I read this cool article last week — “30 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself” — and I thought, hey, heeeey, that’s interesting. Writers might could use their own version of that. So, I started to cobble one together. And, of course, as most of these writing-related posts become, it ended up that for the most part I’m sitting here in the blog yelling at myself first and foremost.

That is, then, how you should read this: me, yelling at me. If you take away something from it, though?

Then go forth and kick your writing year in the teeth.

The Shortlist:

1. Stop Running Away
2. Stop Stopping
3. Stop Writing In Someone Else’s Voice
4. Stop Worrying
5. Stop Hurrying
6. Stop Waiting
7. Stop Thinking It Should Be Easier
8. Stop Deprioritizing Your Wordsmithy
9. Stop Treating Your Body Like A Dumpster
10. Stop The Moping And The Whining
11. Stop Blaming Everyone Else
12. Stop The Shame
13. Stop Lamenting Your Mistakes
14. Stop Playing It Safe
15. Stop Trying To Control Shit You Can’t Control
16. Stop Doing One Thing
17. Stop Writing For “The Market”
18. Stop Chasing Trends
19. Stop Caring About What Other Writers Are Doing
20. Stop Caring So Much About The Publishing Industry
21. Stop Listening To What Won’t Sell
22. Stop Overpromising And Overshooting
23. Stop Leaving Yourself Off The Page
24. Stop Dreaming
25. Stop Being Afraid

Click the link to read the whole article!