The year 2024 officially ushers in the Year of the Dragon! It is said that those born under this fifth sign in the Chinese zodiac are destined for good fortune and greatness. While you can’t change the year you were born in (the most recent years of the dragon were 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, and 1964), you can approach your writing goals using some of the characteristics attributed to a feisty “dragon” personality to create your own good fortune. Here are Writer’s Relief’s tips on how to be a “writer dragon” in the new year!

Be A Writer Dragon

Use Your Ambition And Smarts

A dragon has intelligence, strength, and determination—and these are all great qualities for a writer! In the new year, don’t settle for mediocre! If you find yourself struggling against a particularly difficult roadblock in your short story, essay, poem, or novel, call on your inner dragon and find ways to break through your writer’s block.

Try setting your creativity on fire by incorporating a writing challenge into your routine. NaNoWriMo, a 30-day Writing Challenge, or some intriguing writing prompts can help heat things up and get you motivated.

Prioritize Your Writing Time

Just as dragons carefully hoard their gold, you should protect your precious writing time! Daily chores, social media, binge-watching the latest shows, and more can all eat away at the time you’ve blocked off for writing. It’s important to eliminate distractions and put everything else on hold during your scheduled butt-in-chair writing time. And consider supporting your writing efforts by joining a writing group or even attending a writing conference.

Spend Time Outside!

This year is specifically the year of the wood dragon, which, like a typical writer, is known to be introverted. When you find yourself struggling to write, spread your wings and head outside. Go for a walk in the park or enjoy a cup of joe at an outdoor café. Bring your notebook and a trusty pen (maybe even a dragon pen!) and let nature, people, and places inspire you. Dragons have sharp eyesight, so look around you and observe any details and conversations that can help you write more accurate dialogue and descriptions.

Watch Out For Negative Traits

As you might expect from something that breathes fire and has giant, sharp claws, dragons are also associated with a few negative characteristics that we writer dragons should try to avoid. If you receive a less-than-stellar critique from your writing group or a rejection from a literary agent or editor, don’t rattle your scales and retaliate with a burning retort. Take a break and revisit the advice when you’re feeling calmer. While you shouldn’t make changes willy-nilly based on a few comments, there might be some good points to consider.

Dragons can also be a bit impractical. If you find yourself sending out scattershot submissions to literary agents and editors, or if you fly by the seat of your fireproof pants and don’t stick to submitting on a consistent schedule, you’ll need to reconsider this particular dragon trait.

The submission strategy experts at Writer’s Relief can help you keep to a schedule, and our research team will find the best markets for your writing and boost your odds of getting an acceptance! Learn more about our services, and submit your work to our Review Board today!

Whether you want to take the traditional publishing route or are thinking about self-publishing, we can help. Give us a call, and we will point you in the right direction!

Questions: How do you plan to be a writing dragon this year?