Writer’s Resolutions

Happy New Year! The slate is clean. It’s time for some New Year’s Resolutions, for the writer:

  1. I will write.
  2. I will not procrastinate.
  3. I will write 1,500 words a day. If I cannot generate that much text, I will edit an equal number of words.
  4. I will not distract myself with Facebook or Twitter; I will write.
  5. I will not write about my dates, because that isn’t nice.
  6. I will not let rejections, from whomever or wherever, come between the page and myself.
  7. If I cannot help myself from writing about my dates, I will change names to protect the innocent. (If my date is a jerk, I will be exempt from this resolution.)
  8. I will get up every morning at 5 a.m. and write for two hours before getting showered and dressed for my day job.
  9. I will not hit the snooze button more than twice.
  10. I will make sure to feed and brush my cats, even if they can see that I have a “Do Not Disturb” sign beside my writing desk.
  11. I will write during my lunch hour, and on the train.
  12. I will not feel badly about myself as a writer, even if I hear of another writer’s jackpot success after I receive three rejections in one half hour.
  13. I will not despair; I will write.
  14. Every time I receive a rejection, I will send my work to five more publications/agents/editors.
  15. I will email my submissions; I will not pay for postage or reading fees.
  16. I will focus on the art of writing and ignore the business of writing, so as to not stymie my writing mojo.
  17. I will not allow my doubts or the doubts of others to stop me from reaching my goals.
  18. I will respect the cone of silence in the Writers’ Room, except in the kitchen, where talking is allowed.
  19. I will write.
  20. I will practice good posture while I’m writing and not hold tension in my back or neck or arms or jaw; I will not end up at the chiropractor’s office weekly.
  21. I will buy that ergonomic chair, when I have enough money.
  22. I will keep my wrists level when working on my laptop, and remember to blink often in order to prevent eye dryness and fatigue caused by staring at the screen.
  23. I will go to the gym to keep in shape (and to sit in the steam room, sauna, and/or whirlpool), not to delay writing.
  24. I will drink only green tea and ice water, and eat just one square of a 70% cacao dark chocolate bar per day.
  25. I will shut out the voices that tell me I shouldn’t write this or that.
  26. I will envelope myself in that sweet spot between my heart and mind.
  27. I will write.

-Tracy Strauss, 2015 WROB Nonfiction Fellow