OUT: Plans + projects 💥 IN: Practice + purpose

Why I'm changing up my creative approach in 2026

Happy 2026!

It’s great to see you again!

Thanks to local pal Jane Roth for running into me in the coffee shop just this morning and saying: “Aren’t we due for a newsletter soon???”

Yes, Jane, yes, you are right — and here it is.

This cartoon (made by me and Lia Strasser) was the New Year’s Day daily cartoon on newyorker.com.

It’s a celebration of our foul mood all year. (Hey, at least we were consistent!)

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Why I’m changing my creative approach in 2026

I’ve been writing for the past 12 years.

What have I learned about writing?

VERY LITTLE.

No, that’s not true.

One thing I’ve learned — is that I have a lot left to learn.

Which is why I’m always recalibrating my creative approach. Seeing what works. Letting go of what doesn't.

This year is no exception. Throughout December I thought a lot about how I wanted to write in 2026.

Why change things up?

Why not?

I suppose I want to make my writing process easier and more joyful. Easier to start, easier to keep going, easier to finish. Easier to have fun.

My old approach to writing: Planning + Project

In the past, I’ve been consumed with planning and projects.

“Planning” looked like:

• Schedules.

• Deadlines.

• Word counts.

• Page goals.

• To-do lists.

• Beat myself up daily when I don’t meet my goals.

• Get frustrated any time I had to change my plans.

• Overschedule myself, get overwhelmed and abandon the plan altogether.

“Project” looked like:

• Obsess over one idea. One project that will perfectly express all my deepest truths and catapult me into literary stardom!

• Push too hard, ignore any other ideas that come my way, burn myself out.

• Feel devastated when the project isn’t finished, or sold, or even that good.

• Lose motivation. Stall. No other project feels as important as that one failed project. The one that got away…

• Rinse. Repeat. Get nowhere.

The writer at work (unshowered!) at the coffee shop. Photograph by Jorge Colombo.

My new approach to writing: Practice + Purpose

In 2026, I’m more interested in connecting with practice and purpose.

“Practice” looks like:

• Develop a writing ritual as simple and routine as brushing teeth (with the same amount of drama, i.e. NO DRAMA).

• Show up to the page on a regular basis. Ignore results, goals, objectives, deliverables — and focus on showing up.

• Don’t aim for perfection. Find easy wins and keep stacking ‘em. (Set the bar low: 10 minutes of typing. 1 page of text. Etc.)

• Refill my creative cup regularly. Rest, read, talk; see art, films, plays, etc.

• Trust myself to follow through and show up for myself consistently.

“Purpose” looks like:

• Reconnect with why I am doing this — to give myself a voice, to engage with topics I’m interested in, to explore myself and my world, to connect with others, to grow, to learn, TO HAVE FUN.

• Refuse to pin my hopes and dreams on any one project. The umbrella of my purpose is too big to be defined by one project. There will be many.

• Honor my creative impulse. Write what I want. Don’t worry if it’s “sellable” or “commercial” or “important” or “good” or even “finishable.”

• Refuse to rush. Remember my creative journey is life-long. Start and abandon projects joyfully, switch gears whenever. Give my work room to breathe, evolve, disappear and come back when it’s ready. Follow my curiosity wherever it wants to go.

This approach leaves me with a lot of questions that I’ll unpack in 2026 issues of BIZZY IN YOUR BOX:

How to develop my practice?

How to articulate my purpose?

How to hold myself accountable without self-pressuring?

How to find easy wins?

How to make writing more fun and nourishing?

What’s your creative approach for the New Year? Are you changing it up? Staying the course? How have you figured out what works for you?

I would love to hear your take, in the comments.

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Excerpt of my new story “Dinosaur Nuggets”

Salamander Magazine has published my short story, “Dinosaur Nuggets,” in Issue 60. Big thanks to managing editor Katie Sticca for her vital editorial guidance and warm enthusiasm.

Read the whole thing (for a limited time) on the Salamander website.

Here’s an excerpt from page 3:

Coop passes the time on his ElderScreen, clicking through simulated social media apps from a bygone era. It’s fake, but wasn’t it always? He can only half-see the glowing videos and random images, the text captions in huge font. Ding goes a notification from a friend who does not really exist. He has no friends left, though the ElderScreen pretends otherwise in order to keep him “socially engaged,” as they say, to pacify him into passivity. It works. Ding, someone is thinking of you, ding ding ding, you matter. Fake faces, fake names, people he does not know or care about, yet he can’t stop scrolling. It feels like something, though it is nothing. He feels like a hypocrite, recalling how hard he tried to keep his daughter away from screens when she was little. He must look as silly as she did when she was a baby, whacking at her plastic play-gym, grasping for sensation. He scrolls until he nods off on the folding chair.

The washer-dryer jolts him awake with its ominous buzz buzz-buzz buzz, a cadence like a funeral march. He’s not even on his feet when there’s a squeal and a shocking whomp of wings. His ElderScreen clatters to the floor. He squints and blinks, convinced his eyes have failed for good, but no. There it is.

A dactyl. A living dactyl.

Right there on top of the machine. He has seen them in videos, but never in real life. It’s the size of a turkey. Skinny trembling legs, a pale gulping neck. Plump with plumage a dozen shades of pink.

He shoos it away. “Go on. Go.” He claps twice.

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MaestroClass: Learn Timeless Lessons from Experts of Yore

I published this illustrated humor piece in collaboration with the whimsically wonderful artist Tracey K. Berglund.

It appeared in The New Yorker’s “Daily Shouts” on December 4, 2025.

We riffed on the silly master classes that might be taught by famous historical folks — from Sun Tzu to Socrates.

I love this piece so much!!! Tracey’s illustrations take it to the next level!

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Thanks to my 2025 freelance clients

I can't remember another freelance year with such a rich mix of clients and projects.

I've done:

• Verbal identity

• Naming

• Audience personas

• Messaging pillars

• Institutional language development

• Some good old-fashioned copywriting: taglines! websites! emails! ads! video scripts! ...and more.

Thanks to my pals at Situation Interactive, Town Hall, NJPAC, FanDuel, Girl Scouts USA, Condé Nast, The New Yorker, One Times Square, CFA Institute, New York Law School and Tusten Social for all the fun times!

This freelance work is vital in supporting the rest of my creative and literary practice. Not to mention — I LOVE DOING IT.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Cheers to more fun gigs in the new year.

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Bizzy in the Wild: Upcoming Events

NONE

Starting at NOPE o’clock PM

Located at NOWHERE

I’m happy to take a break from live events and podcasts in January. If you’re looking to have me appear at your event in 2026, please reach out early! The calendar is already filling up.

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That’s all for now.

Thank you for another year of creative tomfoolery with me, Tomfoolerist-in-Chief, Bizzy Coy.

Until next time,

xoxo

Bizzy