Have you made any writing resolutions for 2023? Complete today’s writing prompt for further inspiration. And keep reading today’s post to see my completed version of today’s writing prompt.
Today’s Writing Prompt: Writing Resolutions
Write about a writer who is making their 2023 writing resolutions. Write from the third-person omniscient point of view.
Completed Version of Today’s Writing Prompt
Writing Resolutions, by K.E. Creighton
Fiona had no idea what to type or what she wanted to see on her screen. The cursor kept waiting, mocking, blinking.
What did she know about? Care about? Enough to write about? A little bit of everything and a little bit of nothing. Something in between the lines to contribute.
Her peers— who were they? Her readers— where were they? Her authority and experts— how did they come to be? And would she find them? Or would they find her?
Would she put what she wrote in a binding? No, that probably wouldn’t be necessary. It would have to be out there loosely.
Would whatever she ended up writing make her feel like she was screaming into a crowded void— a digital void, where there are a lot of bodies and no bodies, but no one who cares to stop and listen? Unless … What?
Those who do see and hear can’t be reached in the midst of spectators, cynics, and critics babbling, clogging up premium space and time. Can they? Should they?
She could write about her life. Or others’ lives. The real, the fabricated, and the liminal. Or practice her voice, her form, and her style. And win contests of and by the few who don’t see her as she is now. Who would they be? What would be enough for them? Did she care enough to work toward their ideals and morals, and fashion, whatever those were at this moment in time? Would they align with hers?
No.
This wasn’t complicated. The only resolution Fiona had was simple: Write.
[All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton and Creighton’s Compositions LLC. The above work is a piece of fiction. All names and locations referred to are the product of the author’s imagination and are used entirely for fictional purposes. Any similarities to real-life persons or places are purely coincidental.]
Notes on Completing this Writing Prompt
I’ll be honest. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about writing resolutions and whether I believe they’re helpful or not. I think it all boils down to a writer’s personality and goals. But I do know that nothing major will ever happen as a writer if you don’t write every single day. Especially on the days when you don’t want to write, you should write. That’s why I started this blog. And all I want to do in the new year. I just want to keep writing every day, no matter what.
I looked forward to getting up in the morning and writing, even if it was just for friends and family. In fact, that was some of my best writing! I was seldom a victim of writer’s block, but today was one of those days. Even though the ideas were coming hard and fast, completing an outline was just beyond me. I couldn’t bring myself to get the big picture.
Life was still going on around me. My wife was coming home from work and making dinner for us, I would call my Mother at least one a day, and my brother and his family were putting together plans for her birthday in 6 weeks. My son was struggling with his career, my uncle had just visited, and my in-laws were returning from her grandmother’s funeral.
The past came back to me in a very jarring way. I watched Monday Night Football, and for the first time I’d ever seen, a player was taken off the field in an ambulance. The game was suspended and postponed while the entire Buffalo Bills team knelt in prayer at midfield.
The memory of being at school and watching Joe Theismann taken off the field with a career-ending injury in 1985 flooded back to me. The fragility of life was one again made shockingly clear, and I realized that my life has been pretty good. No, I will probably never be rich, but my friends and family are my treasure!