As the year draws to a swift close, it’s inevitable that we look back on the 12 months past. Some of us will do so with regret or even anguish, while others will do so with satisfaction or a warm glow.
Where do you stand?
If you, like me, are a writer, are you happy with what you wrote—both the quality and the choice of subject matter? What about quantity—did you write as much as you wanted…as many books, or articles, or scripts, or poems, or whatever it is you write? How can you improve your output in the year ahead, both in quality and quantity? Can you get more words down on screen per day or per week or per month? Are you happy with your choice of what you wrote? Do you want to try something different next year—fiction instead of nonfiction, mysteries instead of romances, children’s fiction in addition to academic textbooks?
If you’ve never yet written a book but have confined your literary output to blogposts or other short-form writings, maybe 2019 is the year to plunge into long-form. What are you waiting for to write that how-to, that novel, that reminiscence that is rattling around in your head? As those old signs used to proclaim, DO IT NOW!
If you’ve already written your book but haven’t found a home for it yet, if the big publishers refuse to look at unagented material, but the agents you’ve sent it to have shown no interest, consider the smaller publishers, who don’t mind if you self-represent…or go the indie route and self-publish. You couldn’t find a better home for your book than Roundtable, and nowhere are the prices lower.
How will 2019 be different for you as a writer? If you’ve written a few “cozies,” or a few picture books, or a few parenting books, and either they haven’t found publishers or they’ve been published but haven’t found an audience, consider making a change and writing something different. Maybe you were meant to write inspirational books, or middle-grade fiction, or how-tos. What’s your passion—besides writing? Genealogy? Music? Raising guinea pigs? Parenting troubled children? Politics? Write about it! Here’s to your writing success in 2019!