New Year, New Book: Writing Advice for 2026
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The following content comes from a free FriesenPress training session broadcast live on January 13, 2026 (edited for length and clarity). Register here to join us live on our next broadcast!
Hello everyone, and welcome to our virtual publishing webinar, New Year, New Book: Writing Advice for 2026!
My name is Scott Donovan. I've been here at FriesenPress for seven years as a Publishing Consultant. My role here is to meet with authors, learn about their projects and goals, and help them determine what services and what type of publishing will fit their wants and needs. I came into this role after some modest experience in the newspaper business and sales, and certainly after creating some of my own manuscripts.
Lisa Simpson and Perfectionism
Before we get into the presentation, I want to share something from an episode of The Simpsons that perfectly captures the difference between the romantic idea of writing and the reality of treating it like a craft and a practice.
In season 23, in an episode called “The Book Job”, Lisa finds out that her favourite tween-lit authors were actually written by groups of writers organized by traditional publishers, and that the names on the book jackets are just actors. She’s heartbroken.
Meanwhile, Homer hears that traditional publishers are paying a million dollars for incredible manuscripts, remember, this is satirical fiction, and puts together a crack team of locals and a New York Times bestselling author to create the perfect book. It turns into a ridiculous Ocean’s Eleven–style spoof. They settle on a silly but marketable idea involving trolls under the Brooklyn Bridge who go to a magic school. And even though it’s absurd, their manuscript starts to take shape.
Lisa, on the other hand, decides she’s going to write the perfect book. She sits down at her desk and realizes the perfect manuscript needs the perfect music. She starts organizing her music collection instead of writing. She tries a fancy coffee shop and gets distracted by lattes. She deep-cleans her room. She goes to a book fair to check out the competition. And when she finally comes up with an idea, she realizes she drew inspiration from a movie poster and decides not to continue.
By the end of the episode, Homer and the townspeople finish their manuscript. Lisa never begins. Why? Because perfectionism crept in. She was looking for the perfect inspiration, the perfect setting, and the perfect idea instead of just writing rough drafts and seeing ideas on the page. My goal is to help you avoid pulling a Lisa and actually write your book in the days, weeks, and months ahead with the eventual goal of publishing your book.
Developing a Writing Routine
One big mistake many new writers make is trying to write only when they feel like it. Motivation is useful, but it isn’t reliable. Structure is.
Figure out when you write best and what role writing plays in your life right now. Then set priorities that respect that. There’s no right or wrong answer, but you do need to define your expectations. Why are you writing this book? Is it personal fulfillment, personal growth, or sharing your story? Knowing your “why” makes everything easier. When life gets busy, your priority determines what survives.
A routine doesn’t have to be rigid. It just has to be a rhythm you can live with. Everybody’s style is different. Some people write best in the early morning—I know I do. Others late at night. Some in long bursts. Some in short, consistent sessions. The key is to find what works for you and stick with it. What works for me and many other writers is blocking writing time into a calendar. Imagine if instead of chasing inspiration, Lisa had just made an outline and started typing.
Why Writing Goals Fail
With an understanding of your routine and its importance, let's get into setting some writing goals and why so many seem to fall apart. For most writers, writing goals don't fail because they lack motivation or talent. They fail because the goals are too vague. I want to write a book this year. Sounds great, but it doesn't tell you what to do next or how to know if you're making progress. That's where intentional goal setting comes in. And if you set something that's unrealistic like an arbitrary, although often all too soon deadline or a massive daily word count, it can actually halt your momentum because it feels impossible. It's discouraging. And that can loom over you every day. It can halt your progress. Every day you'll feel frustration if you're not able to keep up.
What you ought to think about instead are something called SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
How to Set Better Goals with the SMART Method
The SMART method begins with S for Specificity. Writing a book doesn’t happen all at once, it’s a series of clear, concrete actions. Specific goals give you clarity and direction. Instead of staring up at the daunting mountain ahead, chart a path one step at a time.
For example, rather than “write more,” aim for 500 words a day, a solid target, especially for beginners. Instead of “finish editing,” try completing revisions on the first three chapters this month. Specific goals remove guesswork and make it easier to sit down and begin.
M is for Measurable. Measurable goals give you benchmarks you can track, like a daily word count or writing for a set time. Even 20 minutes in front of the laptop counts, whether you write or not. Break your manuscript into chapters with deadlines for each. Visibility builds momentum, seeing steady progress, even in small increments, reinforces the habit of showing up and keeps motivation from fading.
A is for Achievable. Goals that ignore your time, energy, or responsibilities can lead to frustration or burnout. Writing a 500-page historical novel in six months while working full-time may not be realistic. Instead, break it down: write a rough draft in six months or read four research books in eight weeks. Achievable goals don’t lower your standards, they stretch you while staying realistic.
R is for Relevant. Every writer’s journey is different. Your goals should reflect your priorities and long-term vision. If finishing your book is the focus, regular writing sessions and researching publishing options matter more right now than planning a future book tour. Keeping your “why” front and centre ensures your efforts move you closer to completing your manuscript.
T is for Timeline. A goal without a deadline is easy to postpone. Deadlines create structure and momentum. Think of them as checkpoints, not restrictions, you can adjust them as life demands. Share your deadlines with a writing group or a friend. Accountability adds gentle pressure, encouragement, and motivation, making the process less solitary.
Overcoming Writing Obstacles
Now, let's talk about some of the common obstacles that almost every writer struggles with and some ways to overcome them. I'm going to have a drink of water. These are writer's block, self-doubt, lack of time, and perfectionism, or what I call Lisa Simpson syndrome.
Writer's Block often isn’t about running out of creativity. It’s about pressure. When your goals feel too big, opening a blank document can feel like standing at the base of a mountain. The solution is to lower the stakes. Allow yourself to write badly. Free write for five minutes, a paragraph, a few sentences, or even 100 words. The only bad sentence is the one you don’t write. Momentum comes from starting, not perfection. The first draft is about telling yourself the story. I’d say 80 percent of manuscripts I see never get completed because of fear of mistakes. Let your rough draft breathe.
Self-doubt happens to everyone, but it doesn’t reflect the value of your unique voice. Your story matters because you are the one telling it. Keep writing despite doubts. Don’t let criticism stop you from finishing. Editing comes later. Progress is the antidote to doubt. Write with the door closed.
Lack of Time is a challenge for all of us. Work, family, and responsibilities can make it hard to dedicate hours to writing. The solution isn’t waiting for perfect conditions but creating consistent time, even in small increments. Fifteen minutes a day or a couple of hours on the weekend adds up quickly. Consistency builds habit and momentum. Short, repeated sessions often move your book forward more effectively than sporadic long ones.
Perfectionism is one of the quietest and most damaging obstacles. It convinces you that every sentence must be perfect before moving on. This mindset slows progress. Stephen King in On Writing talks about writing with the door closed—don’t worry about friends, ideal readers, or the New York Times. Just tell yourself the story.
Separate drafting from editing. Give yourself permission to write imperfectly now and revise later. Avoid rereading your manuscript at the start of each session. Instead, keep a writing journal. Note where you left off, what comes next, and any inconsistencies. Don’t fix everything immediately; just keep moving forward.
A finished rough draft is far more valuable than a flawless opening chapter that never leads anywhere. Don’t be Lisa Simpson. Writing is a craft and a practice, not divine inspiration. A book is a marathon, not a sprint.
Staying Motivated for the Long Haul
Motivation comes and goes. Some days are amazing, some tough, and that’s normal. What keeps you moving forward is routine, measurable goals, progress tracking, and encouragement. Small wins, like watching your word count grow, are powerful reminders that progress is happening. Recognizing these moments, no matter how minor, builds confidence and momentum.
Celebrating Wins
A common mistake is only acknowledging progress when something major happens, like finishing the book. Writing is mostly built from small wins. Completing a chapter, hitting a word count, solving a tricky plot point, or showing up on a difficult day all count. Celebration doesn’t have to be elaborate. Checking off a task, pausing to mark a milestone, or giving yourself permission to rest is enough to strengthen momentum and remind you that your effort matters.
Flexibility
No writing plan unfolds perfectly. Some weeks will feel off, routines may falter, or sections of your book may take more time than expected. Flexibility is essential. Adjust your schedule, change how you measure progress, or temporarily shift to another section of your manuscript. This prevents frustration from turning into avoidance. For example, if a scene feels blocked, pretend you finished it and move to the next chapter. Writing is a practice, and staying flexible lets your process evolve as your project evolves.
Keep Your Vision in Sight
When motivation dips, reconnect with your why. Writing is demanding, and it’s easy to lose perspective on the bigger picture. Visual reminders like a vision board, a meaningful quote, or a sticky note with your working title can anchor your focus. These reminders don’t remove obstacles but help you see why the project is worth your time. Keeping your vision visible maintains your connection to the purpose behind your work. Many of my authors also use me as an accountability buddy, which reinforces goals and progress.
Accountability
External accountability introduces gentle pressure to keep showing up. Sharing your goals with a writing group or fellow author creates responsibility beyond yourself. Regular check-ins, progress updates, or shared deadlines provide encouragement and remind you that you are not alone. Many writers think their struggles are unique, but they are not. Talking with others or a Publishing Consultant can help reset perspective and maintain momentum.
Accountability is also a key benefit of our one-on-one book coaching service, where a professional coach works with you over weeks or months to develop your manuscript. If you follow the strategies we’ve discussed and still feel stuck, support is available to keep you moving forward.
Q/A Section
Q: What are the legal challenges one can face writing a book, especially a memoir? For example, if you're using real people's names, what are some pitfalls?
Scott: Great question and an important one for memoir writers. Many authors get stuck in the rough draft worrying about legal issues. The short answer is: legal advice is your friend. If you have concerns, consult a lawyer who specializes in publishing. That said, if you're still writing, don’t let legal worries slow you down. Use the real names and write truthfully. Focus on getting your manuscript down, lawyers can help later to make sure everything is safe.
Q: I find it takes me time just to get into the mindset to write and every interruption after that makes it hard to get back into it. How do you protect your writing time and find a way back to your writing once your thought process has been interrupted?
Scott: Everyone faces this challenge. In his book, Stephen King talks about when he had a family and children running around the house, he wrote on a tiny little desk behind his furnace in the basement of his house. And so I guess that's one way to escape the rigours of family life. Really, there's a bit of a boundary to set there too. And what that can look like is letting the people in our lives know that this is something that's very important to us. And what would be really supportive is helping you carve out some time, maybe 20 minutes or 30 minutes to work on your manuscript. And I would say, I love the idea of co-creating that with your family. Maybe it means going to a coffee shop and having some sort of ambient relaxing kind of noise in your headphones and losing yourself in the manuscript that way.
But the challenge though, you're right, there's a very real challenge because a lot of the best writing does happen when we lose ourselves in the book we're writing. I would say think about co-creating a solution with your family and good luck.
Professional editing reduces distractions that diminish your book's readability, such as convoluted content structure, incorrect grammar, and persistent typos. From developmental editing to proofreading, our vetted editing team will match you with the editorial services you need to create the best book possible.
Q: What are your thoughts on the use of AI for writers? I've seen some of the discussion of writers submitting their manuscripts into an AI tool as a catchall editor.
Scott: What we have seen in terms of putting a manuscript into any sort of large language AI programme is often it'll wash the author's voice out of the manuscript, whereas it is very much so a skillset of a professional editor to augment your voice. So that's a very real concern, especially for I think if you're new to writing, emulating our favourite authors is kind of what happens in the beginning until we find our voice. And so having that washed out by an AI programme is a really big deal for a new writer. Two other concerns would be some of these generators, they're going to use your manuscript for other answers that other people ask. Whatever you feed into that it now belongs to them in the sense of what they're using to train their models for future answers. So there's certainly security and privacy concerns with that.
And finally, just to balance out those two answers, I don't think there's anything wrong with bouncing ideas off of AI or getting ideas for your next scene or some of your structure. I think that it's a practical tool to be used for that reason, but I wouldn't let it create content for me, and I think that we might see a world before too long where AI generated content, whether it's in images or in text, won't be acceptable by distributors and retailers who ultimately are the gatekeepers. And you know what? For good reason, my worst nightmare is that every book sounds the same. So let's stay away from that.
Q: I have one book published at the moment and two others completed and working on five more. What do you think about splitting my focus between so many projects? I’m struggling to know which one to focus on.
Scott: With the children's book, I think it's easier to spread your attention over that. I think it really is a very special personality indeed, that can manage five different interlocking stories at the same time. I've watched it result in analysis paralysis, and there have been a couple of times that I've watched it work out. They included several whiteboards or digital tools with spider webbing ideas and thoughts, and if that's working for you, great. If you need to pick one project to stick with, my rule is it's the one that feels easiest and that you feel most motivated to work. The one that when you're buttering your toast or you're in the shower, you're thinking about the story. That's the one work on that.
Q: My novel is very long. Would it work better if it's broken down into more than one book longer?
Scott: Manuscripts can be challenging to publish for a couple of different reasons, not the least of which is the per unit price, but also I think that readers also appreciate bite-sized stories and ending points, and we all know it's nice to have a new book to launch next year. So yeah, finding a logical place to interrupt the story with a cliffhanger and make sure you have lots for book two, it can be a really helpful tool, not just in terms of making it easy to enjoy for your readers, but also from a marketing and promotion standpoint. If you're having trouble finding where those points are, again, lean on objectivity and you can do this with a group of beta readers, trusted friends and family that would read the manuscript and answer a list of questions. And one of those questions could be, where did you put the book down? Right? Where did that story feel complete? And as always, like a book coach or an editor, they're trained to help you with that too.
Q: How will I know when my manuscript is complete and ready to publish?
Scott: If you're still writing the draught, often a rough draught, the story will often naturally come to a conclusion and adding more may start to feel forced. If you are in revisions and you're trying to figure out when you've taken it as far as you can, ask yourself the question, am I making changes without knowing if it's improving things or not? Because it's easy to get into a bit of a vacuum in revisions. We are changing things. We don't know if it's improving the story time for some objectivity.
Q: When is the ideal time to approach a publisher in the field of nonfiction? Is it once you have a book pitch, a book summary or a rough draft?
Scott: Great question. Think of pitching your book as an audition, and so you wouldn't show up to an actor, wouldn't show up for an audition without their hair being combed or without knowing their lines or without wearing their best suit. And really think about your manuscript like that. We have lots of authors who are querying agents for traditional publishing, use our standalone editing services to make sure their manuscript is in the absolute best shape possible so that when you follow arbitrary rules of getting your manuscript in front of someone and you finally get there, make sure you're putting on your best show, you're putting your best foot forward so no one buys ideas. People buy manuscripts and business situations, which is why a lot of these agents are also looking at social media followings and that sort of thing. But in terms of your manuscript as polished as possible,
Q: I have a manuscript ready, but I feel like there's more I want to add to it. Would shortening my deadline motivate me to regain momentum and address the delay? Also, is working with a book coach at this stage ideal?
Scott: You hit the nail along the head in that you've taken it as far as you can. I hear sort of the pressure building right in that you have this deadline for yourself for 2027. You want to make it, the way the book coaching works is usually it's in two week increments. So the book coach reads your manuscript, you make a plan and a strategy for what comes for the next two weeks, and then you work on it over that time knowing that you're meeting with the book coach at the end of that. And that's not meant to put pressure on you, but it's meant to add structure and small goals that you can reach. Much like what we've been talking about today. Book coaching comes in different packages of five or 10 or higher, and with a manuscript that you feel like is complete, but you need tightening and you're, you're ready for guidance in revisions. Book coaching is a great tool.
Q: In The Simpsons episode you mentioned, does Homer's book get published?
Scott: It does get published, but when they get a final proof before it goes to press, it is completely unrecognizable from what they submitted to the traditional publisher. And that is a 100% accurate depiction of what can happen in traditional publishing.
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