The Secret to Writer’s Block: Misfit Inspiration - Post Six

Party Like It’s 2021

Setting a New Year’s Resolution to Help Break Through Writer’s Block

2020 was quite the year. I for one am not sad to see it go. It was a year that challenged us in more ways than we probably thought possible. A lot of people lost or were separated from loved ones. Many lost their jobs. And while 2020 was a year full of challenges for a lot of people, including myself, I am grateful that it opened the door of writing to me. Through it, I was fortunate enough to find an amazing community of writers, readers, and bloggers. I was also able to self-publish my first novella, complete my first NaNoWriMo, and start this writer’s blog.

If you have perused my website, you know that besides blogging about inspirations and distractions to beat writer’s block, I also post quite a bit on Heather’s Bookshelf - the book review portion of my website. I am an avid reader and have enjoyed being able to also write from the reader’s perspective this year. In my first year of book reviews, I was able to read and review a total of twenty-four books in several different genres. This year, my New Year’s resolution is to read and review fifty total books. It’s a hefty goal, but I am excited to see if I can do it.

So what’s your New Year’s Resolution? Do you want to complete an idea that you’ve been thinking about but never put into print? Do you want to finalize the book that you have rewritten a dozen times? Or do you want to just start writing your first book? Either way, why not use a New Year’s Resolution to help inspire and motivate you to complete your goal?

One of the nice things about setting a New Year’s resolution about writing is that it sets a definitive timeline for your project completion. You have 365 days to get yourself together, get to work, and get it done. This also lends itself to setting smaller and attainable goals through a weekly or monthly timeframe. I, for one, need timelines. I need to know what I have to get done and by when. Blogging is wonderful and reviewing is great, but anyone that does it knows that it takes a lot of time to produce quality content. That’s time that takes you away from writing your book. Everyone has things that can take you away from writing. Life is funny like that. But setting a timeline can help to motivate you to push a little harder or write a little more than you otherwise would without that set goal.

So what are some writing based New Year’s resolutions that might help you to break through your writer’s block? Here are some idea examples:

• I will finish draft 1 of my novel. This is in the spirit of NaNoWriMo and the idea that sometimes it’s just better to get something on paper. One of the hardest things is to get started and this is the goal to get over that hump.

• I will publish my novel. This is a little bit more ambitious, but completely doable - especially if you have already completed a draft of a novel and have moved onto the editing phase

• I will talk to other authors in order to see how they did it. This is a piece of advice that continually comes up in the author interviews that I conduct. There is a community of people out there that have been successful in publishing their novels. So, why not ask them for advice on how they did it and get some ideas on what may be useful for you.

• I will step up my internet presence. This can include everything from increasing your social media presence to creating or modifying your website. Be creative, put yourself out there, and network!

So, the next time that you feel like writer’s block is keeping you from writing, try to set a New Year’s resolution to keep you accountable and on track for that ever elusive writing goal. 

I hope that these ideas help you to break through! 

Found a great source of inspiration that worked for you?  Let me know!

Still getting writer’s block?  Tell me how I can help!