New Year’s is right around the corner, and with it comes the drive to push ourselves further. This year has been a tumultuous one for me. My dog and I moved from the North West of England to the middle of the east coast of the USA. To say it has been bonkers is an understatement.
But, I’m settled in now and ready to start next year full of gusto, aplomb, and vim and vigor and really challenge myself to grow as a writer. In this blog I will list a few you can attempt if you fancy it.
- 365 Prompts: I’ll be posting a new writing prompt on my instagram page every day next year. It’s entirely up to you how much or how little you want to write, but my hope is that by the end of next year, I’ll have 365 pieces of writing that I can build ideas from. If nothing else, getting into the habit of writing every day helps vocabulary, voice, flow etc.
- 1 Million Words: My awesome writer friend Kristy Westaway is aiming to write 1 million words by the end of next year. Sounds impossible, right? Well it’s certainly not for the fainthearted, but it is possible if you write 2740 words per day. Even at 1370 words per day you would have half a million words down by the end of the year. It’s a tough challenge and sounds really impressive!
- The Genre Explorer: step out of your genre comfort zone, both in terms of reading and writing. I for one tend to stick to fantasy for both, and I would love to expand my literary palate. I plan to make a list of books in different genres that I want to read, and then dip my (writing?) toe into each of them. You never know unless you try it!
- The Finish That Damn Book Challenge This is a simple one. If you’ve been sitting on a half finished manuscript, or have an idea for a story that just won’t go away, then do yourself a favor and just finish it. Make 2019 your year. Make it MyNoWriYe (Not quite as catchy as NaNoWriMo, but the sentiment is there and I tried really hard.) Whatever, just finish your book.
- 12 Short Stories: Write a 5000-10,000 word short story every month. By the end of the year you’ll have your very own short story anthology. A wise woman (Kristy Westaway again) once said, “That’s a very good way of documenting your writing journey, even if you don’t publish it.”
I hope some of these will be useful and fun. The most important thing with writing is that you enjoy it. Good luck to all of you with whatever you decide to challenge yourself with next year!
Thank you for reading.
Marie Lipscomb 