What makes a useful resolution? A mini-pep talk from Ash Huang
Happy 2024! Let’s hope it’s not 2020.4. I throttled my way through 2020.3 by the skin of my teeth. It was a bananas year, filled with stress, euphoria, and a whole lot of ‘find out’—with plenty more to come.
The TL;DR of this update:
- Overview of my year in writing
- The 3 habits I’m structuring 2024 around (and why)
What happened in 2023
Publications
Since I was querying, I took it easy on short story submissions. I’ve mentioned this a lot, but in the past I’ve aimed for 100 rejections so it’s editors and first readers who are rejecting me—not me myself and I. Still, I had a pretty good run. A few stories are slated for next year. Here are the two that are live today, both flash pieces:
Blood, Bone, and Water
Orion’s Belt · Pushcart Prize nominated · 6m read
A fable featuring a rose bush as the main character. I had a lot of fun with the structure of this one and playing with mystery in a short 800 words.
The hedge is a dark mass on the horizon, heavy with scarlet roses. Once in a while, the vines choose a hapless man. When his back is turned, the branches snatch him up. They close over his quivering cheeks, around his eye whites, his gaping mouth, and the rest of the knights thrash against the fist-sized thorns to no effect. At least if a man is taken by the hedge, his compatriots will whisper about him forever.
—
Old Tune
Call and Response: a Periplus Anthology · 4m read
Part of the Periplus Collective’s first anthology, where half of the participants wrote a ‘call’, and the other half responded. I was so delighted to receive Jesús’ call and to answer it with my own small flash.
I extend a leg. It crashes through a pane of ice, sinks into a needle cold lake. A trio of crows is startled by the noise, shooting into the air. They settle in the trees just behind a hooded figure, who bites off a tune mid-song. I am no longer in my waking world. I don’t know the rules of this place.
Writing notables
Roots. Wounds. Words. Retreat for Speculative Fiction
A lovely peaceful time amongst my peers and faculty. I’m so honored to have been a part of this community and for the friendships that continue months and months later. You should absolutely check this retreat out if you’re BIPoC!
Game writing
I’m currently under contract for an interactive fiction game! Hoping to have more news about that soon. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m enjoying the mix of narrative world building and coding.
Do you write games? Tell me about your projects!
I got rep!
In retrospect, my query process was a fairly painless 4-month journey, and ya girl thrives in a spreadsheet. In non-retrospect, my barely healed stress rashes speak for themselves. I always joked that even if things went well, I would be losing my mind. Ta-daaaa~ I’m thrilled to be represented by Hana El Niwairi of CookeMcDermid. I was blessed with multiple offers, and each agent I talked to would have been an amazing advocate. In the end there are many reasons I went with Hana—for instance, I knew she would be an excellent editorial foil to my particular weaknesses. I also really loved her detailed, experienced answers to my toughest and most uncomfortable questions. The agent-author relationship is so, so personal. Lest this become a Charlie Day red yarn chart about seeking rep, I’ll stop there.
Space Economy Camp for Writers
In November, I went to Space Economy Camp for Writers at Arizona State University. This event paired 20 SFF writers with economists to ask, what would a non-exploitative economy look like in space, and how could we bring those learnings back to Earth? I feel like I have tiptoed around my interest in economic systems for...my entire life. Until recently, I was discouraged from learning more: by both well-meaning individuals, and the prevailing mainstream narratives around economies. I hold this experience as a precious thing, and loved having my mind completely changed. As a bonus, it was the loveliest, talented crowd of people, and I always love making new writer buddies.
Phew! Let’s move right along to 2024.
The 3 habits I’m structuring 2024 around
I’ll start with the habits, and then a little detail on how I decide what will actually net meaningful change.
The first habit is easy—keep going with the only resolution I made in 2023: if you think of someone, text them. As soon as I started doing it, I feared I’d learn exactly how often I thought of people, and how little they thought of me. Luckily, it’s been largely positive and I’ve reconnected with a lot of people, and kept threads going longer than I would normally. I am not always successful with this resolution. I probably only end up texting 1 out of 3 times—but that’s a huge improvement from 0!
The second one is multi-purpose. My kids are getting older and I have less of that constant, entirely bone-tired physical feeling. I started knitting again in the fall, finishing up some projects I started before both my kids were even born! It started as something to do with my hands when I was in listening-only dayjob meetings, but I had this thought recently. What if every time I get the urge to scroll, I knit instead? I decided to experiment with this in December.
My friends…I made an entire shirt by ditching Instagram, with a bunch of strings and sticks. In 2024, I’m planning to see how far I can go with this. Besides basics like undershirts, I am challenging myself to knit any new notable pieces for my wardrobe instead of buying them.
Lastly, I really need to get back to reading. I read a woeful 17 books this year, which is like, a 75% drop vs when I’m feeling healthy. I feel the stress on my mental health and an additional sense of existential isolation because of it. Unfortunately this is reality, as something has to give with my schedule, but I’d like to at least get back to a more sustainable number, like 40.
So how do I decide what to do? In my mind, good resolutions are actually habits, and they are:
- Easily attached to past behavior. It’s easy to restart a habit, or upgrade something you’re already doing. Out of all my resolutions, the texting one is the hardest, but it’s entirely additive. I don’t feel punished when I don’t do it. You can check out James Clear’s Atomic Habits if you are interested in this, with the caveat that it goes hard as a productivity book.
- Part of a focused list. It’s okay to just have one resolution. I have tried to have a whole list, and it’s never as successful as just trying to do one thing. The best resolution is the one you remember to do.
- Dopamine central. The texting resolution works because it’s a way to strengthen 1:1 relationships in my life. The knitting one works because it gets me off of social and making actual real things. The reading one works because I want to be swept away and connect with the wider tapestry of human canon (lol). I don’t bother making resolutions around unpleasant tasks because, personally, a resolution will never magically make me want to do something. Tainting one resolution will likely taint all of them.
- Likely to stick. I used to make ambitious resolutions. Do X every day! Make 300 Y! Ask yourself honestly: is this the time to challenge yourself? Do we have to go so hard? Can't a resolution be an act of care instead of an act of achievement?
What are your resolutions for the year? Sending you off with gentle energies and wishing the best for you,
xo Ash