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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Happy New Year: How to keep to one resolution


Being a week into January, I have already reached for the wine. I challenge any of you to deal with a room full of teenage mechanics without having some kind of crutch to lean on. And it's not as if I was drinking at work. I mean, sure my writing went up the board like sort of deranged ski and my spacial awareness was... limited. Hey, I didn't say anything about turning up to work still drunk from the night before, did I?

My point being, 'resolutions' signify something we can't stick to! Better to call them goals or challenges in my opinion.

Whatever you call them; many writers would like to write more in 2014.

Here's a quick guide to making sure this is the one resolution you do stick to.

Write

As inviting as a fresh field of snow, the blank page beckons creativity. It's just that the longer we stare at it, the more it seems to taunt us. Remember all those embarrassing love poems you wrote as a teenager? All the diaries describing the minutiae of what happened on the bus? They were needed! They were part of a process and they actually helped you to become a better writer. And the same is true for blank page syndrome. You can always go back and change the awkward beginning.

Start a blog

Whether its purpose is for increasing interest in your business, or just for fun; writing a blog encourages you to write frequently.This leads to connecting with other writers. Over time, you'll find you pick up habits in your writing that become ingrained. 

Save the ideas!

 Even if you only want to write for blogging and promotional purposes, inspiration strikes at inopportune moments. Collecting these ideas together can prevent writer's block. We need to campaign to save the hundreds of ideas that escape daily because they don't get written down! Save the ideas! Carry a notebook and write things down as they enter your head.


Connect with other writers

Be it through blogging, twitter, facebook , a local writing group; connect with other writers. Exchange ideas with them. Read each other's work. Make suggestions on how to improve and respond to suggestions. Writing is a process, and getting feedback assists that process. Who knows? You might even make some new friends!

Read

Easy as it sounds, this is the golden rule of becoming a better writer. Read. From following interesting blogs online to increasing your bookshelf at home; read. Allow words to consume you. Keep a book in the bathroom. Read on the bus or train. You will find reading more inspires you to write more, and widens your vocabulary. 

With all this advice, I realise I've neglected my book today, so I'm off to soak in the Spanish sun. 

Over to you: What are your tips for staying focused and writing? Comment below.

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