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One year. 12 blog posts. And a whole lot of courage. Before we draw our Year of Courage to a close, I want to open the door for a little self-reflection on all the hard work you’ve put in to understand your practice and become a better writer.
Let’s recap what we set out to do back in January:
Take on the courageous act of writing
Improve understanding of important writing concepts
Grow a vibrant writing practice
Find and build community
Increase publishing success
These pursuits don’t end when the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Day. Our goal in creating this blog series was to give you the tools to prepare for writing success—for this year and all the years to come. With that, let’s look at how you can use the complete Understanding Your Writing blog series to continue improving your craft and pursuing your goals.
Prepping for a new year of writing successes
The best New Year’s resolutions are crafted before the ball drops. This month, take time to reflect on the past year: what you learned, what you accomplished, and what you’re itching to do next.
Consider how your writing practice has evolved since the beginning of the year: Have you introduced new strategies to your writing process? Played with new genres or crafted more impactful messages? Think about the strengths and weaknesses you identified back in July: How have they improved? What do you want to keep working on?
After reflecting on the past year, reexamine your writing goals: Do you want to prioritize writing output or publishing your work? Does it make more sense to double down or take a step back? Asking yourself these questions periodically will help you navigate the year to come, carrying you to the finish lines you draw for yourself.
These blogs should serve as jumping-off points for your unique practice. They’ll all live on this page, Understanding Your Writing—refer back to them when you need a refresher, a spark of inspiration, or simply some extra courage.
Ultimately, we hope this blog series encouraged you to brave the possibility of rejection and pursue publication. By understanding important aspects of the writing process, from connecting with your audience to deciphering submission calls, you’ll achieve greater success as a writer—whatever that means for you.
WW supports you year-round
The Writer’s Workout community is always here to lift you up and give you writerly courage. While this year-long blog series may be ending, we have plenty more resources coming down the pipeline.
Our second conference is scheduled for March 17-23, 2025. Like our first, this conference is completely virtual—and completely free. You can expect more valuable insights into the writing world and the publishing industry from the authors, editors, and professionals who know them best.
And remember: You can still watch the 2024 conference videos anytime you want on our YouTube page. For an extra dose of year-end motivation, listen to Julian Winters describe his path to publishing.
Don’t think of 2025 as a new year; view it as the next exciting season in your flourishing writing career. I for one can’t wait to tune in.
About the author:
Lindsey is almost always writing, whether it’s a short story, copywriting project, Writer’s Workout blog post, or carefully crafted Instagram comment. With the spare time she digs out of the couch cushions, she’s usually crocheting, adventuring with her friends, or thinking about how she should be reading more. She splits her time between Upstate New York, where she grew up, and Boston, where she'll continue to grow.