It’s the end of 2019 and people all over the world are gearing up for the new decade. New Year’s Resolutions, vision boards, SMART goals, bucket lists, and every other kind of intention setting imaginable. 

More power to them! 

Intention setting, whatever medium you use to express it, is one of the keys to long-term success as a writer. 

Follow-through is the second key. Are you going to do what you said you would? It’s easy to say yes, especially given the rush of energy that sweeps through us in the new year. January is full of people in the gym or in courses (I am well used to this behavior myself) and while no one is rooting for their failure, history shows that the surge of NYR energy fades quickly.

With all that in mind, what’s the point of this post? Well, I’m glad you asked random voice.

Whether your goal is to write the NGAN or cash in like [insert name], there are small things you can do to get you there. 

1. Pick Your Writing Day

If you’ve managed to come across this blog post, then you’ve inevitably heard the writers write everyday adage from someone somewhere before. If you manage to write everyday, power to you. 

If you, like me, have tons of other responsibilities and are not managing this, that’s okay too. Again, the goal is small changes to your life.

And this first change requires you to pick a day. One day out of the week that is not so jam-packed that you can commit to using it as your writing day. 

2. Pick Your Writing Project

You have the ability to string letters together and form sentences that make paragraphs in a seemingly endless amount of variations. That fact is both incredibly freeing and incredibly nerve-wracking. 

Do you know what you’re going to be working on?

If you’re a pantser by trade, this may not be your method. But I do ask that you spend a few minutes thinking about the general outline of the scene/chapter/story you’ll be working on. Ask yourself the 6 Critical Questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?

If you’re a plotter, jot down a quick outline of your story. A few sentences/bullet points to get yourself started. The 6 Critical Questions are important for you too.

If you have utterly rejected the binary nature of my options, I applaud you. And still direct you to choose one of the above options.

3. Pick Your Writing Time

Now, it’s time to pick the chunk of time you are going to commit to writing. How much depends on you?

Only have ten minutes a day? What about fifteen or twenty?

Whatever the amount is, make sure it’s consistent and free of distractions.