Going Public With a Writing Resolution

Posted by David Duhr in Inspiration      35 comments

Jan
12

According to this random study, 8 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions accomplish them. That sounds about right. Put another way, if you make twenty-five resolutions on New Year’s Eve, you’re likely to achieve two of them by the same time next year. Two outta twenty-five, gang. And the two would be probably the simplest and/or least important ones, too. (No study makes that claim — it’s just me being a cynic. Twelve days ago I resolved to be less of a cynic in 2016. Oh-for-one.)

There’s a formality in the word “resolve,” a certain firmness. (A comic, maybe Carlin, once lobbied to have “firmth” become a word. I support that.) If you resolve to do something, it’s not just a passing thought; it’s a declaration. “I don’t just want to do this thing — I declare that I will do this thing!” It’s a strong statement.

Well, folks, we humans struggle with strong statements. And most other things. And so another year passes and another set of resolutions goes unachieved, and we feel a little bit more like pieces of shit each and every December 31.

Big Fat Zero

On December 31, 2014, I resolved to write a novel.

On December 31, 2013, I resolved to write a novel.

On December 31, 2012, I resolved to write a novel.

On December 31, 2011, I resolved to write a novel.

Etc.

Number of novels written = zero.

Number of chapters written = like three.

My New Year’s Eve writing resolution success rate = 0 percent.

I never really put pressure on myself to achieve a writing resolution, or other kinds, really. What I need? Is a bit of outside pressure.

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Fifty Shades of Hell No!

Since 2011 or so I’ve kept a log of the books I read. Just title and author, but that simple amount of info is enough to keep the books fresher in my mind.

At the end of 2012 I scanned my list and was disappointed at how few books I’d read that year. Not that quantity is all that matters, but it’s not like I’d read an entire year’s worth of Proust and War and Peace. It was clear just from the list that I hadn’t spent as much time reading as I would have liked to. Or should have, as a writer.

So! I made a simple resolution to read eighty books in 2013. And then I took a second, more important step: I went public with it. In this space I laid out my resolution, and then I invited our readers to offer up ideas for punishment if I fell short. The chosen punishment was that I would have to read Fifty Shades of Gray in public while wearing a hot-pink onesie, with footies.

I didn’t want to do that.

So I read eighty books in 2013. Eighty exactly, as it turned out. And I can guarantee you this: If I hadn’t gone public with that resolution and consequence, I wouldn’t have accomplished it.

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Throw it All Out There

I guess what I’m saying is, if you have a writing resolution for 2016, consider taking it public, and consider laying down some consequences. Fun ones, ideally. Because this doesn’t have to be life and death.

Do so in whatever form feels right. Your own blog, Facebook, a town meeting, public access TV.

Or do it right here! Leave your 2016 writing resolution in the comments below, along with your idea of a fun consequence for missing your goal. Or leave your consequence/reward up to your fellow readers, the way I did. Risky, but worth it.

And include a fun reward for achieving it. Because yes, writing is its own reward … but the reward of writing and the reward of, say, a giant cupcake is even better.

Tune in next week, when I write basically this exact same post, but about reading instead of writing.

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WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you achieve your creative potential and literary goals. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres, nationwide and worldwide. If you have a 2016 writing project that you’d like a little help with, take a look at our book coaching, private instruction and writer’s block counseling services.

WriteByNight co-founder David Duhr is copy editor and fiction editor at the Texas Observer and contributes regularly to the Dallas Morning News, Publishing Perspectives, the Observer and other publications.