New Year's Resolutions
My two biggest goals for 2025 are 1) to read a lot, and 2) to write a lot. I have been working on a first draft of a novel since 2020 – yes, I know. It's supposed to only take a few months to write an entire first draft, right? My problem is twofold: massive undermotivation coupled with massive insecurity. I have been told I'm a good writer (mostly by family and close friends, but that still counts...right?) but I have a major problem not comparing my work to that of other, “actual” writers. What if I finish a novel and no one will publish it? What if I self-publish it, and no one reads it? Or worse yet – what if they do read it, and they hate it? In the words of Marty McFly: “I just don't think I can handle that kind of rejection!“
When I am feeling disheartened about writing and in need of comfort, I turn to Stephen King. In King's excellent memoir On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, he is adamant that “you must not come lightly to the blank page.” Believe me, Mr. King, I do not. On days when I am feeling motivated, I open my laptop and greet my barely-begun novel with optimism, determination, and grit – other days, the best I can offer are sweaty palms and a sense of lingering doom. It is comforting to know that I feel this way because I care about my writing and want it to be good. I'm already a good writer because I care about being a good writer.
The second line in On Writing that I find comforting is: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” I read all the time, and I write fairly frequently, though admittedly not every day. But to know that, in the eyes of Stephen King, this already qualifies me as a writer gives me the courage to keep pecking away.
Here's to the new year. Let us not come lightly to this blank page.