stop comparing yourself to other writers. Set realistic goals. Maybe you will only accomplish one novel per year. However, you might want to try writing a seasonal short story, or an opinion or a blog piece as well.

EXERCISE ~ Good health is important. Get plenty of rest and find some activity where you can get exercise: swimming, walking, golfing, tennis, zumba, dancing or any other activity that takes you away from the keyboard and gets you moving.

                 Have you made your New Year’s resolutions?
                 If so, share one of them in the comments below.

        

JUNE ~ The Pianist

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Whoa Oh, Where Does the Time Go by Bea Tifton

 

The  cliche goes that “Time flies when you’re having fun,” but I’ve got news for you, Dear Reader; time flies even when you’re not. 

Lately my life has changed dramatically in a wonderful, crazy way as my parents and I have combined our households. New routine, new responsibilities, same old 24 hours in the day. How do I get it all done? 

I’m a former librarian. Once a librarian, always a librarian. So my first instinct as I realized I  wasn’t getting much done was to research. The Internet has a plethora of articles about time management, and I’ve concentrated my new focus into eight things. 

-Have a plan. This tip is really the most important.  Sometimes it’s great to be spontaneous, but if you want to be productive and you have to get things done, make a list of goals the night before, then let it go. Choose realistic goals and limit the list to several important tasks, prioritized, so it’s not so long that you’ll never be able to finish it. I read once that it’s good to do the least appealing task first so that you won’t procrastinate. Figure out your most productive time. I am not an early bird and my best time is mid afternoon, so that is a good time for the hardest task. 

-Assign a realistic time limit to each task. That’s my weakness. I tend to underestimate and then my list is blown to bits by the end of the day. It makes for a hectic, frustrating day. Put buffer time in between. You need to take brain breaks and restroom breaks, for example. 

-Put things on your calendar. Most cell phones have one or go old school and write it down on a paper one. We do both in my family and have a family calendar posted so no one double books. My cell phone will send a notification to me 30 minutes before any appointments I have. 

-Stop being a perfectionist. Quality work is the goal. Perfection is unattainable. Stop beating

yourself up and let go at a certain point. That goes back to setting realistic goals. Procrastinators are often perfectionists who are so afraid the result won't be perfect that they are reluctant to try.

- Learn to say no. I’m a nurturer and a fixer. Learning to say no is so hard for me, but I’m learning. It’s about setting healthy boundaries.

-Quit multitasking. It’s a myth. It doesn’t really work. Research supports this conclusion. We tell ourselves we can do three things at once, but actually, that means none of the things get done well and we end up feeling frazzled and undone ourselves. 

-Don’t check Facebook and email constantly. You may have to take these things off your cell phone. I have a friend who is obsessively checking her work email 24/7. Then she gets frustrated and resentful when her other tasks don’t get done. And often, when she’s not at work, she can’t do anything about the problem, anyway, and spends time worrying and stewing until the next day. If she tracked her time, I think she’d be so surprised at how much time she spends checking. Tell yourself you will check two or three times a day, briefly, and then put these times in your list of daily goals. 

-Take breaks. I mentioned this one earlier, but it’s important.  I often schedule things back to back with no breaks or time buffers. I race from one thing to another, feeling flustered and unfocused. If one thing happens to run long or gets rescheduled, my goals go down like a row of dominoes. At the end of the day, even if I’ve accomplished everything, I am mentally and physically exhausted. Research is showing that brain breaks and even power naps are helpful for our physical and mental well being. 

Above all,  schedule time to play. Time to visit with friends and loved ones. Lunch with friends, evenings out. The things that make our lives meaningful and fill up our hearts.  And realize that you will never, never, get everything done. But as the chestnut goes, no one ever says, “I wish I had worked more,” at the end of their lives. These tips may not work for everyone. I’m sharing what I think will work for me. And, of course, I will always schedule time for our blog visits. 

Have a wonderful month and remember to breathe. You don't even have to write that down

on your to do list.

Photo Credits: 

Clock: Oladimeji Ajegbile

Plan: Polina Kovaleva

Calendar: Bich Tran

I Can Do Anything: Polina Kovaleva

Woman Checking Phone: Edmond Dantes

Dominoes: Mikado

Group of Friends Eating: Cottonbro

Dandelion: Artem Beliakin