Books CBC Literary Prizes

CBC Literary Prizes winners and finalists share their writing resolutions for 2019

Posted: January 02, 2019
Last Updated: January 03, 2019

A new writing year, a new writing you? CBC Books asked 10 shortlisted finalists and the three winners of the 2018 CBC Literary Prizes to share their writing resolutions for 2019. 

1. Lily Chang

"My 2019 resolutions are to finish revising my speculative fiction manuscript that was also my master's thesis (is there ever an end to revising?) and to continue discussing and workshopping writings with fellow writers and friends on a regular basis."

2. Sanita Fejzi

"In 2019, I will finish my book manuscript by writing two hours everyday."

3. Neil Griffin

"I couldn't think immediately of a writing resolution for 2019, so I asked a friend of mine for help and she provided a list of suggestions which, like the advice of all good friends, was somewhere in-between writing advice and personal attack. The best suggestion was this: to be honest, and more honest still, in whatever I write.

"In my notes I have an unattributed line (a more prosaic resolution: take better notes). The line reads: 'say one thing so true that it is true.' That's my resolution to say that one thing, and then another, and another, and another."

4. Natalie Lim

"My writing resolution for the new year is simply to do more of it! My last semester is in the spring, so the time I would normally spend reading and writing for classes will hopefully be directed towards reading and writing for myself."

• How Natalie Lim wrote the poem that won the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize

5. Kat Main

"For 2019, I am planning on doing a 10 day self-directed writing retreat in March at the Banff Centre. I also have a pact with a couple of other author friends to do at least a page a day of writing in the new year."

6. Julie Mannell

"I'm sitting in a caf in the middle of Omaha, Nebraska pondering the notion of 'resolution' and how it possibly relates to 'writing' or its associated mediums. I don't want to write anything like the dusty white people who performed last night at a place called the 'Om Centre.' My student line of credit payments kick in this February so my resolution is to make rent without having my bank accounts frozen and somewhere therein still walk into beautiful accidents and find time for meaningful reflection afterwards. I'm networking like crazy all over America but I have a resolution to not behave as those in Toronto. The ones campaigning for Mayor of Poetry: I find them painful put their books at the bottom of my shelf, put their books in the little free library because to burn them would be another sin. Abby just got back from New York her and Will and Will's three-legged pug, Sushi, all watch Jeopardy on top of each other: maybe I could get stuck in a warm poem like that one. Will's friend Mike is cute and he cooks and he talks like a cowboy. We're all going to boy scout camp to shoot guns later: is that a poem? Am I truly resolute about these moments and my duty to them as Poet? I don't really care. Though, it could be my poems that keep accidentally saving me. Lately I'm really into lighting a candle and saying a prayer for my grandmother and a prayer for my Romar. I maybe owe a poem to Omaha, definitely a prayer. Anyhow, in the new year, Will's resolute about driving me down to Arkansas where people are outnumbered by guns and guns are outnumbered by bibles. I think we're going to try and find Jesus. I hear they got a big poetry factory down there. It'll for sure be nice to check it out before I fly back North."

7. Anastasia McEwen

"Each night before bed, instead of trolling political forums or flipping through memes, I'll read one of the many lit magazines collecting on my shelf. I'll also throw a couple into my work bag so they'll be ready to read in the car, a waiting room, or during the occasional staff meeting. There are a lot of gems in these pages waiting to be unearthed.

"Once a month I'll go to the library or bookstore and pick up a Journey Prize Anthology. These stories inspire me when I'm feeling unmotivated or uncreative. Sometimes just one sentence can trigger a new idea.

"I'll also start digging through that folder on my desktop, the one where unfinished essays, sentimental poems and rejected stories are laid to rest. I'll exhume a forgotten piece and bring it back to life, perhaps creating a new scene, a new point of view, or a new character. I may even play Frankenstein and hack apart two stories, take the beginning of one, the end of another, and write a fresh middle just to see where it goes.

"Hopefully, these strategies will motivate me to write more and submit more. And when that rejection pops up in my email, I won't get discouraged instead I'll see it as a message to try again."

8. Leah Mol

"My resolution for 2019 is to work on writing every day. If I'm doing a first draft, I aim for 500 words a day (no excuses!). Right now I'm doing some rewrites on a novel, so for the first part of the year I'm aiming to spend an hour or two a day on that. I tend to enjoy measuring my work in words rather than time, so hopefully I can get back to that soon!"

• How Leah Mol wrote the story that won the CBC Short Story Prize

9. Terri Monture

"For 2019, my writing resolution is to try to organize my notes and ideas for stories and other projects in a much better way. I tend to have weird story ideas in the shower, on transit, in the line at the grocery store and then never write them down. I downloaded the Scrivener app to try to make this capture of ideas a bit more easier and in the moment, so that if I'm hit with inspiration I don't lose the idea to the accumulated detritus of my day."

10. Sandra Murdock

"My writing resolutions are to complete the collection I am working on, of which the piece I submitted to the competition is a part. I have also committed to getting serious about submissions to a literary journal. I'm starting a spreadsheet! (This may end up as a giant poster board but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?) And finally, I am committing to one project at a time and will not let myself lose focus."

• How Sandra Murdock wrote the story that won the 2018 CBC Nonfiction Prize

11. Bola Opaleke

"Next year I would like to enter for a major chapbook poetry contest, submit again to the CBC Poetry [Prize], and work hard to complete my book-length poetry collection."

12. Ayelet Tsabari

"In 2019 I'd love to finish a draft, however rough and messy, of my novel. And to do that I have to commit to writing more regularly, even if it means waking up at the godawful hour of 5:00 am to write before my daughter gets up and my (other) work begins."

13. Lee Thomas

"My resolution for the new year is to set aside concentrated time to write my own stuff  just like how you schedule time for a doctor's appointment or to go to the gym or have a date night, I want to really focus on giving myself time to just write."