Happy New Year!!!

We all know that if, at this time of year, you make a to-do list but call it “RESOLUTIONS,” then by the end of 2026 you will be even more perfect.

Whether niggling concerns (“I will get a word-of-the-day calendar and start using more obscure words in everyday correspondence to convince people I am smarter than I actually am”) or more significant if less achievable goals (“I will get healthier by losing three-quarters of my bodyweight, mostly fat but also probably some muscle because spot reduction is not a thing”), it’s a time to take stock, and make soup (chicken, for the soul) (haha remember Chicken Soup For The Soul lol).

Because this is partially a “writing” newsletter, I’m gonna give you my writing resolutions (lucky you, to know this much about me), and then I’d like to know yours. And maybe we can hold each other accountable (not sure how you feel, but I find it difficult to be accountable to myself- maybe I should be stricter with myself? “If you don’t work on this particular project for at least 2 hours today, you will go to supper without any sense of accomplishment or purpose. Then to bed, same. By the way, we’re having pancakes. For supper, yes. I know. I just like them, what?”).

Busy last week. Happy Holidays!

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to “writing resolutions.”

The big ones: I’m gonna sell a script, a show, a pitch. I’m gonna get a manager. A better manager. A bunch of stars attached to my project. I’m gonna get something made.

All admirable and important goals, and nothing wrong with trying for that stuff, but outside my personal control. Any of these could happen, might not happen, no matter what I do.

Last week was busy. Happy Holidays!

There’s the thing I fault myself most, and most frequently, for, as a writer, and maybe you’re familiar.

I should be writing more. I should write every day. Why am I not writing at this second? Not THIS second, obviously.

So, be it resolved: I’m gonna write ten pages a day. Three hours a day. Once a day, for as long as I feel like it. A page. A script for a sitcom. A screenplay. A sketch. A joke. The next great American novel. Finish a novel. The next great Finnish novel.

And nothing wrong with using that guilt, to motivate, as long as it doesn’t debilitate. But I’ve tried many times to fix that in myself, or feel that I AM accomplishing things, I AM being productive (turn that frown upside down), but I think for me that is just going to be the eternal battle of writing. I have to accept it and be okay with it.

Accept the things we cannot change, no matter how difficult they make our lives.

Like, I accept that I will always hate mayonnaise. I accept that I will always have been raised Irish Catholic. I accept that I will sometimes have written in the future perfect tense. I accept that I will always feel a certain amount of guilt about not being more productive (some of those things could be connected…).

Then there are the more practical things I might think about as a writer.

Start more projects. Finish more. Better dialogue. Better jokes. Decent jokes, even. Get better at formatting (sometimes that’s the thing you need to work on!). Get better at action lines. Create more interesting characters. Make my stories more surprising.

I feel like I do okay on all of those (maybe not formatting sometimes.) I mean, okay enough, at least, that none of these are THE THING I want to focus on for 2026.

So. What’s something really specific I could get better at in 2026 (specificity is important for success- always analyze your goals using the acronym SMART- which stands for SPECIFIC, and then a bunch of other shit).

I’ve done okay, writing-career-wise. I’ve worked on a bunch of different shows, a bunch of different types of shows, I’ve run a few things a few times. I’ve been lucky, and it’s been great.

And in every case, it’s been because people came to me and said “We like what you do. Will you work with us?”

I’ve never really gone to them.

What would happen if I did? What would happen if I aggressively put myself out there as somebody who has done lots of good work, and is capable of doing more?

I’m not talking about pitching a project with a bunch of other people, which I’ve done many times (although if you have something good and you’re looking to add an experienced writer/producer guaranteed to make your project better, please contact my better manager).

But what if I put myself out there and get rejected?

J.K. Rowling submitted her Harry Potter manuscript to 12 places before somebody said “oooooh, this is good.”

Stephen King submitted Carrie to 30 different places before somebody bit.

Also, what if I DON’T get rejected? Could happen. Then what?

And if you’re saying, “Sean, I’ve read some of your stuff and you are no J.K. Rowling,” I say, are you saying that because at least once in one of those goddam books I would have had Harry say to his friends, his good friends, his most trusted companions, his closest compadres, his ride-or-die confidants, his platonic soulmates, “Oh by the way there is this one crucial piece of information I am not telling you that is causing all this difficulty, that if I just shared it we could solve all our problems, but it’s important that we all remain obtuse and disconnected for plot reasons?”

Anyway, that’s my one writing resolution (specificity!): at least once a month (which is really not that much), I will aggressively put myself out there professionally in some way. I’m talking about query letters, phone calls, emails, telegrams, doorknocks (that might be too aggro)... and following up. Personal contact.

Seems doable. We'll see.

How about you? What’s your writing thing? Hit me back.

And I’m trying to think about how to encourage accountability, for me, and for anybody else interested in challenging themselves in 2026. Maybe I’ll try to post on IG (@seanconroy) and TikTok (@seanconroywrite) a month from now, to see if I’ve lived up to my resolution, and you can let me know if you’ve lived up to yours.

It’s like Jack Canfield says in Chicken Soup For the Soul: “Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.”

The manuscript for Chicken Soup For The Soul was rejected 144 times.

Onward and upward.