As 2018 opens its doors of opportunity for us all, it’s time to make a few writing resolutions. My own writing resolution for 2018 is to be realistic in my ambitions. This doesn’t mean I can’t try something different, or that I’m not allowed to work that little bit harder in order to achieve my own personal best. But I’ve never been a fan of setting myself (or anyone else) impossible goals. I feel doing that is also setting up myself (and them) for failure in an industry in which failing is often seen as being inevitable, at least now and again. As a regular contributor to this magazine, over the years it’s been my pleasure and privilege to talk to hundreds of published novelists about their writing lives. I’m now going to round up some of their best advice for us all to bear in mind. Tom Bale reminds us that for writers losing heart occasionally is all part of the process. So, whenever we feel as if we’re wasting our time, we need to be kind to ourselves and to remember the mood will almost certainly pass. David Nicholls is strict about keeping his home and work lives separate and sticking to a nine to five routine. So, if you’re finding it hard to juggle the writing and other aspects of your life, maybe try setting aside specific times for writing, rather than letting writing be something you do after you’ve done everything else? My own experience of life suggests there’s never a time after I’ve done everything else! Also, on some of those difficult days mentioned by Tom Bale, the prospect of mucking out the cat’s litter tray can seem much more attractive than sitting in front of a blank screen willing the words to flow. So that’s often the time to brace up and be strict with ourselves: that novel isn’t going to materialise as if by magic.
Belinda Jones writes for the love of the process but she also feels that writing fiction – which she describes as a messy business – never gets any easier. I’ve certainly found this to be the case. So perhaps nobody should ever assume it’s possible to crack this fictionwriting lark once and for all? We should all be aware there’s always something new to learn. Nicholas Sparks has written dozens of bestsellers and his novels sell in millions. But he still feels it is important to read and read and read because everything we read teaches us something. Nicholas aims to write new stories, to try out new things all the time, and – like David Nicholls – he’s consistent in his work habits and he sticks to a routine, in his case working five or six days a week and aiming for a minimum count of 2,000 words every working day.