27 December 2024
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Use the time between Christmas and the New Year to set your writing intentions for the year ahead
As the year closes, and whatever has happened to you in the past twelve months, one thing is certain, Writing isn’t just what you do, it’s who you are, and it helps you make sense of the world, fills your time in a way that makes you feel better, and provides you with constructive activity and the means to form a community of like-minded creative people in the months ahead.
What would you like to achieve with your writing in the coming year? Why not open a new file, or notebook, and answer these questions to give you some ideas:
- What kind of writer am I now?
- What kind of writer was I this time last year?
- What were the biggest challenges I faced as a writer?
- What were my biggest successes?
- What have I learned about my writing in the past year?
- How has the past year changed my writing practice?
- What is the story I really want to tell now?
- What have I achieved that I want to build upon?
- What is the writing ambition I would most like to achieve this year?
- What are three steps I could take to make that happen?
Whatever stage you’re at with your writing, there’s always a way to push things forward, and we’re here to help. If you’re working on a manuscript, could this be the year to get it into shape to submit to agents and publishers? If you haven’t yet won any writing competitions, or would like to win more, why not commit to writing new pieces every week, or month, and stick to a regular schedule of entering them?
If your writing mojo has gone awol, what inspiration do you need to rejuvenate it? Is there an area of writing you’ve always wanted to explore? A writing course that could take your work to the next level? A topic that fascinates you that you’d love to research, as the basis for fiction, or non-fiction, or perhaps a series of articles? Is this the year you’d really like to hook an agent, or find a publisher, or boost the income from your writing?
Writers Online are here for you every step of the way to help you make all and any of these become reality in 2025 – check out the magazine, the website and the e-newsletter to make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunities to turn your writing dreams into reality in the coming year.
Top tips for taking your writing into the future
• Always bear in mind that even if you’ve laid it to one side, nothing you have written is ever wasted. Going back to an old piece of writing, you’ll see it with fresh eyes – which means that you’ll be able to work on it, adjust what isn’t working or perhaps use it as the basis for a fresh start, and give it a new lease of life.
• Even if you think of yourself as a particular kind of writer, your interests may have changed over the past year. Rather than getting stuck in a rut, allow yourself to follow what you want to write, and write about, now.
• Creative exploration can only enrich your writing practice. Trying new things can revitalise your creative practice, and time spent doing that is never wasted.
• Ideas can come from anywhere, so be open to them. Write them down as they occur and see where they take you.
• Committing regular time to your writing will pay dividends. If you flex your writing muscles by writing every day, or every other day, you’ll become a better, more fluent writer.
• The more you invest in your writing, the more you’ll get from it. Do something every day that reinforces your identity as a writer – we can help you with this!
Check this website and the e-newsletter so you don’t miss any opportunities, join in the chat on our socials, read an article in the magazine and act on its advice! And let us know how you get on – we love hearing from you and we want to add to all our reader success stories in 2025. Keep us posted – we’re with you all the way! Good luck, Happy New Year, and happy writing!
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