Happy New Year, everyone!
I got a little ahead of the new year by starting my resolution process early. I used December to sort out my goals, implement some new strategies, and try out some new writing tools.
So far so good.
Somehow, not having the New Year New You pressure made trying new things and discarding those that didn’t work so much easier. And it made the entrance into 2020 a little less desperate, a little less all or nothing.
I like that.
I shared a little of my experience and some of my new favorite writing tools over at From the Mixed-Up Files in December:
“It’s the end of the year. For most people, the changing of the calendar is a time to take stock of where you’ve been and to figure out where you want to go. Successes are counted; vision boards are created; goals are written; and a shiny new year of possibility is just waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
It’s a hopeful time.
This year, I decided not to wait for the new year to revamp my writing life. I dove in early – not with the stock-taking or the goal-setting components though. I’m already pretty clear about where I’ve been and where I’d like to get. Instead, I focused on the regular sit-down-and-write parts of the job. What’s working? What’s not? And are there some writing tools I can use to make all of it easier?
For the last few weeks, I’ve been trying things out. I’ve created some rituals to help make the transition to writing quicker and easier and I’ve gotten rid of some tools/habits that just aren’t working. I’ve also played with some new tools to see what might make me more efficient and more organized. I thought I’d share my current writing tool box with you all as a little New Year’s gift, with the hope that you might find something on my list that will make writing a little easier for you too.”
Head over to From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors to check out my list of favorite writing tools. Maybe one of my writing tools will help revamp your writing life. If so, please share – either there or back here. And let me know what changes you’re making this year in the comments below.
I was hiking with my husband the other evening, taking pictures of the sunset and listening to the coyotes call to one another across the sagebrush, when I notice the change in light, the shift in the particular shade of blue that defines the summer sky in this part of the country. It’s turned darker, deeper. A color that signifies the change in seasons here on the high desert. A color that, to my eye, means means the beginning of the the end of summer.
