Un-Resolutions
I’ve always watched the annual New Year’s Resolution frenzy with a bit of bemused awe - do people really make lists of resolutions only to abandon them within a week?  It seems like an annual, national delusion - what makes us think that we’re going to succeed in making a resolution work THIS year, when we’ve abandoned them in every other instance?

So I’ve always made un-resolutions - these are commitments to myself that I will persevere to achieve throughout my life, regardless of the time of year.  One of my un-resolutions is to organize my life around writing.  This blog is evidence that I’m succeeding! 

What I don’t do is create a resolution that will leave me feeling like I’ve done something wrong when it’s not happening in a week or a month.  If I’m not making my un-resolution happen, I just go back to the drawing board and try a new idea; whatever it is that I care about is worth persisting to create, and sometimes it takes me multiple new initiatives and efforts before I find the formula for success that works for me.

Give an un-resolution a try: below I’ve given you a sequence that I use with my clients to help them get a writing practice going.  Hope it helps!

Your Un-Resolution
Step 1: Success Strategies
We are always practicing something, even if that something is washing dishes or doing the laundry instead of writing.  Perhaps you love to practice yoga in a class full of other yoginis or maybe you love to get your own mat out at 5:30 am and meet the dawn with sun salutations.  Either way, you have discovered your own formula for creating a successful practice.
Step 2: Make a List
Take a moment and write down your existing practices.  Consider your work and family obligations, chores, exercise, entertainment (TV, radio, movies, books, etc.,) eating, hobbies, sports, outdoor activities.  Which do you choose to do first?  Which ones always get done, and which are left undone until they become urgent?  Keep writing down practices and giving them a category: easy, medium, difficult, until you have at least ten.  Do you see a pattern yet?

Step 3: The Project
It’s time to jump into the content of your writing – what is it that you want to say?  Is it a book or a poem, a website, your unique writing voice?  If you already know your writing project, jump in and start outlining.  If you’re writing to find out what you have to say, you’ll find some prompts below to help you in the discovery process.
Step 4: Short or Long?
While intense writing spurts can work for short projects, you may want a more routine writing practice to finish longer writing projects.  If you are writing a book, a long writing project, you may want to create a combination practice.  80% of writers choose to write in the morning, before they do anything else.  The advantage is that nothing else will “bump” your practice.  The disadvantage: maybe you’re not a morning person - I’m not, I like to write at night.  Find what works for you.

Begin by making a commitment to your writing practice.  Write down how often you will write, where you’ll write, and for how long.  You might need to set time aside on your calendar, make appointments with your writing buddy, or let your partner know that your daily routine will be changing as you get up early, or write before bedtime. 
Step 5: Find a Committed Listener
If you plan a solitary writing practice, ask someone to be your committed listener.  Check in with your listener and let that person know if you’re keeping your appointments with yourself.
Step 6: Be a Writing Detective
Writing practice can take many forms.  Here’s a list of possibilities to help you in your practice design:

• Write after working out.  Take a notebook and sit in the waiting area at your gym, or outside on a bench.
• Write with a friend.  Meet at a café or the library, and write together.  Give each other writing prompts.
• Use a timer.  Set your kitchen timer for ten minutes and do automatic writing (keep the pen moving!)
• Write before bedtime.  Sometimes, we have to wait until our minds are tired before writing so we can express the shadowy, dark parts of ourselves.
• Write in nature.  Take a walk or a hike and bring a digital voice recorder or a notebook.  Go to a local park, or sit in your garden.
• Move before writing.  Try walking, jumping jacks, or another movement practice (chi gung, downward dog, hula hoop) before sitting down to write.
• Meditate before writing.  Whether you have a five minute or two hour sitting practice, keep your notebook close by and write afterwards.
• Greet the dawn.  Get up a few minutes earlier to write before your day begins.

Step 7: Answer the Prompts

1. Make a commitment to yourself and your writing.  Be specific.  How and when will you write?  How often?  Who will help you keep the commitment?
2. What sensations/ stories/ emotions/ moods do you notice in your body when you think about making a commitment to your writing?
3. Write a scene where a character makes a commitment – what are the sensations, contractions, fears, stories that show up in your character’s consciousness, body, etc?

Step 8: Schedule it!
Once you’ve decided how to structure (or unstructure) your writing practice, schedule it.  Write it down on your calendar, or put up a sticky note, or make a date with a friend at a coffee shop. 

Decide how long you’re going to be super-disciplined at the beginning - it doesn’t take long for our neuroplastic brains to identify a new habit and support that habit, but it does take repetitive, regular practice.  You’re better off doing a bunch of practice right away, and building those neuronal pathways, than being nice and easy on yourself up front.  That seemingly forgiving relationship with yourself undermines the message you want to send to your brain that writing is important, and worth the attention you’re giving it.

Number One Most Important Thing: Be Persistent
Too many people conclude that their inability to generate a writing practice means they “must not want it enough.”  Don’t give up.  Be persistent up front.  Commit ten days to your practice, stay focused, and bring all your forces to bear on making writing happen.  Once you’re writing, you can solve any other problems that arise.  If you’re not writing, your writing is just a dream waiting to happen.  Make your dreams come true: Write!