The Fresh Ink Chronicles Part 1: Setting Writing Intentions for a New Year
Crafting your Creative Journey in 2024
Writer’s Note: This is the first of a three part series called Fresh Ink Chronicles: Crafting Your Creative Journey in 2024.
The first three newsletters of the year will be dedicated toward helping you plan and begin your next writing project.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to 2024! As my mom would say te estuvimos esperando como lluvia de Mayo. The translation: We’ve been waiting for this like May rains.
At least I have. I said my good byes to 2023 filled with gratitude for the lessons but ready to let go and start fresh.
And that includes writing. Last year I had four goals — finish the memoir, a poetry collection, a short story collection, and one more goal that escapes me. Only one of those came true. I published The Opposite of Breathing is Cement late last year. This was despite the heartbreak that stopped me with the other goals.
So, heart break aside, I thought about how I accomplished that goal. It was really the accountability. Let me explain.
I wanted to have something for the audience when I read at The LILT (in October 2023) and from there a publisher got involved. Knowing that people were waiting on me to get things done and to have a product made me got into high gear. Quickly.
This year, I want to apply some pressure on myself again to get a project completed. Though I haven’t decided which one (memoir or short story or another poetry book), I’m looking at 2024 as a canvas waiting to be filled. So, in the spirit of embracing new beginnings, let's explore the art of setting writing intentions for 2024.
Reflect on Your Writing Journey:
Before diving into the future, take a moment to reflect on your writing journey so far. Celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small, and acknowledge the lessons learned from challenges. Did you publish a book? Awesome! Did you come close? YES! Did you just finish the draft of a story and called it quits? Celebrate that!
Reflection allows you to take stock of what is important and to celebrate the important wins and milestones. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. It doesn’t end with one thing.
Other writers also take stock. Here’s some examples. Writer Malinda Lo did this in her latest newsletter. Independent author Joanna Penn also does this at the end of the year.
Clarify Your Writing Goals:
Now that you’ve taken stock of what you have done and celebrated, let’s look to the future.
What do you want to say? What do you want to do? Take the big idea and break them down into smaller pieces.
Want to write a novel? It’s do-able in a year if your to do list and list of responsibilities are short. Even if, it’s still do able. But that path includes: writing, revising, editing, reading, procrastination, more writing, etc.
Don’t quite think about whether it’s doable or not. Not yet. Let this question be your guide: What is it you are trying to say? What is the story or stories you are telling? What do you want to say or tell the world? This step is the pie in the sky type of thing. Specifics come later.
This question is one I ask not only my writer friends but myself as well: What are you having a conversation with? The answer to this is what you are writing about this year.
For example, in this newsletter I am constantly having a conversation with the process of writing and literature, how it fits and colors my life, and how that impacts me as a writer, woman, and person of color. So I plan and write accordingly.
Set Realistic and Achievable Milestones:
In any goal setting work, there’s always the looming sense of reality. This is where you ask whether the thing you are working for is doable. Remember in the previous section when I said not yet. Ok, you can do that now. This is the stage where doubt comes in. At least it does for me.
Imposter syndrome is that feeling that you don’t deserve or aren’t good enough to accomplish your goal. This is where it happens and while there isn’t a sure fire cure-all for this, this is where your brain is less about art and more about logistics.
The question to ask yourself here is what is realistic? Is a chapter a day realistic or a chapter a week? A writer friend of mine only wrote on weekends and didn’t go out for eight months getting their novel completed. That for him was doable. He understood how he worked — ten toes in until it was done. However, another writer friend writes nearly daily early in the morning. And yet another would write in the morning and then edit/revise at night after work. All of these process are realistic to the person that did it.
For me, what is realistic is to work smaller. Poetry, essays, and short stories at the moment and writing it in between grading assignments and job requirements. These smaller units of writing allow me to 1) not only feel accomplished and 2) keep the momentum going. Writing for me can look like 20 minutes at a desk, 10 minutes of brainstorming or quick jotting down of an idea or a line. I’ve even used the voice memo app of my phone as I drive to work. The lesson is do what is realistic for you.
Cultivate a Writing Routine:
Whatever is realistic for you means that you need some consistency. This means same time and perhaps the same place each time. It’s butt in seat. It’s showing up until something happens on the page. I am going to argue that THIS is where the hard work happens. This is also where the failure can happen.
Mystery writer Walter Mosley is rumored to write everyday, even on vacation. Isabelle Allende begins her new project on Jan. 8 of every year with a candle on her desk. I use to write in the wee hours of the night, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. because that is when the world stood still enough for me.
Whatever the routine, make it yours. Or borrow one. YouTuber and writer Christy Anne Jones does a really neat series trying out the writing routines of well-known writers.
Embrace the Process, Not Just the Outcome:
A friend of mine said your success is as strong as your process. Little did I know he was somewhat quoting James Clear. The writer of Atomic Habits says that life is the sum of habits.
So if the outcome is a brand new book, the process is something you need to lean into. Hard.
It’s about the journey here.
Prioritize Self-Care in Your Writing Practice:
One of the best pieces of advice when I started writing, specifically in my journalism career, was the following:
Eat your vegetables.
Now the person who told me this, a veteran journalist, was not a health nut. This is a metaphor in that you need to take care of yourself. Journalism is a tough business and very much a dog-eat-dog situation. And the way to get through it, survive and thrive, is to take care of yourself. I’m passing on the same advice.
Eat your vegetables but also go outside for a walk.
Listen, writing is lonely, hard work, and requires so much mentally. That means that when considering your writing schedule and practice, add in times of rest. Build in Netflix time or outdoor time or exercise or meditation or eating veggies time. Whatever is your preference, add that to the schedule.
I LOVE this article from Psychology Today about writers and walkers. And how it links creativity with inspiration.
Personally, I like the idea of not writing for a while. Journaling is fine but there are just swaths of time — months — where all I do is read and teach and live my life. I’ll jot down lines or ideas but I just want to live my life for awhile. The page will always be there; what changes is me.
And there you go! Some tips to get your creative project started. Hope this is helpful and let me know how it’s going!
Happy writing!
—Icess