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On New Year’s Day, I was walking around my neighborhood. There was still a blanket of snow, but it wasn’t miserably cold, because it wasn’t windy. I was clearing my head, thinking about what the new year would bring for me. I realized then that I had no resolutions, and who goes into a new year without any? So, as I passed the cemetery by my house, I decided to come up with some writing resolutions.

1) Write every day.

It doesn’t matter if it is only for half an hour or if it’s a day with eight hours of writing in it. I need to make sure that I write every day. If I happen to be out of town or something, I need to at least write some notes about ideas I have.

2) Walk every day.

Walking clears my head and helps me connect, kind of like it gave me the inspiration to make writing resolutions. Supposedly, you can make different kinds of connections between parts of your brain when you exercise. This helps with creativity because it allows you to solve problems—your creative and logical sides start to work together when you exercise, supposedly. Don’t quote me on this—I learned this in health in high school and have long since turned in that text book, but I do vividly remember that. At least for me, it is 100% true.

3) Read published work everyday.

I would say, “read everyday,” but I know I’ll have a day where life catches up with me and I say, “Well, I read a lot on Facebook today,” so I have to be specific. Reading published work helps with your craft, not only because you can see how structures and voices and different authorial choices work, but also because you can see what type of stuff is popular and getting published today. This is super important.

4) Keep current on Goodreads. Goodreads is a great tool for authors.

A friend tweeted this article about why authors should use it, and it convinced me to remain current. Plus, it helps me track my own reading.

5) Submit. A lot.

This is something I haven’t done much. I don’t know why… I think we are all scared of rejection until we have that first big break. So, this year, I need to start submitting.

What about you? What are your writing resolutions? Add to my margins!