New Year's Resolutions for Writers

Welcome to 2013. With a new year, most of us set our resolutions to lose weight or quite smoking. So popular is this custom that I found a list on the internet of the most popular resolutions that we make this time of year.

 1.       Stop Smoking 
2.      Get into a Habit of being Fit
3.      Lose Weight
4.      Enjoy Life More.
5.       Quit Drinking
6.      Organize yourself
7.       Learn Something New
8.      Get out of Debt
9.      Spend More Time With Family
10.   Help People.

All very good resolutions, but I fell that as authors we should have another set...just for writers. Here's my list:
1.       Stop procrastinating
2.      Get into the habit of being fit—take at least two online or in person classes
3.      Lose weight—by editing. Hone your editing skills and lose the extra words. I know this is easier said than done, but your writing will thank you for it.
4.      Enjoy life more—A writer never stops writing and inspirations are all around us. Keep a notebook in your car and/or purse. Use it  to jot down any ideas you have on the go, then get back to what you are supposed to be doing—grocery shopping, banking, or cheering on the little league baseball team. Also use your phones camera to take a  picture of the item of inspiration. Email it to yourself with just a few words about how the item made you feel to help you recapture the feeling you had later so you can get back to your life in that moment.
5.       Quit Drinking: Hemmingway said “write drunk, edit sober.”  I’m leaving this one up to you.
6.      Organize yourself: files, desk, notes. Clean your desk (or writing area) and move all reference books to the most convenient places. Also, clean through and organize or delete old files and pictures off your computer.
7.       Learn something new: try to write something in a new  genre—just a paragraph or two (not a story) to stretch your writing skills
8.      Get out of Debt: strive to make more money than you spend on your writing. Look for more free opportunities to promote yourself. (Like Off the Keyboard <g>)
9.      Spend more time with Family: set aside time for writing and time for family and stick to it. Of course there will be time when this won’t be possible. But having a plan in place will help keep your time sane and organized…for the most part.
10.   Help people: take this year to judge a contest. There are so many writers out there honing their craft and trying to write the best book possible. Help them by giving a little of yourself and judging a contest. I don’t know where I would be with my writing without the contests that I have entered in the past. Yes, I know it’s a lot of work, but it is so worth the effort. And very good for our “writer karma”.
Feel free to print it out, tweak it to suit your needs and place it somewhere you can view it  often.

Happy New Year!!

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