Writing inspiration: 2025 – The write year for me

What do you want to achieve with your writing this year? Whatever it is – completing a manuscript, winning a competition, improving your skills – this could be the year you make it happen. Whatever your writing dreams or ambitions, if you set your mind to it and make the creative choices that align with what you want to do, you can go a long way to achieving them in 2025.

But, and it’s a big but, it has to start with you. As you set out in a new writing year, you can create a pathway to whatever success looks like to you.

It might be signing up for a new course, or creating the necessary time and space to concentrate on your writing, or honing your skills, or building up a body of work.

It might be acknowledging that your work is worthy of being entered into competitions, and having the confidence to believe that it could be a winner.

It might mean that you’re ready to submit to agents and publishers, or pitch work in a competitive marketplace.

It might be building up the self-belief to say, proudly, ‘I am a writer.’ And all of this is within your grasp – as long as you’re prepared to make it happen.

At the beginning of a New Year, most of us make resolutions. We aim high. We’re going to start a new project. See it through to completion. Send it out into the world. For the first few weeks of the year, fired with enthusiasm, we stick to it. And then, gradually, life gets in the way, and the writing project, no longer centre stage, receives less and less attention.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Why not make this the year you resolve to see a plan though to completion? Plan to be the best writer you can be – the writer you always wanted to be, whatever that means to you.

Let’s have a look at some of the ways you can help yourself to achieve this in 2025.

Competitions

Writing competitions have obvious advantages: you can win prizes for your work; you can attract the attention of industry professionals; you can achieve a level of recognition; you can add the win to your writing CV; you are likely to see your winning piece in print.

Beyond this, though, there are other, and incredibly valuable, ways in which developing the habit of entering writing competitions can help you grow as a writer.

Firstly, entering competitions regularly enables you to experiment with what works best for your writing. Responding to the themes and prompts for different competitions means you can try a variety of styles, find out which genres and forms suit you, and work out where your strengths are as a writer, as well as giving you insights into where you need to do some work on your craft and increase your skills. You’ll be able to try writing at different lengths and in different forms, and play around with what you can do within the restrictions of a particular genre or wordcount. Doing this regularly will teach you a lot about who you are as a writer and where you most want to invest your creative time.

Of course you need to have talent, and ideas, to win writing competitions. But writing is as much about craft as it is about talent. Regular writing practice is essential to keep those skills at a high level. Developing a writing habit is the best way of ensuring that when you sit down to write, you’ll have the fluency to be able to shape the ideas in your head into words on the page.

Entering writing competitions on a regular basis acts as a kind of discipline – you’re writing with a purpose, and an end in sight – and is an excellent way to train yourself into a regular writing habit.

Don't miss the bumper edition of WM including the 2025 Competition Guide!

Deadlines, as every working writer knows, are a part of life, and they can be your friend, too, hardwiring you to complete a piece of work in a strict timeframe. Embrace them in the form of competition closing dates because as all creatives learn, the restrictions you impose on your work (deadline, wordcount, theme, subject) actually sharpen your focus and force you to concentrate on the creative possibilities available to you. It also makes a piece of work more ‘doable’ if you have to respond to a certain theme by a particular time.

An extension of this is that by creating a regular habit of writing for competitions and entering them, you learn to move on from one piece to the next, without all your hopes and dreams being wrapped up in one piece of work. You have, it goes without saying, to be in it to win it, but if your focus is on creating the next piece of work rather than fretting because an entry didn’t make a shortlist, you’re actually giving yourself more chances of writing a winner.

Another great advantage is that you’ll build up a body of work. For instance, if you commit to entering one competition every month with a new piece of work throughout 2025, by the end of the year you’ll have twelve short stories or poems, which might even form the basis of a collection. You’ll have seen your writing develop and gain fluency. You’ll have taught yourself a great deal about your strengths and skills as a writer, and developed a regular writing habit. As the icing on the cake, you might have won a prize – but even if you haven’t, you’ll have given yourself a winning chance of being the best writer you can be.

Dont miss this essential advice from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain on how to find good writing competitions

Writing courses

If you take your writing seriously (and you wouldn’t be reading this, if you didn’t!) then at some point you will probably consider embarking on some kind of structured learning to enhance your skills and develop your craft.

Writing courses can be incredibly valuable, increasing your skills, deepening your understanding of your process and giving you the tools to grow as a writer. Whether it’s a beginners’ course to provide you with a basic toolkit, a day workshop with a tight focus or an advanced writing course, the process of learning will keep you involved and engaged with your work, and give you a framework for producing something that will develop you as a writer.

There’s no one-size-fits all writing course – there are as many different learning options and styles as there are kinds of writer, so it’s really worth considering what you want to get out of a writing course before you invest your time in it.

Do you want a deep dive into a specialist subject? A short course designed round a particular area of interest? A professional qualification? The opportunity to try a new skill, or genre? A full-time course that involves completing a major creative project, ie a novel or collection of stories or poems? A webinar with an expert? Do you want to learn in your own time? In the evenings? In person or online?

Your writing course needs to fit into your lifestyle so you can make the most of it. A shorter, more focussed course might well be as useful to you as an MA in Creative Writing if it gives you the tools you need to apply to what you want to write and what you want to achieve with it. So research carefully and make sure the course you’re embarking on is aligned with your own requirements as a writer.

Investing in your writing by attending courses that pique your interest is always worthwhile. It can pay off in unexpected ways, too, and don’t ever think that because a course is short, it might be less use than a full-time one. A one-day workshop on writing ghost stories that I attended because it was free, and fun, and on a subject that I love anyway, included a writing exercise that led to an idea for what turned into my second novel. If I hadn’t gone to that workshop and done that exercise, that book might never have happened.

Explore how you can learn at your own pace with a Writing Magazine Creative Writing Course

Writing retreats

Sometimes we don’t need a course, or a deadline, or a prompt. We need space. Space to think, to concentrate on our ideas, and above all, to write. In a writer’s life, sometimes we need to take ourselves away from the bustle and busyness of our everyday lives and responsibilities. We need a writing retreat.

There are many ways of doing this, and it’s quite possible to create a DIY retreat by taking yourself off somewhere quiet for a few days, booking into an AirBnB, holing up and writing. But there’s something very special about the calm, focussed energy of an organised writing retreat, where all you have to do is turn up, revel in the surroundings, write, relax, and write some more.

Writing retreats are a different way of investing in yourself as a writer by creating a space where, as the name suggests, you can withdraw from everyday life and concentrate on your wellbeing and work in the company of other writers.

Often they take place in beautiful locations where the peaceful surroundings provide a respite from, and a contrast to, the stress and tension we take for granted. The chance to exchange views and ideas with other writers in a relaxed environment can be inspiring and lead to creative, and personal, connections. They’re catered, too, usually with delicious food.

The visiting writer can leave all their everyday responsibilities behind and immerse themselves in their writing project – it’s not uncommon for retreat attendees to produce thousands of new words during their stay. Being away from the everyday whirl often unlocks fresh insights, so retreats can also be useful for writers who are stuck, or blocked, or have reached an impasse with a particular piece that just won’t seem to come right.

There are various kinds of writing retreat. Some, particularly those led by working writers, will include a workshop element, or writing circles where participants workshop each other’s work. Some might include body work such as yoga, or visits to areas of interest and the chance to get a flavour of the place where the retreat is set.

Writing retreats can be truly life-enhancing experiences, but they’re not cheap – perhaps it’s a good idea to see them as a luxury holiday and an investment in your wellbeing as a writer. The one I attended in 2018, with Wide Open Writing, provided some of the most inspirational days of my creative life – a retreat that enabled me to take a creative leap at precisely the time I needed to take it. Sometimes, the biggest offering we can give ourselves as a writer is the space to grow, and a writing retreat is designed to do just that.

Discover what nine different writers got out of attending a writing retreat

Festivals

Festivals are about community – and writing festivals are where you will find your tribe!

As well as learning and growing as a writer, and getting used to sending your work out to find its readers, it’s important to remember that you are a part of the wide world of writing! It’s deep and rich, layered and fascinating, with room for so many different styles and voices and opinions – why wouldn’t you want to reinforce your connection to it?

Festivals are the perfect place to do just that – to immerse yourself in the world or writing and writers, to listen to wonderful authors talking about their work, to network and develop your skills, and revel in being part of a brilliant culture of talented, inspirational people all bound together by their love of words.

There’s a wide range of festivals that connect the writing community, so look for the ones that are a match for your interests.

You’ll find writing festivals specifically designed with writer development in mind, such as Jericho Writers' London Festival of Writing and Bournemouth Writing Festival. These will feature writing workshops and panels with experts, all aimed at offering writers the chance to learn and increase their skills.

Literary festivals, on the other hand, give you the opportunity to benefit from in-person appearances from writers whose books you read and love – and if you aren’t a regular reader, then you’re missing a vital part of being a writer!

Whether they’re big cultural showcases like the Hay Festival or smaller local events, literary and book festivals are all about celebrating authors and connecting them with readers – why wouldn’t you want to hear your favourite authors talk about writing?

That’s a lesson in itself, but literary festivals will often have a strand of writing workshops too, as well as competitions that often lead to a slot in an open mic event for winners. Imagine – you could be on the same stage as some of your writing heroes!

Above all, attending writing and literary festivals puts you in touch with your community. Writing is a paradox: a solitary creative practice that connects you with a vast network of other creative people. Whatever stage you’re at with your writing, festivals are where you can meet other writers, readers and people in the industry, exchange news and views, get tips and inspiration for your writing and come away fired up not just with new ideas to put into practice, but with the understanding that you’re part of this world – a world of people who will be waiting to read your book, too!

Wherever we are in our writing lives, there’s always something to learn, and new insights to consider. Competitions, courses, retreats and festivals are all avenues to exploring your writing, growing as a writer, creating creative connections and finding, and building on, your strengths. Invest in yourself as a writer, try something new - and see where it takes you! 2025 could be the year when you help yourself to make all your writing dreams come true - good luck!

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