Embracing Transformation: My 2025 Word of the Year and What it Means for Writers

I didn’t think I’d have a 2025 word of the year. I had a few contenders—illuminate, growth, evolve, awaken, empower—but none captured what a huge year 2025 promises to be for me, personally. To give you just a taste of what I know is coming:

Starting at least one new novel-length WIP after working on Project Blue Quartz for basically all of 2024
My first year working solely for myself
Throwing myself into story coaching, creating offerings, and writing like I never have before
Building platforms on YouTube and a couple other social media networks I’ve had my eye on
Reviving my Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
Collaborations with other people who serve writers
My partner Logan—the breadwinner—continually growing in his career
And undoubtedly more things I will never see coming

There will be trials by fire. I know 2025 is going to be hard and test me in ways I’ve never been tested before. But I cannot help but be excited for the ways I’ll be challenged. I always and forever will be hungry for problems to solve and new ways to solve them.

The problems (and triumphs!) 2025 has in store for me will shift who I am. I just know it. And I can’t wait!

How Can Writers Embrace Transformation?

I bet you, too, sense a transformation coming. You are crafting your chrysalis. Or perhaps you’re already inside it, doing the difficult inner work needed in order to embrace the changes in your writing routine, storytelling approach, or mindset.

These are the three pearls of wisdom I’m going to carry with me as I step into 2025 as a writer. Maybe they’ll be helpful for you, too.

1. To better plan where I’m going, first I need to know where I’ve been.

I have a terrible memory. Just dreadful. But it’s only recently—when I was discussing with my author friends the pace at which people write books—that I realized I have no clue what my book-writing pace actually is. Part of the reason is that I’ve only recently nailed down my writing process, but mostly, it’s because I haven’t bothered to keep track and I can’t rely on my memory to tell me when I completed which stages.

That’s why this year, I have a special notebook set aside for tracking when I start projects, when they move through the different stages of my writing process, when I finish them, and when I plan to publish them.

2. Trying something new is almost always more fun and rewarding than I think it will be.

What can I say? I’m a creature of habit. When I love something, I return to it again and again. But transformation doesn’t happen without discomfort—without trying something new.

That’s why I’m going to experiment with some new storytelling formats in 2025. I’ve written flash fiction, short stories, poetry, interactive stories, novellas, and novels, but there are so many other ways to tell stories. I’m eager to try my hand at one or two of them in the new year!

3. Seeking support is essential for growth.

Part of being a creature of habit is staying in my own little world for longer than I should, but I know that’s not healthy for me. If there’s one thing being part of Writer’s Atelier for so long taught me, it’s that I don’t have to do this writing thing alone.

I am still searching for a local writing group to call home here in the Garden State, and I’m going to continue that search into 2025. Until then, I’m going to stay active in the many groups I’ve joined through cyberspace—Discord servers, online communities, Facebook groups, Messenger chats, et cetera.

What Does Transformation Mean for Our Characters?

In the context of the books we’re writing, the word transformation instantly brings to mind one thing: character arcs.

And character arcs are my obsession. It is immensely satisfying to watch someone—fictional or otherwise—begin in a particular state, then go through challenging experiences that organically bring about a change of heart, mind, or both. Of course we’re attracted to stories where characters earn a reward after all their trouble (or are punished for choosing to ignore warning signs)—that’s what we hope happens in real life!

You can sign up for my newsletter for a free worksheet designed to help you orient yourself on your character’s transformational journey by establishing the Wound, Wrong Idea, and Right Idea. Print out the worksheet or edit it in your PDF editor of choice (mine is Canva!) as often as you like.

You can watch me figure out those three starting points for the main characters in my next novel in this video.