Make Your Resolutions Stick (Writing or Otherwise)

Done. 

        I've had a love/hate relationship with New Year's Resolutions for the last several years, but not for the reasons most people have. Here's my beef: if there's something you want to change about your life, why wait 'til January to get started? I get it, it's a fresh start, a new year, the same reason all diets start on Monday. 

       As a regular gym-goer, I always dread the January New-Year's-Resolution onslaught. No parking spots, no free lockers, and 15-minute waits for the ellipticals. Don't get me wrong--I applaud all the people trying to make a positive change in their lives. But, why now? And, why don't I see the same people come June? 

       My big thing recently is to just go ahead and get started on whatever change you want to make as soon as you think of it. I think we've all heard enough stories to realize that our time here is finite; so I say, let's get to it! 

      But, since so many people love the New Year as a time for resolutions, I'd like to offer a few tips I've found useful in actually carrying them out:

1. Do it now. (See above)

2. Make it small and specific. "Lose weight" is an awful resolution (note I said awful resolution, not intention). To make these things attainable, start small and avoid vague goals. Better resolutions might be "Stop drinking sugary soda," or "Work out twice a week." When you have something to work towards, and can then see yourself reaching your goals, it's much more motivating. 

3. Focus on one at a time. Most of us have lots of areas of our lives we'd like to improve: work, health, family, friends, hobbies, finances. But if you try to tackle them all at once, you'll only get overwhelmed and end up accomplishing nothing. Choose one area to start with, and once you've tackled your small & specific goals there and feel comfortable maintaining them, then move on to another area. Or--don't! Relish your success and relax for a while. Good job, you!

4. Get a buddy. If you can't find a friend with a similar goal, then at least tell others about your resolution. Being accountable is a HUGE factor in carrying out your goals (see my previous post about this). If you're the only one who knows about it, it's much easier to just say "forget about it." But if you have someone striving toward the same thing you are, someone to ask you about your progress, or someone to remind you when you slip up--you can't just forget about it. My husband recently had a resolution that he didn't want to tell me because he knew I'd bug him about it if he didn't do it. Well, he's right. But now that I know it's something he's really trying for, I want to support him rather than nag him. 

5. Mistakes are okay. Just because you botch it up and eat that whole package of Oreos does not mean all is lost. Enjoy the Oreos, and start again the next day. Making changes is hard, but don't ditch your resolution just because you aren't successful at it 100% of the time. Didn't anyone notice that I didn't write a blog post for over a month in November/December? Yeah, oops. But here I am, back at it.

6. Reward Thyself: I am a firm believer in giving yourself a little pat on the back for a job well done. Celebrate your successes--and not just at the end of the year. The summer I was training for my 1st marathon and writing my master's thesis, I'd tell myself I'd get an ice cream for every 10 pages written or after the really long runs (note: this reward is not ideal if your goal is losing weight. Maybe buy yourself new shoes or get your nails done instead).  

And now, to follow my own advice on accountability, here are my small, specific 

Writing Resolutions for 2015. 

You hereby have permission to bug me if I don't do them....

-Read more blogs about writing, and make comments. Goal: one new blog/comment per week. 

-Do at least two rounds of queries for my middle grade novel (for non-writers, this means sending it out to agents).

-Begin new middle grade manuscript (I have two ideas I'm kicking around...will let you know which wins). 

-Write 2 blog posts per month. 

Meet you at the ice cream shop! 

Top 5 Writing Celebrations of 2014

         

Writing...reflecting...looking deep, 

all under the watchful eye of MJ

         A year-end is, of course, a wonderful time for reflection and goal-setting. Looking back on my year in writing, I am very happy with my progress. Though I say I've been writing seriously for about 4 years, 2014 was when I got REALLY serious. I put myself out there more than ever, and bumped writing up on my list of free-time activities, knocking out a few of my other favorite pastimes (apologies to my neglected piano as well as anyone expecting a homemade birthday or holiday card). Here, my top 5 celebrations in writing from the year: 


5. Connecting. Just like many industries, writing is about much more than just writing. I won't say it's ALL about who you know, but it sure doesn't hurt to know some people. Since my teaching profession actually does not involve a ton of networking, this is new to me. For a while I hovered with my toes just inside the line of the writing community, but this year I stepped in (yeah, jumping in is just not my style) with both feet. And, ok, I think we technically reconnected in 2013, but this year I've so enjoyed chatting more and more with my first-best-friend-turned-children's-author, Jessica Lawson. Still so psyched we found each other & share a passion for children's books!

4. Finishing my 1st Novel. I may be the only person in Chicago thankful for the "Polar Vortex" or whatever you want to call the string of 40 below zero and snow-filled days in early 2014. These days provided me with many days off work, stuck at home cozied up to my laptop. I'd joined a SCBWI group called the NYNNies (a spin-off of NaNoWriMo that stands for "New Year New Novel") and the timing couldn't have been better. Though it was very, very, very rough, by January 31st I finished my first middle grade novel manuscript! Even better, I have now completed 2nd and 3rd drafts and am halfway through the 4th revision (can I finish by 2015? That's the goal!)

3. Prairie Writer's & Illustrator's Day. See my post about this writing conference for more details, but to sum it up: great breakout sessions, became re-inspired, worked up the nerve to introduce myself to the members of the panel & received personalized feedback on my work. Win. 

2. Getting Interest in Response to a Query. Any published or pre-published writer knows: learn to live with rejection. Most people go through hundreds of rejection letters (or sometimes no response at all). So, when I sent an email query to a picture book publisher, I never imagined I'd get an immediate response that they were interested and would get back to me!! Ultimately, they passed, but that almost didn't matter (ok, it mattered). But the important part was that little mini-ego-boost I got from that glimmer of interest. That may keep me going for years!

1. Creating My Social Media Presence. Up until 2014, one of the easy things about my budding writing career was that it was optional. What I mean is that most people besides my family, close friends, and critique group didn't even know I wrote children's books. I wasn't really held accountable. So, it was really scary to start this blog and sign on to Twitter. Other people with life goals or New Year's Resolutions know what I'm talking about: once you announce your goal, people are going to ask you about it. It is motivating and intimidating. Now that everyone knows it's my dream to become a published children's book author, I can't just tell them "oh, I don't really feel like it anymore." LAME! And untrue. But the cool thing about announcing my goal is the massive amount of support I've received. I'd like to take this opportunity to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has asked me about my books, read and/or commented on my blog, and given three cheers for my writing. 

          Check back in January for my 2015 Writing Resolutions, Writing Inspiration, and the 100 Best Writing Websites of 2014...