WWN36 : The Write Resolution for 2025

There I was sitting in the bath last night, drinking a virgin G&T.

…Yes, a virgin G&T.

…Yes, that’s just a can of tonic.

…Yes, I do drink that.

No, I don’t feel like explaining…

…okay it’s because it settled my stomach, there’s been a bit of a bug going round.

But there I was sitting and sipping a virgin G&T.

And my thoughts turned to you, dear reader, and what to say on this first Write Way of a brand new year.

Pretty much my entire inbox right now is full of thoughts about resolutions and whether they work or not, plans for the future and listicles about the “25 best things vaguely related to my niche in 2025”.

As if the “24 things I learned in 2024” weren’t bad enough.

So I decided I was not going to do anything like that.

(Besides, I already wrote about the most important part of my future plans yesterday.)

But I do want to convince you to make a two-fold resolution this year.

One that will change your life if you actually follow through, without any of the guru bullshido that makes it so specific it only works for one specific person etc.

That resolution is this:

To read more and write more.

That may sound simple.

Perhaps even simplistic.

Perhaps even now you’re raging at the computer that I sent such an obvious email.

But it’s the most important one-two punch you can make to boost your writing to the next level in 2025.

And it goes deeper than you’d think.

Because if you take it seriously, and don’t just dismiss it, and actually formulate a plan to achieve it, it will impact every area of life. You’ll develop discipline. You’ll change your other habits. You’ll drop some time-consuming bad habits and pick up some energy-inducing good ones.

It will quite simply…

…change your life!

In 2023 I committed to reading 150 books. And I did it. It was tough, working a full-time job, a side-hustle, and still taking the time to read a couple hours every day.

But that experience unlocked a lot for me as a writer. I got a far better understanding of what really works in a novel and what is just window dressing. And I got a stronger sense of style that plays into my upcoming Voice Box course.

More importantly, I learned to make time. I cut my screentime massively. I went from watching TV every day to watching it every month. From aimlessly scrolling my phone, to picking up a book. From flicking through twitter in the evening to flicking through pages.

Some of those bad habits have crept back, but never to the levels they were before.

In 2024 I aimed to write a million words. I failed it miserably, because I was naive in estimating how much time I’d get to write and how much support I’d have with all my other responsibilities.

But aiming for that lofty goal was profoundly helpful, and I wrote a ton more than I would have done.

I also cut back my screen time even more to make it work. I watched even less TV. I got up earlier, stayed up later, I got more disciplined. I learned to write even faster. I systemised my content production so I wasted less time on tweets and could spend more time writing real stuff. I took up daily emails which increased my product revenue by 177% on the previous year.

All because I committed to writing more.

Now, this year I’m not setting output goals. At least not yet, I think those will be more useful in Q4 when the end is “in sight” and the goal feels meaningful.

But I’m already sitting down and planning how to carve out more time for focused writing and reading. This year I did a lot of it “in the cracks” of a busy life and I want to set aside more time to really dig deep and put out some longer works.

So what am I gonna do?

More importantly, what are YOU gonna do?

Because that’s what all this is really about, helping you make a concrete plan to read more and write more.

So sit down this weekend and do some serious thinking about an achievable but stretching goal for both. My 150 books was a good one because it ticked both boxes. My million words was not.

(But then I didn’t know life was gonna pan out like it did so perhaps I can be forgiven. Under better circumstances it definitely is.)

Write it down, ideally where you can see it.

And then make it as easy as you can to achieve it.

That means reducing friction by keeping books everywhere, writing tools everywhere, making dedicated spaces for focused work and so on.

But it also means taking a long hard look at your routines. I need to get back to my early morning starts, because I was far more productive then. But I’m going to use them differently, focusing on long sessions of deep writing. I also plan to have some days that are focused writing days, others that are more family focused.

You also need to take a long hard look at your screen time… I know I fall into that trap a lot. I’ve deleted every app that starts distracting me, all the social media etc.

You can also learn to write faster, and boy do I have the course for that, with every tip, trick and tactic I know to increase writing speed. I'm going to be applying it like crazy for myself, and probably updating it too as I add more tactics.

And you need to make a plan so each day you’re not deciding all over again what to work on.

Plus, of course, watch your diet, sort your sleep, move your body and so on. All that will provide the energy you need to get going. Personally I’m hitting the assault bike every morning and hoping to add more walks back into my routine now that my wife will be off for a while.

There’s a lot packed into those last few paragraphs.

Might want to read them a few times over and do some thinking.

But until next week, may you pipe wreathe a brand new year in a pleasant aroma, and your prose flow unhindered all year long.

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin