Been a while since I’ve posted here, but as it’s very nearly 2025 as I write this, it’s a good time to think of the year ahead. And I suspect I’m not alone in wanting the new year to be a fresh start in my writing endeavours.

So this is my goal for 2025: to write every day. Every. Single. Day. Is that achievable? Well, we’ll see. My track record on new year’s resolutions is … patchy, shall we say. Many people think such resolutions are a waste of time – what’s so special about the first day of January, anyway, isn’t it just a day like any other, and why should my willpower be any stronger then than at any other time? – and I do sympathize with that view.

However, a new year is significant in some ways, and it’s as good a time as any to make some changes. Why not the first of January?

What really defines a writer? Someone who writes! Also, for me, it’s the actual act of writing that gets my creative juices flowing, when I get most of my ideas or develop them fully. I don’t get very far by just around waiting to be struck by inspiration. The more I exercise my “writing muscle”, the better.

So, here goes. Here are my “rules” (which I’m kind of refining as I go along … possibly in light of what actually happens 🙂 ) :

1. The aim is to write for at least 30 minutes a day. That’s an amount of time which, if I’m disciplined enough, I should be able to squeeze in most days, even if sometimes in a couple of separate chunks. Some days of course I’d be able to – and would want to – write more, but half an hour seems a sensible and reasonably achievable baseline.
2. “Writing” means creative writing of any kind – prose (generally in my case), poetry (which I rarely attempt, having little discernible talent in that area), or sketches / plays (which I did write a few of in 2024).
3. It can be a first draft or editing / revision of existing drafts. As I’ve discovered, the majority of the time taken to write a novel in particular is taken up with editing and revision.
4. It may also include planning or research connected to writing, e.g. planning out a story or novel … but I do want to actually get words onto a page / screen as part of the daily output, most days at least.
5. It does not, for me, include social media activity even if connected to or in support of my writing. In the past I’ve found social media to be a big time sink. Yes it can have value, and good connections can be made, but it’s just to easy to get distracted and not actually write.
6. It also does not – usually, I’d say – include blog posts like this. Not the majority of days, anyway. Yes blogging is “writing”, but not really creative writing as such – although obviously it can have creative aspects. And I will be posting many of my efforts here – but it’s the actual writing of those pieces that counts towards my goal, not the posting per se.
7. I won’t be committing to producing a completely new, complete piece of writing (e.g. short story) every single day. I’ve heard of some who’ve committed to that, but I don’t think I’d manage it very often. Maybe a very short flash fiction piece sometimes.
   For instance, I wrote a new 1,400 approx. word short story yesterday, but that took me probably a couple of hours in total, and I can’t commit to that every single day. And I still haven’t finished editing it. Typically a short story would take me two or three days at least. But it would be great to produce say two new stories a week – that would be a very substantial increase on my past productivity.
8. Finally, although I’m really going for this, I won’t beat myself up too much if I don’t achieve it every single day. Aim high but be realistic. Don’t let myself become discouraged.

Well, as I said I hope to post many of my finished pieces here, along with occasional thoughts and updates on my progress. Wish me luck!

Do you have any writing-related resolutions for 2025? It would be great if we could support each other. Happy New Year!