New Year’s Resolutions for Writers

We’re wrapping up 2024 by offering New Year’s resolutions for writers inspired by advice offered this year by some of Page Count’s guest authors: Ross Gay, Claire McMillan, Alison Stine, Jacqueline Woodson, Hanif Abdurraqib, Brian Broome, Sara Moore Wagner, Chiquita Mullins Lee, Leah Stewart, Rob Harvilla, Libby Kay, David Hassler, and Alex Rowland. From writing in new places to finding inspiration, letting go of perfection, making new writing friends, and beyond, these twelve resolutions can help writers start 2025 on a positive and productive note.

 

12 Resolutions for Writers:

1. Let go of perfection. (Page Count Live: Trash & Delight with Ross Gay & Alison Stine)
2. Protect your in-progress writing as necessary. (Alchemy of Writing with Claire McMillan)
3. Don’t be precious about where you write—and make good use of the available time you have to work, no matter how limited. (Page Count Live: Trash & Delight with Ross Gay & Alison Stine)
4. Don’t let a fixation on awards, publications, or recognition affect your writing process. (Page Count Live with Hanif Abdurraqib & Jacqueline Woodson)
5. Write outside of yourself and consider other perspectives—as well as the reader’s experience. (Cringe & Controversy with Brian Broome)
6. Leave your writing desk to go out into the world to research and experience new things. (Exploring the Myth of Annie Oakley with Sara Moore Wagner)
7. Don’t put pressure on yourself to publish on a certain timeline. (Carving a Story with Chiquita Mullins Lee & Carmella Van Vleet)
8. When the going gets tough, remember the beneficial parts of the writing life. (At the Sewanee Writers’ Conference with Leah Stewart)
9. Try not to take yourself so seriously, and don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
10. Make a new writing friend. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)
11. Find inspiration in your daily life. (40 Years of Poetry with David Hassler)
12. Be resilient in your writing life. Better yet, be unkillable, like a cockroach. (Be a Cockroach at the Columbus Book Festival)

 

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and an edited transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.