This time of year, most people make resolutions to work out more, take a break from cocktails, eat less carbs, or to start a new practice like keeping a journal, starting a meditation practice, or committing to a no spend streak.
New Years is the time when people are looking for the Glow Up.
Writers are no different. I always want to do a writers glow up this time of year, making resolutions to be more creative, more productive, and spend more time on creative projects instead of the everyday distractions like laundry or Pinterest.
I am not super, superstitious, but once my Grandmother told me that whatever you do on New Year’s Day is what you will be doing all year long. So if you worry about money on New Year’s Day, or you choose to work instead of rest, or you pick a fight with a parent, those choices will set the tone for the entire year.
I try to make sure my New Year’s Day is spent doing things that I would like to spend my whole year doing, and often that means spending my whole day writing.
But resets can be hard, especially if it’s been a while since someone has allowed themselves to be creative.
Just like starting any new activity (or going back to an old activity), it’s good to pace yourself, take it slow at first, dress for the occasion, reward yourself for a great session.
If you are someone who needs a writer’s glow up, keep these few things in mind:
Creative time is play time and you should not feel guilty for allowing yourself to play. Isn’t the whole reason you started was because writing is fun for you? Don’t be so serious about it. It’s not like going to the gym.
The time you spend being creative is more rewarding than the product you create. A common New Year’s resolution is, “This is the year I am going to write my (novel/memoir/screenplay)!” Sometimes when people start writing, they are skipping ahead to the publication date. Visualization is great, but because most writing projects take time, people can get impatient with the slow progress and give up. Instead of thinking about publishing, stay fixed on the present moment. Luxuriate in your creative time when you get it. Take in the moment. Don’t turn it into a job or else it will feel like work.
The pursuit of any creative endeavor activates creativity in other areas of your life. The adage, when it rains, it pours is ever present when one is on the creative path. When you write more, you will be struck with more writing ideas. When you paint, you will see the colors of all the foods in your kitchen for more interesting and photo-worthy meals. When you create more interesting meals, you will be surrounded by different aromas. You will see the world in a different way.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to be creative. In fact, most of the materials you can start with are likely already in your home: pens, paper, markers, crayons, etc. Many times people will rush out and buy a bunch of expensive supplies and the first moment that they don’t use those supplies, they will feel guilty for spending the money that they start to resent their supplies. You don’t have to invest in a downloadable program, laptop bag, fancy fountain pen, or journal with artisan-crafted paper to start. You can get going with a Sharpie and an old spiral notebook. The important thing is that you start.
Now it’s time to fuel your creativity.
Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way is an excellent workbook with advice on living a creative life, like scheduling artist dates, writing in the morning, and giving yourself permission to be creative. However, I think the advice I have used most often came from writer Heather Sellers from her book Page by Page, where she encourages writing to explore their many interests.
Enjoy whatever you like and call it “research.”
Writers are interested in lots of things. And what’s great about exploring those interests is you can tell everyone it’s “research”. If I spend the afternoon binge-watching American Greed, I’m doing research on white collar crime and fraud. When my husband implies I’m a weirdo for listening to “murder show” podcasts, I can always remind him, “I am a crime writer and all of this is research for an upcoming novel”. And then I will tell him everything I learned about poisons.
Sometimes those interests might seem to be contradictory, but they almost always appear in the writing one way or another. Get struck with a desire to read all about the North Georgia Mountain Gold Rush, you might apply it to a future historical romance. Fall down a Kate Bush rabbit hole, maybe your next character is a critically acclaimed reclusive artist. Anything you consume gets churned through the compost pile of your brain and emerges in a new form. So lean into it.
Dress appropriately, and you can decide what’s appropriate.
Whatever makes you feel comfortable and inspired, that should be your writer look. Once I told a writer friend that I wanted to secure a sponsorship from Old Navy because I couldn’t get anything done until I put on my “thinking hoodie”. It was a $10 full zip blue sweatshirt with the Old Navy logo across the chest. Hoodies were great for me because when the ideas were really flowing, I almost always pulled the hood up over my ears, as if to make sure none of the ideas got away. Putting on that hoodie was part of the ritual that triggered inspiration and creativity. If you are inspired sitting around writing in a caftan or a velvet smoking jacket, do it. If you are inspired in your yoga pants and hoodie, go for it. If you want to style yourself like Grace Kelly in a Hitchcock thriller, no one is going to stop you. The donning of the writing ensemble is a ritual that helps the creative juices flow. Don’t fight it.
Write more than you talk about writing. In fact, don’t talk about it at all.
Accountability is great. Finding a support system is great. But you actually have to write something down to call yourself a writer. Many writers advise to keep your writing plans a precious little secret because when you tell someone what you are writing, it’s like the magical spell is broken. We don’t have to share everything with everyone all the time. If someone is asking what you’re up to, just say, “I’m working on a thing. I’m having a lot of fun. I’ll show it to you when I’m done with it.”
Set aside time to write but be realistic.
I set up my calendar for the year and I am carving out one hour on Mondays specifically for writing. That doesn’t sound like a ton of time to write a novel, but I have to be realistic about my life. I teach. I cart around children to appointments and events. I have a husband who always wants to put me on a plane and take me on historic walking tours. I’m realistic in that I’m probably never going to be able to disappear for a weekend writers retreat, or even close my studio door for eight hours on a Saturday. So I write when I can. And that’s okay because I know every time I put words down on a page I am making progress toward my goal. And that hour on my schedule gives me something to look forward to. I know that my regular responsibilities aren’t keeping me from my writing desires because I know we will meet again every Monday at 3 pm.
Allow yourself to be romantic about your tools.
You know what’s not sexy and romantic? Microsoft Word. (Or Google docs if you’re nasty). You don’t “need” a fancy notebook or special software, but it is nice to have something that looks more personalized, artistic, and fun if you are going to spend the day with it. Many writers will create desktop background with their novel’s dream cast on it. Some writers keep their research on an aesthetically pleasing Notion page. Or you can be like me and put stickers on every flat surface. It’s okay to be creative with the stuff that keeps your productive.
A further note on pens and other writing implements.
Many writers will spend their time on their laptop. I don’t find computer programs great for when I am trying to get into a good creative flow. Whenever I get to typing fast, my fingers will slip and the glaring red line will warn me that I have made an error. And instead of keeping the flow going, I will stop what I am doing and go back to resolve it. That’s no good for first drafts. I am much more in a creative flow when I am writing things by hand. This means a good pen is essential to my process. I was once romanced by fountain pens, but I got tired of refilling them all the time. The pen has to be right for the person. Once, I grabbed a short, orange, Staples brand .07 clicker ballpoint off a coworker’s desk and used it all the way down to the last drop of ink and then learned that Staples discontinued it. Bummer, right? The lesson I learned was, I like a clickable ballpoint in a fine line with black ink. I can use a ballpoint on all paper products without worrying about bleedthrough or ghosting. My hand doesn’t get smeared when I inevitable run my hand across what I wrote. When I find a ballpoint pen I like, I go ahead and buy a gross of them – or a gross of ballpoint pen refills for them. Sometimes I will play with brush pens, highlighters, gel pens, etc. But in the end, I always go back to a nice ballpoint pen.
Don’t get hung up on all this writing advice
I saw a pin this week where a writer presented a list of writing resources available online. They referred to them as a treasure trove, and I guess in some ways it was. There were links to character sketch worksheets, descriptive thesauruses, world-building guidelines, productivity charts … oh, and none of them were free. You were charged per download. I was thrown off because I thought, while you’re downloading and filling out all these worksheets, you’re not actually writing. It was like self-appointed homework. And I thought about how when I started out, I would have probably convinced myself that I needed those things. I’ve spend a good amount of cash on craft-writing books. I’ve read endless blog posts about how to get started, and what are the rules for writing a novel, etc., etc. And when I would come across advice that would tell me that I was not following the rules, it would be like rolling up to a stop sign. “Write every day!” I couldn’t because I had obligations. “If you write an unlikeable character, make sure they have a best friend character to show they are likeable to someone.” Don’t tell me what to do with my characters! I would come across advice that didn’t sound right, and I would tell myself, “Maybe I don’t have the instincts to be a writer.” But every great writer with whom I have mentored with–the ones who gave me the best advice, offered the best techniques, provided the best motivation–their advice was far more simple and required far less homework. They said, “They don’t know what the f*%k they’re talking about. Just keep writing.”
XOXO,
B.
If your resolution is to trigger your creativity, make more time for creativity, and set up writing goals this year, check out my online course, "This is What a Writer Looks Like!"
Or if you want to experience one-on-one mentorship without enrolling into a creative writers program, check out my online coaching services!
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