It happens every year.

The holiday season charges in and disrupts all your writing routines and goals. Hopefully you also find ways to enjoy some special occasions, whether by diving headfirst into gifts and parties or taking time for yourself and your own end-of-year traditions.

No matter what you do or do not celebrate during the months of November and December, the New Year rolls around for everyone. And that means a litany of discourse around New Year’s resolutions. On the one hand there are gym membership discounts and diet plans everywhere, and on the other there are plenty of snarky comments about the pointlessness of making resolutions at all, even benign ones.

However, there’s an argument to be made that January is the perfect time to make changes. Regardless of whether you recognize or celebrate holidays like Christmas, the New Year is something that everyone marks. It’s a natural, built-in restart that comes off a period where you likely have a moment to reflect on how things have been going and what you’re looking forward to—or dreading getting back to.

And especially for writers, whether you have a lengthy backlist of published titles or are still trying to finish that first draft, comments about work habits can hit close to home. Writing is often a very solitary practice, even if you work on staff for a magazine or newspaper, or if you have a lively writing group. Writing and other creative endeavors are personal, so discourse around your writing routine can feel like a personal attack. Even if you are looking to make some changes, it can be hard to draw a line between wanting to improve things for yourself and being a “bad writer.”

So take a step back from all the discourse, the expensive 2023 planners, and the hot takes. Don’t let anyone tell you what you need to do. Instead, consider the following questions before you decide to adopt or reject common New Year’s resolutions.

Does this align with my goals?

Everyone’s heard the cliché about writing every day, every single day, no matter what. And if you’re coming off the tails of NaNoWriMo, this might be the only resolution you’re considering forcing on yourself. After all, if you’re a writer, writing more is surely the best thing to do. Right?

Maybe not.

Maybe you’re more in the brainstorming stage, and you’d be best served by moving note cards with plot ideas around on a bulletin board. If you’re considering diving into a new genre, what you should really be doing is reading as many books in that genre as you can. And if you did manage a full NaNoWriMo, it might be best to take your time rereading that draft and making some brief notes about what’s working and what you want to consider revising.

Writing is not, in fact, all there is to writing. Don’t let the idea of a daily word count get in the way of making a more helpful goal, like learning how to structure a mystery plot, or finalizing a timeline for a second draft.

Will this actually solve my problem?

Perhaps the most universal issue among writers is how to find more time to write. There are always more emails to answer, more meals to cook, more school pickups, more of everything that stops you from writing.

And with that universal problem comes a one-size-fits-some answer: get up earlier! Write before your kids wake up, before you have to go to the office, before those emails hit your inbox.

It’s definitely a reasonable idea, especially since writing early might be the only time you can be sure you won’t be interrupted. But it also doesn’t work for everyone. Some people work day jobs that demand early hours, from nurses and doctors to baristas and childcare workers. Others need time for their creative juices to warm up and have a better result if they spend those sleepy waking hours doing little tasks like meal planning or tidying up so they have more time later on in the day.

Before adopting a new routine, be honest with what you need from your schedule. Just because rising early is a game changer for some people, don’t force anything that isn’t a good fit for you.

Do I actually need to change anything?

It’s the rare writer who is perfectly happy with everything in their routine. But maybe it’s good enough, or the best you can reasonably make it. Hopefully you like what you’re writing and can find ideas you’re excited about bringing to life on the page. And ideally, you like being a writer at all, otherwise why bother with all the hard work?

Sometimes the things you wish you could change are not the things that are in your control. If your agent is having a hard time placing your manuscript with a publisher, that’s not something you can change. If you’re struggling to make it out of an agent’s slush pile, let alone signing with an agent, there’s only so much you can do to push through. And if you don’t have the financial resources to quit your job and write all day, that’s certainly not something you can wake up on January 1 and decide to change.

It’s good to be clear on what is in your power to accomplish and to take concrete steps toward your writing and publishing goals. But anything beyond writing for your own enjoyment (and that’s a wonderful thing to do!) involves other people, and companies, and readers, and so much more that you don’t control.

So before you make any big changes or pronouncements about how 2023 is going to be different, remember that you aren’t responsible for anything that’s outside your control. And more importantly, you know yourself better than any New Year’s hashtags, trends, or gimmicks. Be true to you!