Keeping Our Writing Resolutions
Made a resolution to write more? Me too. Here's how I'm keeping it.
On the first day of 2022, I upgraded my New York Times subscription. Instead of just subscribing online like I always have, I decided to level up to the weekend print edition. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the foreseeable future, I will receive a fresh newspaper on my driveway.
The reason for this upgrade is along the same lines as shelling out for new sneakers or a gym membership at the start of the year. The newspaper goes hand-in-hand with one of my new year’s resolutions: taking a stab at writing satire.
Throughout the pandemic, I’ve taken a few satire workshops through Reductress and Pandemic University. It’s a form I’ve always admired but have been too shy to try. Satire gives me the most imposter syndrome I’ve ever had as a writer. Who the hell am I to think that I am not only funny enough, but also informed and smart enough, to write comically about the events of the world? Pah!
But as I know from writing drafts of my current novel project, writing personal essays, and writing anything, really, the only way out of imposter syndrome is through it.
I said my resolution is to take a stab at writing satire, but in practice, it’s more specific than that. Here’s the real resolution: practice satirizing current events in writing for at least two hours a week.
Perhaps I should’ve mentioned this earlier: I love setting resolutions!!!! It’s an extremely pleasurable thing for me. I understand that this does not apply to everyone most people, so a lot of the time, I feel weird admitting how much of a resolutions nerd I am.
Part of the reason why I like resolution-setting so much is because I have strict guidelines for the way I set them. They have to be measurable. They have to be within my control. And they have to be something I actually want to do, not something I feel like I should do.
It’s also worth mentioning that only a few of my resolutions have anything to do with writing. Some of them are teaching goals. Very (very!) few of them are fitness goals. But most of them are just-for-fun goals. Here are some:
BBQ a whole turkey in the smoker. (Hopefully I’ll be able to master this in time for Thanksgiving, but I’m keeping my—and my family’s—expectations low.)
Buy an espresso machine. (Please reply or comment if you have recs!)
Grow a small herb garden.
Ride my bike across the ferry all the way to Amelia Island.
Open a bottle of champagne without jumping. (Yes, seriously, okay?! I am the jumpiest person on god’s green earth, and being able to do this would make me feel… better about myself, I guess? I plan on buying several bottles of the cheapest champagne I can find and just going nuts, hopefully eventually desensitizing myself to the pop. I’ll let you know how it goes. lol I have no idea why I am admitting this to so many strangers)
Another resolution? Submit a piece of satire writing before the end of 2022.
My resolution isn’t to publish a piece of satire. Publishing is not in my control. But setting a resolution to submit holds me accountable to actually finish a piece of satire. It means I will, at some point this year, think about showing my satire writing to another human being—eek!—which means I’ll work really hard on it first. And that’s exactly what I want to do. I want to get stronger as a satirist.
So, for now, I’ll be practicing. And I will do so in a way that feels tremendously pleasurable to me. I will brew a pot of my favorite Bold Bean coffee and put on a jazz record. I’ll prop myself in my arm chair with the Times and a legal pad, taking notes and occasionally making myself chortle at a (hopefully) very funny idea I’ve just had.
If financial accountability works for you the way it works for me, and if you can swing it, invest in something that’ll keep you writing. For me, it’s a Times subscription. For you, maybe it’s an upgrade or a treat—a new keyboard or some noise-canceling headphones or consistent matcha lattes from your favorite place.
Another idea: form an accountability partnership with a supportive friend in which you have to send them x words per week—100 words, 1,000, however many!—and if you miss a week, you have to donate $15 to a charity of your friend’s choice.
No matter your resolution, make your approach APAP (as pleasurable as possible). If I think to myself, “I’m going to try writing satire this morning,” I will immediately collapse into a puddle on the floor if I even manage to make it out of bed in the first place. It’s too intimidating!!!! But if I think, “I’m going to brew some coffee and put on a jazz record before going out to the driveway to get my newspaper and posting up in my armchair with a legal pad for a couple hours,” I’m waaaaay more excited about it. I love a good trick into writing.
What are your resolutions for your writing?
“Complete the second draft of my first novel and the first draft of my second!” —Kellie
“Finish more creative nonfiction pieces and analyses of media I’ve enjoyed.” —Nate
“Draft my webspace/future home for my planned creative projects!” —Emma
“Stay consistent, make more time for it… or time at all.” —Taylor
I want to hear about your writing resolutions!
Leave a comment and tell me how you’re going to tackle your goals this year. (And if you’re anti-resolutions, I want to hear about that too!)
Really Digging This
Here’s what I’ve been reading and loving lately.
Fiona and Jane — Oh, I adored this novel. The way Jean Chen Ho represents two friends evolving in their relationship from childhood into adulthood is moving in its authenticity. I thought she nailed the ebbing and flowing nature of longtime connections, as well as the natural rhythms of cultural and sexual identity.
(It didn’t hurt that I listened to the audiobook, which had the same narrator as one of my 2021 faves: Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop. I’m relatively new to the audiobook party, and I wasn’t expecting how fun it would be to become a fan of narrators!)
As a self-professed point of view nerd, I also enjoyed the way this author switched from first- to third-person, taking a different perspective approach to each title character. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.
Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy — Talia Lavin is a very dedicated journalist, the kind who’s willing to make themselves vulnerable in order to report a story more fully. And that’s exactly what they did when writing this book.
My favorite kind of nonfiction reports on the process of the research and uncovering. Lavin absolutely spoiled me with information on their process, divulging stories on creating online personas in order to enter far-right message boards and dating sites.
This book reminds me of a tweet I recently saw that got me thinking about what makes me gravitate toward the books I read:
For me, it’s all premise. And the premise of Culture Warlords—not just a deep dive into the topic of white supremacy, but into white supremacy specific to online communities—made me immediately want to read it.
And when a premise doesn’t disappoint? That’s gold.
What’s on your 2022 book list?
Leave a comment and let me know what’s in your stack!
Just bought a Breville Bambino Plus for my husband. It’s a life changer.