2025 Writer’s Resolutions Retreat

Link to 2025 Writer’s Resolutions Session Leader Bios

SESSION 1:  Write Every Day

Begin the day with unbridled writing! We’ll review some of the best research on writing practice and do some writing together. Then we’ll apply some techniques to uncover what’s really happening on the page. Leader: C. Morgan Babst.

NOTES

• Adopt the idea of “Worship at the Church of the Shitty First Draft.” Never gets writer’s block anymore due to no fear of the first draft being bad
• Many of us are “Pantsers” – flying (writing) by the seat of our pants rather than planning and/or outlining before drafting.
• Writing should be generative and an act of discovery. It makes writing deeper and more interesting. Leave room for kismet to arrive inside of your work.
• First draft is building a mountain where you’ll cut a block of marble from which you’ll carve out a novel or short story or poem.
• Unless something prevents you from writing by hand, step away from the computer when writing. Writing by hand engages  different parts of the brain, including our physical body, physical memories, cognitive memories, etc.
• Exercise part one: Freewrite at least 20 minutes to go past the  pain and resistance and into noncritical flow.
• Exercise part two: Find all the things your brain is trying to tell you that are hidden within what you wrote. Take 5 minutes and underline or circle latent content. Repetition, metaphors that surprised you, places you went you didn’t intend to, changes in tense.
• Freud’s theory that dreams are where our brains reveal things to us, and our freewriting can do that too. He thought that all dreams were wish fulfillment.  Your draft has manifest content and latent content. We interpret them by masking them and censoring them, 
• Transferring your handwriting to the computer from the page helps metaphors flower and connections to be made as different parts of the brain talk to each other. Typing them into a document is “draft work.” 
• It’s useful to remember that every word is a choice and could possibly tell you something.
• Ask yourself questions: Is everything going to easily for your characters? Don’t forget to add in the painful things. Break out of the character’s head and go to another POV, like a passerby. Are you censoring yourself? Being too polite? Never be polite when you should be raw and real. 
• Are you speaking your own language in a natural way or some other voice that doesn’t ring true?
• We don’t need conventions. Don’t try to follow some preconceived formula that you’ve been told is “the way.” Your body needs to come to the page and forget about likeability.

LINKS

Session handout

NPR Piece on Handwriting vs Computer

Louise Gluck Article in the New Yorker, “Writing as Transformation.”

SESSION 2:  Live the Writer Life

Peek into the workspaces of successful writers and hear about the strategies, habits, and organizational methods that help them structure their writing and their days. Leaders: Beth Ann Fennelly and Victor LaValle. Moderators: C. Morgan Babst and Adrian Van Young.

Session Notes

Victor LaValle has his desk in a corner and surrounded by books and artifacts from his teaching/writing. Open to family to enter and likes that his kids feel free to enter his writing space. His wife (Emily Raboteau) is also a writer and mostly writes at the kitchen table (but does get interrupted more often). He mentions how Stephen King had a large private writing space that no one entered when he was working, but he was also abusing alcohol/drugs. When he became sober, he moved his writing space so it was open to the family. See King’s book, beloved by many writers: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Beth Ann Fennelly’s bookshelf literally collapsed, so she added California Closets’ counters, shelves, and storage for a more contained workspace. Believes it is important to have a door that closes. Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

Morgan Babst had an ever-growing collection of cork boards until moving to a new house and now has a whole room with cork walls. Doesn’t allow her child in her writing space. Needs a private space with the door closed. Morgan drops her child at school then does a 4-mile walk, bird watches, goes home and writes.

Adrian Van Young is a nomadic writer and writes all over the house and in other spaces.

Victor:  Before kids, he had hopes of an 8-hour day or late night of writing, but that never happened because he kept interrupting his own process.  He was sitting in the space for long stretches, but not actually writing the whole time. After children were born, he made an agreement with his wife to give each other 2 hours out of the house per day during summer break. At first it was hard to get out of the 8-hour brain mode until learning to make better use of the 2 hours. Did most of his writing at Dunkin Donuts and discovered that at about the 2 hour mark the quality of the work waned – cliches appeared, created bad plot points, etc. and learned that 2 hours is the sweet spot.

Beth Ann: Juggling all the responsibilities is difficult, also married to a writer (have even collaborated), but believes in fidelity to the desk. Ideally coming to the desk right after dream time upon waking, but that’s not always practical, so her rules include trying not to disturb writer mode: no social media, no bills, maybe a few emails but not many. Also likes to run and it’s part of the writing process for her. While at a residency for a month, she wrote in the morning, went for run, had a big lunch, did a short writing session, then finished the day with some reading and some other “writing work” like blurbing. 

On Living with a Writer:

Beth Ann: We read each other’s work, travel together, even wrote a book together. Understand what the low parts of writing are and can help each other. Don’t let your world get too small where it’s nothing but writing, writers, teaching writing. She plays pickleball with locals (non-writers). Keeps your brain nimble and gives you new experiences.

Victor: It helps that we don’t write the same thing. She writes nonfiction. It’s really important to forge new experiences and friendships outside of writing. 

On not having a specific space (small space/shared space, no room of one’s own)

Victor: See Grace Paley (author of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, among others). Living in the Village in the 1950s, raising children, trying to write. Kept a small notebook in her apron pocket all the time and every time life would give her a moment to write down a sentence, she’d write it, and then look at it later for what was growing there. Eventually, a story would emerge. 

Beth Ann: The room is a luxury; it’s not the necessity. The necessity is time. Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known.” Also this quote by Gustave Flaubert: “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” She also said to remember to say no to other people, and say yes to yourself.

Discussion about writing outside the home, on the road, etc. 

Beth Ann:  Discovered she is an ambivert (introvert and extrovert). Needs alone time for writing but also wants to be around people later. Accepts that there are fallow periods. There is time in a writer’s life to not be writing. Does meditate and do a bit of yoga as a morning habit, which puts her brain in the writing space.

Adrian: Finds household chores conducive to getting into writer mind, and also likes to run.

Writers all agreed that walking, jogging, movement are all conducive to writing.

Links

Slim Notebooks recommended by Morgan:  Highly recommend these tiny notebooks—they come in packs of two colors and have excellent labels to keep yourself organized. I like to use one color for novel, one for CNF, one for short fiction and I write the contents on the front. They’re slim enough to go in any bag and weigh next to nothing—your whole writing practice can follow you wherever you go.

Moleskine Notebooks:  – lots of sizes to fit your needs.

California Closets: organizational components to fit your space.

Levenger: cool tools for writers

Not mentioned but some writers use a writing platform called Scrivener instead of Docs or Google Docs: https://scrivener.app/. People seem to either love it or hate it, and the learning curve can be daunting, but there are tutorials and how-to videos.

 

SESSION 3:  Get Published

Learn what the editors of literary journals wish writers knew before submitting their work. Plus, get a front row seat to the editorial process, as editors critique the openings of participants’ short stories, creative nonfiction, and poems live. Participants’ work will remain anonymous. Leaders: Josh-Wade Ferguson – 64 Parishes; Anna Lena Phillips Bell – Ecotone; Rav Grewal-Kök – Fence; Lynne Nugent – The Iowa Review. Moderator: Nikki Ummel, Bear Review

We asked our editors to give us their Top 5 Things they wished writers knew (or did) before submitting their work for publication:

Josh-Wade’s Top 5:

1. Each publication has its own imagined audience. 
2. A decline on your pitch isn’t personal. 
3. Be excited about your pitch. 
4. The writing in the pitch matters. 
5. Submission guidelines are there to help you. 

Anna Lena’s Top 5:

1. Following submission guidelines is not a meaningless task!
2. If a magazine says they want a cover letter, write an actual (brief) letter.
3. Showing in your letter that you’ve spent some time with the magazine you’re sending work to—even if you’re not a subscriber—is a smart thing to do.
4. At Ecotone we read all work received with all of our upcoming issues in mind, both themed and unthemed, so we may accept work from you for a different or later issue than you had in mind when sending.
5. Among the many quirks of the online submissions platform that currently operates with a near monopoly (alas!): If you add a Note to your submission there, no one will see it but you. If you want to let a magazine know that a poem has been accepted from your submission, use the Messages feature.

Rav’s Top 5:

1. Your reader should sense the urgency in the writing: that this story isn’t just well crafted, but needs to be told. Something has to be at stake. Otherwise, the story is just a series of scenes.
2. Short and simple sentences are more likely to convey narrative urgency than ornate language.
3. It’s difficult (though not impossible) to begin a story in dialogue and still seize the reader’s attention.
4. Editors dream of discovering writers. If you’re unpublished, or have published little, don’t feel that you need a patron. Submit widely. Your writing can justify itself.
5. But read the magazines you’re submitting to. Fence isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like the writing that appears there, don’t waste your efforts. Send your stories to magazines that publish work you admire.

Lynne’s Top 5:

1. Do read your target journal(s) before submitting.
2. Don’t worry too much about your cover letter.
3. Don’t worry if you discover a few typos after submitting.
4. Do work a lot on beginnings and endings. 
5. Don’t be discouraged!

Other Notes

• 64 Parishes is all about Louisiana (we have parishes instead of counties).
• Anna Lena – Ecotone reads for all upcoming issues, not just the themed issue coming up. Comes from non-literary publishing as well as literary world. Provides real editorial support, including fact-checking.
• Rav – Fence looking for something fresh. Doesn’t really read the cover letters. Just interested in the work.
• Lynne – literary journals have their own personality that you may or may not vibe with. Really need to figure out if it’s a good fit for your work.
• On rejections and on waiting:  it’s never personal. Might be due to factors you may not know, like 64 Parishes is now only 20% Orleans Parish and the rest is statewide content. Anna Lena trains editors on how to reject properly. “Catch and release” mentality – we’re passing on this piece and releasing it to be picked up by someone else. Lynne – Iowa Review has 5,000 pending submissions, so it’s taking a while to get through them all.
• Pet peeves – don’t email us just because you found a typo in your draft. Cover letters aren’t that important, will read IF the story interests me. Submittable lets you read submissions without looking at the cover letter. Have to click on a separate tab.
• 64 Parish takes pitches, not submissions. Intro yourself, say why this piece is exciting and important, and remember that it’s the beginning of a professional relationship.
• If it asks for a cover letter DO ONE. Don’t just send a bio. Every time you submit you’re connecting to the editors. It’s ok to say why you think it’s a good fit and that you did your research. Not required but it’s nice.
• If you’re using Submittable, know how to use it, use the notes feature etc. Be sure to tell immediately if you need to withdraw a piece because it’s being published.
• These are professional communications and you could get on the bad list if you plagiarize or respond rudely.
• Online presence doesn’t matter, exciting to find someone that’s new. If you’re trying to escape social media, good for you. But it’s a good idea to at least have a simple website, if you’re ready for that step.
• Remember that most editors are also writers, so they are on your side and love discovering new talent.

LINKS

See our session leaders’ journals above.

Poets & Writers – Founded in 1970, Poets & Writers is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers. The bimonthly magazine publishes essays on the literary life, profiles of contemporary authors, and the most comprehensive listing of literary grants and awards, deadlines, and prize winners available in print. Their website includes the Directory of Poets & Writers with contact information, publication credits, and biographical information for more than 9,300 authors; databases of literary magazines and journals, small and independent presses, literary agents, MFA programs, writing contests, and literary places; a national literary events calendar; and select content from Poets & Writers Magazine. https://www.pw.org/

Journal of the Month – Get a new print literary magazine in your mailbox on a regular basis. Which one? What you receive changes month-to-month, but every participating magazine is a highly-regarded actor in the contemporary literary scene that publishes exciting fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry from new and established voices. Not only will you get to read the best writing being published today, but over time, you’ll get a terrific overview of the vibrant “little magazine” scene. https://www.journalofthemonth.com/

Submittable – a software used by thousands of organizations to build customized online submission and application forms, as well as to review submissions and communicate with submitters. It is also a submission management system used by writers to find places to submit and to keep track of their submissions. https://discover.submittable.com/

Duotrope – an online resource that can help you save time finding publishers or literary agents. Updated publication and agent listings, submission trackers, custom searches, deadline calendars, statistical reports, and interviews.  https://duotrope.com/

Clifford Garstang is an author who has spent quite a bit of time studying which literary magazines garner the most award-winning stories, essays, and poems. His rankings  are based on the number of Pushcart Prizes and Pushcart Special Mentions the magazines have received over the past ten-year period. They are intended as a guide for determining where writers might submit their work for publication. https://cliffordgarstang.com/2025-literary-magazine-rankings-overview/

Brech De Poortere also has a set of rankings that he has published as a Google spreadsheet: https://www.brechtdepoortere.com/

SESSION 4:  Find an Agent

Prepare to be represented! Find out what you need to know—and do—before sending out agent queries and have your questions answered by a panel of literary agents. Includes successful sample query letters. Leaders: Jane Hamilton, Hannah Strouth, Vicky Weber. Moderator: Skye Jackson.

Skye’s forthcoming book (February 2025) – Libre

We asked our agents to give us their Top 5 Things they wished writers knew (or did) before querying:

Jane’s Top 5:

1. Read the Agent’s website to see what they read and what their background is in.
2. Understand their turn-around time or how they notify you if they want to represent you.  On my website it says if I’m interested, I will contact you.
3. Give a detailed bio or backstory of how you know your genre and craft.
4. Don’t be afraid to be a little funny or reveal a fun fact about you that will interest the agent. Reveal your personality. We receive many submissions and this will make you stand out. 
5. It’s a numbers game and  you never know why your story resonates with a particular agent. Be prepared for rejections, but they may not be entirely for the quality of your writing or the storyline. 

Hannah’s Top 5:

1. An agent should not be the very first person to ever read your manuscript. Having beta readers/critique partners is so important when determining if your book is ready for querying.
2. Don’t reinvent the wheel with your query letter. Diverging from the typical format will not make your query stand out. 
3. Know your audience. I can tell if a writer knows who their readers are going to be by the comp titles they use, which is why comp titles are SO important. The best way to do this is to be a good reader. You should be a prolific reader in the genre you’re writing in, because the best writers know who their peers are.
4. Publishing is subjective. I repeat, publishing is subjective. This applies to so many different things–an agent’s opinion on the marketplace, individual taste, an agent’s feedback on your project. 
5. A personalized query letter can go a long way in getting noticed. 

Vicky’s Top 5:

1. Timing is important. If an agent rejects your manuscript because they’re saturated with similar projects, it doesn’t mean they’ll never want that genre again. Your manuscript might be exactly what they’re looking for six months—or even two years—from now.
2. Never send a first draft. This is something I see constantly in my inbox and I can always tell which authors have beta readers, critique partners, etc and which have sent an early draft. While I am an editorial agent, my main job is to sell, so I need to trust that the author has the writing and revision process well in-hand.
3. Your behavior matters. If you’re rude or monopolize an agent’s time, they’re going to wonder… If this is how they act NOW, what will it be like LATER? But it goes the other way too—your hard work, dedication, and professionalism could be a green flag for an agent!
4. High stakes only feel that way if the reader cares about the characters.  A character fighting to save their family, win back their lost love, or even overcome their own self-doubt can be just as gripping as stopping an apocalypse—sometimes more so. What matters is that the stakes feel urgent and meaningful to the characters and, by extension, the reader. If your protagonist doesn’t seem to care deeply about what’s at risk, neither will anyone else.
5. Write more than one book. I know from experience that writing your second book is often easier than re-writing your first book for the hundredth time, trying to force the puzzle pieces into place. The more you write, the more querying opportunities you’ll have and the better your chances are of being successful in publishing.

Other Notes

• Be sure to include info about yourself, your background, why you love your genre, something that makes you stand out as a person.
• Realize it’s a numbers game: pitch a lot of people.
• Write more than one book! Don’t just re-write the book of your heart a hundred times.
• Professional behavior is very important. Don’t send a rude follow-up if you get turned down. Don’t be unprofessional with others in the process, editors, etc.
• Agents need to be able to tell editors or publishers that you are lovely to work with, not a nightmare to deal with.
• Have a strong vision of what you want your book to be but also be open to the possibilities that may be brought up in the editing process.
• Understand that it is a process. Respect the process.
• Follow the agency website guidelines, including how long it might be before you get a response.
• Think of it as a job application. Tone can be friendly, serious, academic. Include your background, something interesting about yourself.
• Go on agents’ websites and/or LinkedIn and make sure it’s a good match. 
• Comps – comparable titles that are similar to your book or at least “in conversation” with your book in some way, such as similar themes, similar characters, or something else in common that connects your book to other books. Comps should be recent. A comp that’s old says that you’re not engaged enough with the current literary conversation. Think in these terms: “Where would you put your book on a bookshelf?”
• Use book descriptions you see online as a model for your description: no spoilers, not too many characters mentioned, not too much world-building. Introduce your main character and what’s at stake for them, then provide just enough other details to make them want to keep reading.
• Scouts are different from agents. Scouts are looking for books for specific purposes, like Reese Witherspoon’s book club, etc.
• Veteran agents will have an extensive network/rolodex. But may be more strapped for time. With a younger agent you both can grow together, may be hungrier, could walk you through the stuff if they have the extra bandwidth. Try to include a mix.
• Don’t query until your book is completely finished and has been through multiple readers and revisions. This doesn’t apply to nonfiction, which is more like a proposal than an already completed manuscript.
• Put yourself out there and never be afraid to identify yourself as a writer (Skye met Jane at a party!)
• Most agents find their clients through cold calls (query letters).
• You can find some agents on LinkedIn. Feel free to query them there.
• Writers do not need a big platform to get an agent’s attention fiction or poetry, but for nonfiction it can make a difference.
• If you query a small press directly rather than querying agents, just be very careful about reading contracts. That’s one of the things agents do for you: make sure your contracts don’t have any undesirable clauses.

Links

Jane’s guidelines for writing a query letter: https://janefriedman.com/query-letters/

More query letter advice with samples: https://nybookeditors.com/2015/12/how-to-write-a-darn-good-query-letter/

Find agents online, in places like Poets & Writers (see above), and in the acknowledgements of your favorite authors’ books. Also check out this site where agents and editors can login and update their own wishes. Includes tips for writers, searchable database, etc. https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/

Writers Guild of America – for help with the business of writing, publishing, agents, contracts, etc. https://www.wga.org/

 

SESSION 5:  Reach Your Resolutions

End your day at a virtual happy hour with some of our favorite New Orleans cocktail recipes and set your resolution goals for the year. Leaders: C. Morgan Babst and Tracy Cunningham.

First, the cocktail books:

French Quarter Drinking Companion: A Guide to Bars in America’s most eclectic neighborhood by Allison Alsup, Elizabeth Pearce, and Richard Read

In The Land of Cocktails: Recipes and Adventures from the Cocktail Chicks by Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan, proprietors of Commander’s Palace

CURE: New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix Em by Neal Bodenheimer

Some popular New Orleans cocktails:

French 75 (what Tracy was drinking)

• 1 1⁄4 oz. cognac (In the summer, we like it with gin!)
• 1⁄4 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄4 oz. simple syrup
• Champagne, chilled
• Lemon peel for garnish

Combine cognac, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and pour into a champagne flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a small piece of lemon peel.

Brandy Milk Punch

• 4 oz. half & half
• 2 oz. brandy
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• 1½ tsp. vanilla extract
• Freshly grated nutmeg

In a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice, vigorously shake the half & half, brandy, simple syrup, and vanilla until chilled. Pour into an ice-filled old fashioned glass and garnish with nutmeg.

Vieux Carre Cocktail

• ¼ oz. Benedictine
• ¼ oz. Cognac
• ½ oz. Sazerac Rye
• ¼ oz. Sweet Vermouth
• 3 drops Angostura Bitters
• 3 drops Peychaud Bitters

Place ingredients over ice and garnish with a twist of lemon.

Sazerac

• 1.5 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey
• 1 sugar cube
• 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• 1/4 oz Herbsaint
• Lemon twist

Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice. In a second Old-Fashioned glass, place a sugar cube and add three dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters. Crush the sugar cube. Add 1.5 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey to the glass with the Bitters and sugar. Add ice and stir. Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the glass with 1/4 oz Herbsaint. Discard the remaining Herbsaint. Strain the whiskey / bitters / sugar mixture from the glass into the Herbsaint-coated glass and garnish with a lemon peel.

Ramos Gin Fizz

• 3 dashes lemon juice
• 2 dashes lime juice
• 3 dashes orange flower water
• 1 1/4 oz. dry gin
• 1/4 of the white of one egg
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 3 oz. milk

Add the contents to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake very well until good and frothy, strain into a cocktail tumbler. Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice. (One of Tennessee Williams’ favorites!)

Resolutions for 2025

Here are some ideas for resolutions you can set for the year. Trying to do all of them may be daunting, so pick and choose what works for you. You could also try “habit stacking” by starting with one habit and then adding another every month or every quarter.

• Make writing your first priority of the day, even if it means just maintaining the writerly mindset by not going straight to social media or other distractions first thing in the morning.
• Freewrite daily, or as often as your schedule allows.
• Go back through your freewrites to uncover the hidden meanings, patterns, unknown threads.
• Type your handwritten drafts as the next step in your drafting process.
• Find a dictation app to dictate your handwritten draft into a word processing program to save time and painful wrists.
• Set up a system (or use a platform like Submittable or Duotrope) to send out your work and keep track of your submissions.
• Create rituals that help you write, like invoking the muse, meditation, certain clothing or objects that remind you of something specific while writing.
• Set minute or hour goals (2 hours per day, 4 days per week) or page goals or words per day goals. Be sure to set up a tracking system (keep it simple) so you can see your progress.
• Set goals for how many times you’re going to submit your work: how many times per month or per quarter? How many pieces? Do you want to track rejections and try to hit 100?
• If you’re ready, write a good query letter and start querying agents: how many agents can you query each month? Each quarter?
• Do you need a writing group or maybe a small group of beta readers? Set a deadline for finding (or creating) this for your writing life.
• Be sure to make your resolutions attainable and trackable. It helps to make them public by telling writing friends your intentions or forming an accountability agreement with a writing friend.

Links

Robert Olen Butler‘s book on writing, From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction. Butler’s website also has lots of help for writers, including his “Inside Creative Writing” series.

TWFest’s YouTube channel has author interviews, panel discussions, and master classes free online

Morning Pages habit – from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way:  Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/

Natalie Goldberg‘s freewriting: check out her books Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life, among others.

New Orleans Writing Marathon:  https://www.writingmarathon.com/

 

Thanks to all of our session leaders, moderators, and attendees for making our retreat so fun and informative! Happy writing, everyone!

 

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