Here Comes 2019! And Why Do You Write?
Posted by David Duhr in 
2019 — and its attendant resolutions — is less than a month away.
That means you have four solid weeks to come up with your new writing goals.
If you partake of such things! Not all of us do. I go back and forth. Some years I set a vague goal such as “Get better!” or “Write more!” Some years, no goal at all. For 2018, according to this post where I, and some of you, shared our 2018 writing goals, I wanted to “complete a draft of the book I began writing in May.”
lol.
But! I did get a lot of that book done. And I got a lot of a second book done. Just because we don’t meet the goals we set out doesn’t mean we’re unsuccessful.
So I want you to start thinking about your 2019 writing goals. Don’t share them just yet! We’ll do that later. For now, just jot down some ideas and then sit on them for a while.
Can We Help?
If you already know what your goal is, or have some ideas, and want to hit the 2019 ground running, sign up for a free writing consultation to discuss how we at WriteByNight might help you out.
Take a peek at our staff page to get a sense of the wonderful coaches and consultants you’ll have at your disposal.
And see if we’ve added any services since the last time you checked. There’s a good chance we have, particularly within our publication assistance offerings.
Exercise
For a little inspiration, I thought I might offer us up an exercise this week, to get us thinking about goals and about ourselves as writers.
It’s going to be a simple complete-the-sentence prompt. If you want to share with the group, leave your response in the comments. If you want to keep it to yourself, that’s cool too. If you want to share it with me in private, send me an email. I’m always happy to hear from you no matter what form it takes.
OK, are you ready for the sentence? It seems like such a simple one, and yet.
Here it is:
“I write because __________”
I write because I love it and need to get those story bunnies out of my head.
Story bunnies? Be afraid, be very afraid:)
Otherwise they’ll multiply until it’s totally out of control.
Love your website. I’m a long time writer. I’m writing 4 blogs now, have a first draft on a children’s book, and am dragging my feet on a sitcom tele series I’ve been writing for a few years that was produced as a reality pilot (against my better judgment, I might add, but a “celebrity” liked it so…) and now I’m starting over with it again as a sitcom. PLUS a play…no, I’m NOT ambitious AT ALL. lol.
How do you have time to eat and sleep?
I love the idea of working on many projects at once, but it’s difficult for me to sustain it. Right now I’ve got two books going, and even that is too much for me to handle.
Thanks for reading and saying hello! You might like this post we ran a few months ago, “Jugglers & One-Track Writer”:
https://www.writebynight.net/abcs-of-writing/strategies/multiple-writing-projects/
Well, they aren’t all really concurrent. My blogs are weekly. My play is as I am inspired as is my tele series. That’s my process. I am kind of used to it as I have been writing professionally on and off since I was 14. Thanks for the link. KaZ
I write because______… But first, I want to mention an audio book I found buried from a bunch of years ago, “Goals” by Brian Tracy. I’ve started “reading” it recently to focus on what I want more effectively. I write because I must. I can say it’s because I need to supplement my income. True. I can say it’s because I want to leave a legacy, teach and entertain. That would all be true. But it goes deeper then that. I wasn’t trying to get rich when I was twelve with a new typewriter or fourteen when I wrote and… Read more »
A support group for recovering writers. There’s a story idea in there somewhere.
I think we like to consider ourselves something of a support group for writers and aspiring writers. WBN Anon or something.
Thanks for being a faithful reader, fellow David. And congrats on hitting most (all?) of your 2018 writing goals.
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