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Excuse Editor's Quick Guide to Writing Resolutions

As writers, you're probably pretty familiar with making Writing Resolutions to get your year started off right. But we  also have those pesky other resolutions to deal with. Well, this year, do an edit of your resolutions: make the common ones work double duty!


Resolve to...

  • Be healthy
    • Eat right
      • Feed your writer-self a wholesome mix of words and thoughts made from inspirational writing and all sorts of your favorite writing. It will nourish your writing spirit.
    • Exercise
      • Keep your fingers moving across those keys, even when you don't think you feel like it. The results will be your reward.
  • Get organized
    • Sort through all of the scribblings you've allowed to collect dust. You're sure to find hidden treasures; dusty works just waiting to be freshened up with crisp, clean edits.
  • Volunteer
    • Help other writers with concepts you understand. Encourage them and learn from their work. You'll be inspired by their enthusiasm and recognize how far you've progressed. Embrace the cultivating of dreams.
  • Reduce Stress
    • Accept that rejection is part of the process. Just like the story that refuses to take the road you had planned for it, your writing life sometimes has twists and turns of its own.
  • Allow yourself more ME time
    • Are you spending so much of your writing time serving someone else's interests (articles or technical journals at work, for example) that you don't have time for your own essays and stories? This year, make time for your writing, too.
  • Get your finances in order
    • Set aside some money for contest entries, classes, and writing supplies. Make sure it is within your budget. If it is not, focus on your writing until it is. Submit your writing to paying markets (like what is found in The Scoop, the free list you get as an Excuse Editor Newsletter subscriber).
  • Be Green
    • Recycle and Reuse. Take a look at some of your vintage writing. Could that old short story be updated with a new twist? What about any articles you've had published? If you own the rights to them, send them to new markets and sell them again.
  • Get enough Rest
    • Sometimes your writing and your self need to spend some time apart, to rest. When you come together again, you'll be calm and focused, and your work will feel like it's being shaped and molded with love, rather than manhandled in frustration.
What specific goals do you have for your writing this year? What would you like to find at Excuse Editor that could help you along? Leave a comment, and we'll see what we can do!

Best wishes for you and your writing in 2010!

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