Happy New Writing Year!

Hopefully you spent the festive period either recharging your creative batteries or you managed to find a bit of ‘you’ time to spend on your work in progress.

My last blog post in December invited you to reflect on your writing achievements through 2019 and if anything emerged for you that you hadn’t completed or got around to yet, it could be bumped along to your goals for 2020.

As we know, January is the time of resolution and I’m sure many of you will have made some. They often include things like diets or exercise but can also be a great opportunity for thinking about your writing plans, not just for the coming year but for the coming decade.

So the first question I’m going to ask you is where do you see yourself as a writer in ten years time?

What will you have written?

What might your life look like because of your writing?

What will you have completed?

What will your writing day look like?

Will you be a full-time writer?

Of course, we all have different definitions of success – for some, the it could be publication of a short story, for others it might be completion of a memoir and holding the physical book in their hands and for others it might be achieving commercial success through several novels.

But if you know now what you are ultimately striving towards, you are more likely to get there.

So that’s the big picture, let’s now narrow it down to the coming year with the following questions:

• What are you currently working on? What is your writing priority?
• How far do you hope to have got with your current writing project in 2020?
• What will your next project be?
• What regular time can you give your writing in 2020? (remember to schedule this with the same importance as you would any appointment.)
• How will you ‘nourish’ your writing self in 2020? Think of events you’d like to attend such as courses, space to write days, literature festivals, etc.
• At the end of 2020, what would you have like to have achieved?

Responding to these prompts should help you firmly establish your writing plans and give you something to refer to throughout the year. I’d love to hear what your goals are so feel free to email me or post into the comments below.

Through 2020, I will continue to write a monthly blog to support and motivate other writers and if you are not already on my ‘keep in touch’ list, please follow this link to join and I will send you the link to download ‘The 7 S.E.C.R.E.T.S to Achieving your Writing Dreams’ booklet.

For me 2020 is going to be an exciting year. Many of you will know that my novel, ‘The Last Cuckoo’ is out in March and I am getting married in February so will become Maria Frankland.

I have also just released the second edition of ‘Don’t Call Me Mum’ (both books published by Autonomy Press) I am so lucky to so the work I do and have the support from the readers of my blogs and newsletters and all the writers who take part in the courses, retreats and space to write days. I am looking forward to continuing to work with you all throughout 2020.

With best wishes to you all for a productive, inspirational and successful year,

Maria

PS I have a few spaces left on the Spring Space to Write days I am offering at Poole Village Hall in March, April, May and June (£25 per day.) If you feel you would benefit from this time and space to write, please  or follow this link for further information.