2020 New Year's Resolutions

by

IFW editors

2019 has come and gone. Some of us are sad to say goodbye to a year filled with blessings; some of us are glad to say “See ya!” to a year of tribulations. With the new year comes a clean slate—a blank page, if you will—and the chance to write the next chapter in our lives.

Some of our editors here at IFW have elected to share their New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps they’ll inspire some resolutions of your own—or you can inspire us with your 2020 goals in the comments!

Charl Firbank-King: My “NO” button is broken­—I’m incapable of saying no—so I’m going to fix it.

Rhonda Browning White: I’ve given this New Year’s resolution thing a bit more thought this year, and I have a different take on it than before. I mean, why do we have to resolve to make a marked change on the first day of the year, only to (typically) falter or fail weeks or months later? I mean, there’s enough pressure just to write 2020 instead of 2019, right?

I wonder, why is it that we don’t make resolutions on other days of the year? Our birthdays, for example, seem the perfect time for improvement, considering that’s our personal New Year. Or we can resolve to be more loving on Valentine’s Day, or to make a new beginning on Easter Sunday or the first day of spring. As writers, we can resolve to sit down and write today, the very day we put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. And we can make that same resolution again tomorrow, and the day after that. And we can skip a day (or three), and resolve again when inspiration (or deadline) strikes.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that I am making a new resolution: I’m resolving to resolve to make positive changes on a more frequent basis. And, instead of waiting for New Year’s Day, I’m going to start right now.

Will you join me?

Eric Fritzius: People often fail at keeping resolutions because they shoot at too far a target.  Oooh, I’m gonna exercise every day and lose 50 lbs!  Oooh, I’m gonna keep my office clean and be super productive this year!  Oooh, I’m gonna solve the Riemann Hypothesis!  These sorts of things rarely work out so well.  No, I like to aim at targets that are far more immediately achievable.  I march into the laundry room and announce: “I resolve that I’m gonna find a way to get the cat food dish from where it fell behind the washer, four months back.”  I then go find a magnet and some string and I bob around back there until I come up with cat dish.  I then resolve to celebrate this achieved resolution, possibly with a Reese cup or a libation or possibly both, depending on my proximity to 5 o’clock.  And I move on to resolving to build a little fence that will prevent the cat from knocking his bowl behind the washer anymore.  See, you can knock out two of three small resolutions like that in an afternoon and feel genuinely good about yourself.

Jessica Nelson: As much as I probably need to resolve to hit the gym and eat healthier, I think my resolution for 2020 is to be more mindful of how I react to things. I saw this quote from Charles Swindoll early this year when it made its rounds on social media: “We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.” It really resonated with me. I tend to overreact, and usually in a negative way. So this year, I resolve to be more mindful of my reactions—to not catastrophize, to manage negative emotions and keep them in proportion to the situation, and consciously search for the positive when my instinct is to be pessimistic. So here’s to a more positive 2020!

Sandy Tritt: Resolutions laugh at me.  If I resolve to do or not to do something, within an hour, my resolution lies crumpled in the corner with a huge smirk on its face. Never fails.

So, instead of making a resolution, I want to try something different this year.

Twenty-twenty insinuates perfect vision. Twenty-twenty is the number of our new year. So, I am praying for vision—for the ability to see with clarity, wisdom, and insight—in 2020.  

May 2020 be your year for perfect vision—and success. Best wishes from all of us at IFW.

2018 Writing Resolutions

Happy New Year, everyone! We hope this is the year you accomplish all your writing goals. Here at Inspiration for Writers, Inc., we’ve put our yearly writing-related New Year’s resolutions in writing so we’re accountable. 

I’ve always believed we’re more likely to do things if we tell other people we’re going to do them. (Like when you tell someone to remind you to do something later, you’re more likely to remember it yourself.) So in that spirit, we’re sharing our resolutions with you. 

Jessica Nelson: My writing-related New Year's Resolution is to write for fun this year. It seems like since I started college, all the writing I've done is assigned—even the creative work. Now that I've graduated, I'm going to make it a point to go back to my passion projects and work on them just because I love the stories and the characters, not because I expect anything to come from them or because I have a deadline.

Geoffrey Fuller: I resolve to finish the damn book. (If you’re wondering what “damn book” he refers to, Geoff is working on a book about the 1970 WVU co-ed murders. You can check out the podcast about the project at http://soundcloud.com/maredandkaren.) 

Sandy Tritt: I resolve to devote one hour a day to my personal writing. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but it's much more than I've done for a long time. And, who knows? Once I put in that first hour, I may find another hour or two to add to it. We'll see. For now, I'm going to just promise the one hour.

Charlotte Firbank-King: I don’t make New Year resolutions because I’m so busy keeping promises to other people that I don’t have the wherewithal to keep promises to myself. Besides, I hate having to flick the little devil off my shoulder all the time as it whispers, “Epic fail!” However, I am going to learn the art of promoting on the internet and be more diligent about doing blogs, etc.

Stacy Tritt: I want to write more often, but I also want to work on writing more creatively again, instead of just journaling and writing for work. I resolve to write one poem or short story per month in the new year.

Rhonda Browning-White: 

• Read and study more novels. I've spent the last several years studying short stories, and I've just finished my short-story collection (about a week ago!), so I want to shift my focus to novels. 

• Finish my novel. See above. ;) 

• Submit my short-story collection for publication. This starts in a few weeks. 

• Write more blog entries. 

• Live life more creatively (and everything that means)!

What are your writing-related New Year’s resolutions? Let us know in the comments!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, successful 2018 from the IFW Family.

New Year's Writing Resolutions

by

Jessica Nelson



It’s an old New Year’s tradition to make a resolution for the coming year. Many people resolve to lose weight or get fit or find love or make a new career move. But we are writers, and while we may have those resolutions, we also make New Year’s resolutions about our writing. So in honor of the impending arrival of 2017 and the new beginnings it represents, I’ve compiled New Year’s Writing Resolutions from writers like you:


I am working on the two new pirate musicals (an adaptation of "Treasure Island" with a special twist and the murder mystery musical "Blackbeard's Dead Again"); a Romantic Comedy screenplay I've been hired for; co-writing a paranormal audio drama series; and adapting the The Legend of Blackbeard Tour. Also doing research for a series of historical fiction novels and an audio drama about the adventures of Angus "Quill" MacBlaquart.

~Joey Madia


I'm excited that I have more writing projects than ever before. Once my book was published, I was suddenly afraid I wouldn't have anything else to write. That turned out to be ridiculous. I found that finishing the book and seeing it published just created more space and a desire for more writing, more projects. My resolution is to write even more and it comes with more joy and a sense of "I can do this!"

 ~Cat Pleska

 

 

Finish my rewrite, snag an agent, and submit to the two editors that requested my manuscript!

~Joe Hall

 

 

1) To find a time management system that will work for me that will allow me to read more, write more and learn more while juggling my full-time job and dealing with daily life.

2) To learn as much about self-publishing as I can so I can figure out if that is the best route for me in 2017.

 

~Jennifer Jett Prezkop

 

 

- Create a regular weekly schedule to write.
- Finish my second novel and have an audiobook produced for this and my debut novel.
- Send a regular newsletter to the readers on my mailing list.
- Publish the meditation book that’s been done for six months now.
- Make more time for reading.
- Polish public speaking skills and actively pursuing speaking gigs.
- Make 2017 the year I write for a living!

 

 ~Eric Vance Walton

 

 

My resolution for 2017: I resolve to be more productive in 2017. How? By erasing the time-wasters--the distractions. I'm pretty sure I could've written a novel or two (okay, at least a darned good short story) during the amount of time I've spent visiting Facebook (and I GREATLY limit my Facebook time now); clicking on emails that link to ads for exciting new products or spew opinion on politics, religion, sports, you-name-it; and browsing through blogs and Internet stories. So, my resolution is to limit all such browsing and socializing and gawking to Sunday afternoons. Of course, I will continue to follow those blogs that give me fresh perspective on my writing life and I will continue to do research as necessary. It's the flashing ads and links to which I want to "just say no." If while doing valid research or professional study I find something unrelated that is just too compelling to ignore, I will copy the link and put it in my "Sunday Browsing File." There are so many, many distractions in our lives, and if we could find a way to control them, we'd be much more productive both in getting our work done and in exercising our creativity. This is a way I can reclaim squandered time. So be it.

 

~Sandy Tritt

 

 

I’m going to finish a story. That may seem obvious, but I’m terrible about starting a dozen stories and never finishing them. Sometimes it’s because I hit a scene that just won’t work the way I need it to, so I walk away for a while and never come back. Sometimes the passion for the story just fades out. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the amount of work a story will take to complete so I just never work on it. But in 2017 I will finish at least one of the stories I have started. (And hopefully get one published, too!)

~Jessica Nelson

 

I want to submit at least 10 short stories to 10 Literary Magazines in 2017. I want to complete my book of essays by year's end. I also want to continue thinking about creating an interesting writing blog and finally having a social media presence. Go on a writing retreat somewhere interesting. 

 

~Vicki Crawford

 

 

Since I have proven that I cannot commit to writing every day (outside of work), I am going to shoot for once a week. My ultimate goal is to have a rough draft manuscript finished by the end of 2017. 

Another goal of mine is to read more this year. I think I finished five books total in 2016, which is pathetic. Haha. I hope this will help inspire my writing.

~Samantha Cart

 

 

To finally get back in the habit of writing for fun and not just for class.

 

~Abby Hall

 

 

I finished a fiction thriller manuscript featuring Cleveland Police Dept. Homicide detective titled "Code for Murder." I'm now working on a sequel to "Fragile Brilliance" which I hope to have finished by the end of the summer.

 

~Eliot Parker

 

My New Years writing resolution is to practice writing short stories--I always write poetry or novels. I want to try to expand my horizons.

 

~Stacy Chrise-Tritt

 

 

 

Whatever your New Year’s resolution—writing related or not—we at Inspiration for Writers, Inc. wish you a happy and successful 2017. If you need help making your writing resolution a reality, you can always find us at our website, our Facebook page, or email us at ifweditor@gmail.com. Happy New Year!

New Year Writing Resolutions

by

Jessica Nelson

The New Year. The time to make resolutions that we a.) are unable to keep, or b.) have no intentions of keeping. We make such resolutions as “I’m going to lose twenty pounds this year” or—the one I am most guilty of making and never keeping—“I’m going to finish that (novel, screenplay, short story, poem).”

Last week, Rhonda Browning White mentioned the increasing reminders we receive to “Write Every Day!” as the New Year approaches. Most years, I tell myself I’m going to do that—write every day. Technically speaking, it never happens. I mentally write constantly, but I never seem to find the time to get it all down on paper. Life gets in the way.

This year, I’m making a different Writing Resolution. Instead of trying to write every day, I am resolving to learn about writing every day. (Well, maybe every other day.) Learning about writing could be as in-depth as reading a section of a writing-craft book or as simple as reading a book for pleasure and asking myself—in the words of a former classmate—Why does it work? Of course, Wednesdays are covered—all I have to do is read the latest Inspiration for Writers, Inc., blog!

That seems like a reasonable resolution to me. Since I’m always reading, it should be no problem to take a moment at the end of a chapter or a particularly moving scene to ask: What made it so good? Why was I moved? Why do I love or hate a character? What is it about the author’s style that makes her book easier to read or more interesting than another author’s? How can I learn from what this person is doing?

My New Year’s Writing Resolution is not to write every day, but to learn about writing every day. Not too hard, and definitely something I could do on a daily basis. Who wants to join me?