Zebra collage by Helen Sword
January 2022
Happy New Year! So how are those New Year's resolutions going so far? If you're like most writers, you've already let many of them fall by the wayside just a few short weeks into the year.
Changing your stripes is hard.
What if, rather than trying to turn yourself into a different kind of writer altogether, you were to fill in the blank spaces between your stripes or spots with new words, new patterns, new colors?
Here are three achievable resolutions for 2022 that any writer can aspire to:
Learn something new. Read a book, take a course, sign up for a writing retreat, join a supportive writing community such as the WriteSPACE.
Try something new. Experiment with style, dabble in an unfamiliar genre, invite a colleague to co-author an article with you. Take a risk with your writing, however modest, and see what happens.
Write with pleasure. What happens when you append the words "with pleasure" to your writing-related tasks -- even the unpleasurable ones? "I'm going to start working on my literature review today . . . with pleasure." "I've got a stack of undergraduate essays to mark today . . . with pleasure." Sometimes just a small act of reframing can help you see things in a new way.
This website offers a wide range of resources that can help you learn as a writer, grow as a writer, and enjoy being a writer. Check out the upcoming events page if you're ready to get started.
Subscribe here to Helen’s Word on Substack to access the full Substack archive and receive weekly subscriber-only newsletters (USD $5/month or $50/year).
WriteSPACE members enjoy a complimentary subscription to Helen’s Word as part of their membership plan (USD $15/month or $150/year). Not a member? Join the WriteSPACE now and get your first 30 days free.