Writers, Resolutions, and Bliss
I was just reading this fabulous article on the Bookbub Partner’s Blog about writers’ and their New Year’s Resolutions. It’s actually a collection of resolutions contributed by authors. I read it, and I got more out of it than they had probably intended. First, I got a LOT of great ideas about things to try in the new year. The writers’ marketing goals are full of things I’m dying to implement, just as this blog always is. (You should subscribe!)
But it also gave me a compelling need to write a sort of counterpoint to it. So this one’s for you, my sister scribes, especially my younger sister scribes.
It doesn’t always have to be about doing more. Maybe it’s better to try basking more.
All those resolutions I read in the piece were from writers, vowing to write more, to work more, to be online more, to market more, to advertise more, to work harder, to be better, to do more and more and more.
I was exhausted by the time I finished reading those 2018 goals.
But I’m older. I’ve been at this for a long time. So here I offer a different set of New Year’s Resolutions for Writers. One that will heal your creative souls.
Resolutions for the Creative Soul
Know that I have enough. I have more than enough. So there’s no need for me to force myself to write whatever book is going to be most lucrative. That would be selling my muse into bondage. Instead, I resolve to write whichever book is calling out to be written. Whichever story I’m most passionately aching to tell.
I’m going to make more time for play. I’m going to play with whatever I want to play with, for at least a couple of hours every day. It can be a video game, or my stop motion filmmaking software or my Rhiannon doll and her new companion, Vincent Price. It can be anything, as long as it’s play!
I’m only going to write when the story is burning in me. Now, granted, I often have to sit down and put my fingers on the keys to ignite the flame. But I resolve that on those times when I strike and strike and strike my flint, and yet there is no spark, I will walk away. And on those days when the sparks fly and take hold and the words begin to blaze, I will write until the fire dies, and stop before the flames fall to embers, so there’s still fire to kindle when I return with fresh fuel.
I interact with my readers in a way that is fun for me and genuine. I share things with them that I hope will leave them feeling better than they did before, and that’s the same energy I try to deliver in the stories I write for them. I don’t have to beat them over the head to get them to buy my books. They buy them because they know my stories will make them feel good. And they consider it a fair trade. And so do I.
My social media abodes are communities, not a commercials. I’m building relationships, not selling a product. It’s those relationships that will result in sales, and when they do, those readers are in for life. Because it means something to them. We mean something to each other, my readers and I.
I am going to make absolutely sure that I prioritize the most important things in life, and those are my relationships. My beautiful family. My glorious daughters and fun, beautiful grandchildren. My sexy, quiet, deep and creative husband. My home. My friends. My pets. I’ll never let work come before family.
I’m going to indulge and pamper myself the way I would my most treasured companion. I’m going to be so loving toward my physical body, it will feel like the cherished temple it is. I’m going to be equally good to others.
I’m going to spend every day in a state of appreciation of all that I have, and never again in a state of striving or struggling for more.
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