7 Ways to Kickstart Your Writing this Year

Written By Millionaire’s Digest Team Member: Annmarie McQueen

Founder & Owner of: Annmarie McQueen

Millionaire’s Digest Team, Contributor, Travel and Writing Writer

Is ‘write more’ or ‘start a novel’ on your list of resolutions for 2017? Here are a few tips for sticking to that resolution and reaching your writing goals:

1. Set yourself targets and write them down. Try not to make your targets overly ambitious. For example, you could aim to write 500 words every week, or one short story a month. Setting yourself tangible goals will motivate you to stick to them and give you a sense of satisfaction every time you get to cross one off the list.

2. Join a writing group. Meeting other writer friends, sharing your work and reading other people’s work is a good way to find inspiration and motivation. A supportive environment is essential for any writer to grow and develop – whether that be in the form of a creative writing class or an online forum.

3. If you haven’t already, start publishing your writing on a blog or a social media account. Knowing that your writing is being actively read and enjoyed by others can be a huge boost to your self-confidence.

4. Build a routine. Pick one night a week where you put aside an hour for writing. Treat that hour like it’s precious. Don’t let other plans get in the way, or put it off because you don’t feel like it. Establish a system where you’re writing consistently over time rather than only when you’re ‘in the mood’.

5. Read some really good books. If you put a book down thinking ‘I wish I could write something this good’ then make use of that feeling and put pen to paper. There’s nothing more inspiring than reading an excellent novel.

Read: 8 Tips for Writing a Novel

6. Try out some fun writing prompts. A quick google will pull up many articles and blogs where you can find free prompts – sometimes these can be really useful as they force you to try something outside your comfort zone.

7. Start off writing fanfiction. Sometimes writing fan fiction can be a nice warm-up for writing original work; it gets your creativity flowing and helps you get into the zone without being over-demanding since you’re writing about characters and worlds you’re already familiar with.

Article Credits: Annmarie McQueen

Millionaire’s Digest Team, Contributor