Ending the Year as You Wish to Start the Next
Hello, friends. Remember me?
It’s been a very long and crazy year (plus a few months), and quite honestly, I expect things to continue to be crazy. The trouble with juggling more responsibilities than a single person can reasonably handle is, wherever you turn your attention, something else is busy falling apart behind you. But one of my goals for 2025 is to resurrect this newsletter, and so what better time to start than the last month of 2024, with the kickoff of my December Writing Challenge.
Every year, I host a writing challenge to help writers keep their momentum despite the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Typically I kick things off on my website, but that, too, is undergoing changes at the moment, so this felt like a better place to start.
Why a challenge in December? Well, December is, arguably, the busiest month of the year. Whatever you celebrate, the month overflows with holidays, plus their associated shopping, cooking, and parties, travel and house guests. Many businesses ramp up in December, expecting extra hours of their employees. Children get time off from school, families plan various activities and outings, and everyone is trying to sneak in one last thing before the end of the year. A writer, particularly one without a looming deadline to “justify” their work, might find it difficult to make time for their writing.
But December sits squarely between two very ambitious writing months: National Novel Writing Month (or this year, any one of the alternative writing challenges) and the Month of New Year’s Resolutions. For writers who spent November working hard to hit daily wordcounts, it seems a crime to get distracted by December’s chaos and lose that fabulous writing momentum. And for writers with grand plans for the new year, it will be harder to gear up in January if you haven’t been writing much the previous month. And so, the annual December Writing Challenge was born.
The December Writing Challenge might well be the most laid back, low key writing challenge around. Still a challenge—don’t get me wrong—but one focused on keeping your hand in the game rather than hitting lofty word goals or completing something in a specific time frame. Aim to write a little bit each day, to keep your writing muscles limber and remind your brain that this is what you do—who you are. You are a writer, and writers write.
The Rules:
Write something every day, for at least 15 minutes, 30 if you can manage it. What you work on doesn’t matter: novel in progress, a short story, a writing prompt or exercise, a poem, essay, quick jottings for a shiny new idea. Just flex those writing muscles.
You get two FREE days to use as you please over the course of the month. Don’t want to write on Christmas? Have an insanely packed travel day? Give yourself a day off. But try to plan these purposefully rather than just defaulting into not writing because it’s 10 p.m. and you forgot to write.
That’s it. Those are the only real rules, such as they are. And obviously life happens—I have noted how busy December can be—but if you aim to write a little each day, you will be amazed at how much you get done. And however much you do write, it will be more than if you did not prioritize your writing.
Tips for Success:
Look at your calendar and schedule time to write, like you would a doctor’s appointment or a meeting. Book out the time and set a calendar reminder.
Turn off notifications on all your devices while you’re writing, and put your phone on vibrate. Most things can wait for half an hour.
Schedule some writing dates with a writer friend. Meet for coffee and do writing sprints or prompts together.
Tell your family that you are making writing a priority through the holiday season and you would like their help. Get yourself a writing hat or crown or sweater that signals you’re in writing mode, and ask them not to disturb you when you’re wearing the writing apparel.
Carry a pen and notebook with you and use time in waiting rooms or the carpool pickup line to do a little writing. Or use the notes app in your phone.
Yes, editing counts. If you’ve finished something and are in the rewrite/revision/clean up stage, working on it is still writing.
Let yourself play. Not everything you write needs to be a major project or something you’d like to publish. Flex your creativity and see what you come up with. Dip into a new genre or try a different format. Experiment.
Don’t set any expectations for yourself. If you start a story one day, don’t force yourself to finish it before moving on to something else. Allow inspiration and curiosity to guide you.
Whatever stage you are at with your writing, if it’s important to you, you should prioritize it over the next month. It’s not selfish to want to spend a few minutes each day working on your craft.
I hope you find the challenge compelling and join in for the fun. I will use social media to cheerlead and to check in on everyone’s writing successes all month long. You can find me on Instagram, BlueSky, Twitter/X, and occasionally on Threads.
There are also more newsletter posts on the horizon. Updates and such coming soon. Meanwhile, wishing you a wonderful holiday season, filled with great writing and whatever brings you joy.
So excited! Thank you for hosting and initiating this :)