Ten Writing Resolutions

Mary DeMuth posted this list to the Master's Artist on January 2nd and graciously gave me permission to post it here. Here's Mary:





Will this be the year of your dreams come true? Or just another ho-hum year where you plug away (or not) and end up in the same place you were when you started? How do writers break in? Or better yet, break through? If you'd like to head toward that slippery nirvana called publication, read on.

10 Resolutions that will help you go further than you've gone before (cue Star Trek music here):

1. I will sell all my extra clutter around my house in order to attend a writer's conference. I will do this because I am tired of dusting my clutter, and I know that this business is very much about who you know. I can't meet people I've never met if I don't meet them! So, I will sell my wooden owl collection, my thirty-five yankee candles never burned, and my exercise machine, just so I can meet industry professionals.
2. I will join an online or in-person critique group and smile nicely when criticism is sent my way. I will learn to say, "Thank you for that very mean critique," even without grinding my teeth, because I understand that I will NEVER grow as a writer if I don't learn to accept both the good and the bad from other writers.
   
3. I will seek seven new publications this year in order to publish at least seven new articles. I understand that once I'm at a conference (goodbye owl statues), I will be asked the dreaded question, "So what have you published?" In order to have something to say, I will be sure to not despise small beginnings and work hard at getting published in smaller magazines. With this, I will perfect my query writing prowess.
   
4. I will place my butt on my writerly chair and write for a set period of time per day. I will set weekly word count goals and not get up until I meet them. I will set artificial deadlines for myself and not only meet them, but meet them early.
   
5. I will contact folks who love to pray and ask them to pray for me weekly. I understand that anything of eternal significance in my writing career comes through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.
   
6. I will practice receiving rejection with joy. I understand that rejection comes throughout any writer's career, not merely at the beginning of it.
   
7. I will remember and preach the sovereignty of God to myself.
   
8. I will write a thank you note to every single person I've met in the industry, not to be a brown-noser, but because I genuinely love people.
   
9. I will take risks. If I'm scared out of my gourd about querying Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, I'll do it anyway. If an editor asks for a piece, I will send it to him/her within the week.
   
10. I will finish and polish a full length novel (if I'm a novelist) or write the perfect proposal (if I write nonfiction).
    

So there you go! Ten resolutions to change the direction and success of your writing career this year.

Cara Again: if you're writing what are your resolutions for 2007? If not, tell us yours anyway.