Happy 2022, writers and readers! 🎉📚 🎉📚 🎉📚 🎉📚 🎉 

With the start of a new year, resolutions are top of mind. What are your writing goals for 2022? At 5OE, we are here to support you in achieving all you want for your work (and more)!

As a writer, when you are deciding what you hope to accomplish this year, the first thing to do is to look back on what you’ve already done in 2021. Before making lofty proclamations on what you’ll do in 2022, take a moment to pat yourself on the back for what you’ve already achieved: the objectives you’ve met, the strides you’ve taken in your craft, the investments you’ve made in your career. Writing is a tough vocation, and you should celebrate every incremental milestone. Now, consider what worked, and what didn’t. Make a list. Did having set hours or word-count goals help you produce? Did creating a functional workspace make you more productive? Did reading inside or outside of your genre, category, audience, or format inspire you? Discard any practices that didn’t get you closer to your goals, and hang tight to any that focused and inspired you.

Here are our five tips on making 2022, your most successful writing year yet!

1. TABLA RASA: Give yourself the gift of starting fresh. The writing bumps and bruises of the last year—while they no doubt strengthened your “character” as a writer—can be put aside. In the words of Disney’s Elsa, “Let it go.” This is your chance to reimagine your writing-self, and rebuild. Dream big. (We love vision boards at 5OE!)

2. GOAL SETTING: Aspiration is key for manifesting your success. But we also live in a world in which reason is rewarded. In addition to your lofty goals, we recommend achievable, even modest, goals. Did you spend time thinking about your characters and your world today? Did you sit down to write, even if it didn’t yield a specific word count? Did you research for a short time? Did you read something in your space? Set small, manageable goals that will ultimately build into a completed manuscript.

3. GOOD HABITS: We’ve learned from research across disciplines that will power is not an effective approach to productivity: think dieting. If you want concrete results with writing, as with all things, good habits are what will form your solid foundation. What do good writing habits look like? That’s down to the individual. But we can suggest, (as above) setting small, achievable goals—thinking, reading, and research, are all part of writing! Create a workspace without distraction: turn off your social media, integrate you writing life with your work and home lives, and set boundaries with friends and family.

4. MINDFUL WRITING: Mindfulness may seem like a buzzword, but it works. Before sitting down to write, consider how you are feeling—what other pressures are weighing on you, what expectations do you bring to the process—and (re)locate yourself in the present. This might require a meditative exercise. The New York Times recommends something as simple as tracing your hands and breathing.

5. KINDNESS: After another pandemic year, it’s more important than ever to be kind, especially your writer-self. Writing is an art—and a business—and it takes talent, craft, and mettle to get published. Let yourself off the hook when you aren’t able to meet your goals because of outside influences—and let others off the hook too. Writing is a community, and the best thing you can do for yourself as an artist, and for your career, is to connect, and be kind to others in the same trade. Promote your colleagues, support your fan favourites, collaborate and coordinate with other creators.

We hope these tips will help you in your resolutions for the new year! Our resolution is to provide you with the tools you need to reach your writing goals through our services, workshops, coaching and consultation.

Be brave. Be bold. Be you. A toast: to all great things for your writing in 2022!