Down the Writing Memory Lane of 2025
- Smita Das Jain
- 7 days ago
- 15 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
- Reflections of a year gone by and resolutions for a year to come: Part 4
“If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.”
- Paulo Coelho
It’s the year-end again. That time of the year when you experience a sea of emotions. On the one hand, you are hoping the next year(or parts of it) will be different from this year. On the other hand, you are grateful for what you have and looking forward to the holiday season with your family and loved ones.
For me, it’s the time for me to keep up with the annual pact with you, dear readers- the time of the year when I share my round-up of the year with you, honestly and transparently.
This is my fourth year of review. And for the first time, I felt like I didn’t want to write it.
Not because the year was bad. In fact, this was the year when I received more acceptances than rejections as a writer and my debut non-fiction opened new doors for me.
Not because I didn’t write as much as I wanted to. I ended up writing more than I had planned, and those who have read my work from the start have told me that they see a different level of emotional maturity in my writing now.
But personal circumstances made me emotionally fragile and a volatile economic environment stretched me thin as an entrepreneur.
As a result, I was detached from what I was writing. I still wrote daily, but for most of the time, the process appeared more mechanical than passionate.
I didn’t care if the final polished product wasn’t up to the mark (in my view).I did not care if it was damn good either.
Curiously, instead of hampering, it seemed to enhance my writing.
Words flew more effortlessly. I had more ideas than I could cope up with, and for the first time, I needed to maintain a separate ideas journal on my system lest I loose thread of some of them later.
At the year-end, I find myself a very different writer from who I was when it started. You will notice it in the format of this review.
If you remember my last year’s writing journey round-up or my 2023 review, you will notice the change in structure. It is more reflective than outcome-based.
I hope my learnings inspire you to make 2026 the best year of your life.
My Writing Roundup for 2025
What Went Well?
1. Wrote more than planned
In my 2024 review, I had mentioned that I would write no more than 15 short stories during the year. And this was what I had planned for in my 2025 writing calendar at last year-end.
I ended up writing 31 short stories. That’s more than double the planned count, almost 3 stories a month. And I would have penned 2-3 more, but those contests/opportunities didn’t come up this year, unlike last year.
The screenshot from my writing calendar below highlights in green all the anthology submissions and writing contests I entered this year. The ones in white either didn't open up this year or didn’t open up at the time I had planned to submit for them (e.g., Wasafiri didn’t open for submissions in November-December).
This happened partly because I came across some contests/opportunities I felt like writing for. More because I was finishing my writeups at a faster speed than anticipated, and had to write more for my daily writing ritual.
After all, I wasn’t getting up early in the morning to stare at a blank Word document!
Screenshot of my 2025 writing calendar
The numbers above don’t include the personal essays, articles, reviews and blog posts I wrote during the year. I haven’t kept count of most of these, but, on the conservative side, I have definitely written 50 short-form, standalone pieces this year.
I also submitted a personal essay for the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, an item on my bucket list for long. Happy to have ticked it off.
2. Won 5 writing contests and got acceptances from 6 literary magazines worldwide
This year was an excellent one from the viewpoint of the acceptance-to-rejection ratio of my short-form writing. I won 3 fiction and 2 personal essay writing contests. That the wins aren’t limited to a particular genre of writing is heartening for me.
Some of my writing wins this year
My stories were also accepted in 5 literary magazines and anthologies. I added the Red Rose Thorn Journal, Parcham, The Punch Magazine, The Tint Journal, and Tell Me Your Story to the list of literary magazines where my stories found a home. There is one more acceptance and the story will be coming out in 2026.
Rejections are a part and parcel of a writer’s life, and this year, too, they were there.
However, this year, even the rejection mails carried a different flavour. The note below, for instance, is where the editors let me know that my story was on their final shortlist before they decided to pass it on. And this is just one of them.
One of the few 'nice' rejection mails I received this year
This tells me that I have evolved as a writer vis-à-vis when I started. A reason to pat myself on the back.
3. A literary magazine gave credit for my winning story to someone else. No, it wasn’t a mistake.
I was blindsided when I learnt of this towards the fag end of the year.
I am a writer, not a ghostwriter (nothing against ghostwriters, but I am not one). I don’t mind when my writing is rejected, but I am not going to let it go when my story wins and credit is given to someone else.
I am referring to the Eye Contact Flash Fiction Fall contest, 2025, organised by Seton Hill University, North America.
The pictures below will tell the story.
Screenshot of the email informing my story "The Borrowed Voice" won the contest
Screenshot from Eye Contact Website on 18th Dec 2025- Last line gives credit to another writer for "The Borrowed Voice"
Screenshots of the first page of "The Borrowed Voice" from the published magazine, where the winning story is credited to another writer, vs the first page of the word manuscript that I had submitted; the story was the same word-to-word
Screenshots of the reply received when the matter was pursued
Based on facts and correspondences, not shared here, I know that the reply is a cover-up, and not the truth. The story would have been credited to another person if I hadn’t happened to find out. While I am pursuing this matter further, I am happy that I got the rights back for my story.
However, there I chose to see a pertinent silver lining in this entire episode, which is the reason I have shared it in this section instead of the next section.
If people overseas, whom I don’t know, and who ideally have no reason to know me, take credit for my winning 1000-word flash fiction, then my entry had to be exceptional.
If others resort to taking undue credit for my work, then I have arrived as a writer.
4. Leading With Words, my 5th book and debut non-fiction, came out
Firsts are always special. Leading With Words will always be close to my heart. The self-book that sheds light on leadership communication is meant as a companion book to help you excel in your workplace.
This is the book I wish I had when I was climbing the workplace ladder.
Leading With Words
I am fortunate that management guru Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai wrote the foreword of the book, and it was endorsed by some stellar CEOs and leaders in the corporate world.
Leading With Words is an amalgamation of me as a coach and a writer, which is why many of the people I work with have bought it. Hence, I know the impact it is having and am overwhelmed that I will be able to reach a lot of people, which I otherwise wouldn’t through my coaching, to help them enhance their communication and confidence.
Feedbacks, like the one below, has been very humbling and heartening.
A direct reader feedback of Leading With Words
The book has travelled far and wide in a short time and has taken me to new places (e.g. airport stores).
Some book signings and bookstores' moments
The book launch at Museo Camera and the signings in Bhubaneswar, my hometown, were two particularly memorable moments for me. I will cherish forever the warmth and support I received on both occasions.
At the Book Launch
From a Book Signing in Bhubaneswar
Grateful to my publishers, Srishti Publishers & Distributors, for their support.
5. My previous fiction Till Fate Do Us Part continued to win honours and accolades
Till Fate Do Us Part was shortlisted in the Today Book Awards. It was also the runner-up in the Best Fiction-Romance category in the Authoropod Annual Book Awards. The cherry on the cake was being named a finalist in the prestigious international Page Turner Awards.
A Page Turner Award Finalist
More than the awards, I am grateful for the encouraging and empathetic love from the readers that I continue getting for the book in my DMs.
6. Spoke at multiple literature festivals. My books travelled across multiple book fairs in India and abroad
I started the year speaking in two panels at the New Delhi Book Fair. I ended it by recording the session for the PVLF Lit Fest next year. In between there was the Ananke Lit Fest, multiple book club discussions and podcast guest appearances.
New Delhi World Book Fair Panel
I lost count of the book fairs that my book travelled this year. Jaipur Lit Fest, U.K. Book Tour and Pune Book Fair stand out in my mind due to different reasons.
Some of the many places my books travelled
Seeing the pictures of my books in readers’ hands is and will always be a delight.
7. Continued Media Mentions
I haven’t kept a count of all the media mentions during the year.
I recollect Leading With Words getting mentions in Business Standard, The Print, Mid-day, The Tribune, Lokmat Times, Outlook India, Frontlist & Scroll India.
Media mentions of Leading With Words
Towards the end of the year, The Literature Today magazine covered my writing journey in its magazine.
Author Feature in The Literature Today
8. Wrote and completed multiple rounds of editing of my next manuscript
In my 2024 year-end reflection, I explicitly set a goal of not writing a new manuscript. And if you take a close look at my writing calendar screenshot in #1 above, you will see that there was no time planned to pen a manuscript.
A writer proposes. The muse disposes.
I have my husband to thank for this muse. He casually gave me an idea that I couldn't resist writing about thereafter.
And somehow the Draft Zero was ready.
It underwent 2-3 iterations followed by another iteration after the beta readers’ feedback. I will do another 1-2 iterations on the same, but it's 70-80% there.
If my publishers like it, I will probably have another book coming out next year.
9. Started maintaining an ideas repository
One of the reasons I wrote as much as I did this year is that the ideas I had failed to keep pace with my fingers. And they were coming even when I wasn’t looking for them…at shopping malls, during my work calls, my interactions with maids, while I was half asleep…etc, etc.
I am sure it happens with other writers, but this is the first time it has happened to me at this scale.
And I started documenting these ideas before I could forget.
This document is a list of bullets in shorthand for short-form fiction writing.
As I examine that document for penning this reflection, the MS Word statistics show the document to be 15 pages and 12,401 words long.
I have noticed myself becoming more creative ever since I started maintaining this repository.
10. Travelled… a lot.
2025 was the year of travel for me, even by my standards.
I went for multiple staycations with my family
Took 2 long vacations where I visited 5 new places
Travelled to my home town twice- one was a quick two-day trip when I became an aunt, and another was a week-long trip in December. This is the first time in two decades that visited my hometown twice in the same year. And am so glad about it!!!
Image from one of my vacations
I believe my wanderlust helps me come up with new writing ideas, which is always helpful.
What Could Have Been Better?
1. Book Marketing & Promotion exhausted me
Writing a book (first draft, n number of drafts, beta reader version, another draft, manuscript for submission) is just the beginning.
After that, a writer needs to:
1. Draft synopsis and query letter
2. Pitch and find publishers
3. Work on revisions suggested by editors…again 1 to n number of iterations
4. Give their inputs on the book blurb
5. Give their inputs on the evolving iterations of the front and back cover
6. Talk about their book coming out
7. Talk about the book being out
8. Get family, friends and people in their circle to buy the book
9. Request people who have bought the book to review their book
10. Go about organising book events
Make social media content
Get the media interested in covering their book
Have an answer ready to the constant question, “What are you writing next?” always
Write...because after all, you have to come with your next
This is what I have been doing year after year since my first book, A Slice of Life, came out in 2021.
Writing daily doesn't exhaust me. Marketing about my books does. With Leading With Words, I was too spent to push people for reviews as much as I did for my previous works.
I wish there were a workaround.
2. Headwinds from my coaching business ate into my writing time
My 5-7 am writing routine was sacred. Till last year, no other commitments could encroach on it.
That wall broke this year.
The volatile economic environment in 2025 and the exigencies it created in my coaching venture meant that, as an entrepreneur, I had to devote much more time to it than I initially planned. You can read about it detail here.
There were many mornings, certainly way more than I would have liked, that I got up at my usual time and then dedicated that time to my business venture rather than writing.
My average daily productive writing time must be down to 45-50 minutes/day compared to 1.5-1.75 hours last year.
The consistency and rhythm were there. The focus, not as much.
If I had done this in my early years as a writer, both the quality and quantity of my outputs would surely have suffered. Fortunately, in my fifth year of writing, the cumulative rhythm of my previous years prevailed over my unsteady focus and carried me through.
3. Severe Mom-guilt affected my emotional resilience.
I pride myself on giving my best to whatever I write. But this year, especially, many times it was damn hard.
Worries and anxieties for my daughter, who is a special-needs child, and her future reached their peak. Her evident displeasure and tantrums to get my attention when I work didn't help.
There was a period this year when she had surgery and unexpectedly landed in the ICU. I had written briefly about the toughest 24 hours of my life here.
As in previous years, I found writing cathartic this year, too, pouring everything into whatever I was writing in whatever little time I had.
It was not till someone who knows me well pointed out that ‘there is a different emotional layer to your writing which is making it more emotionally mature’ that I realised that my personal state is unconsciously influencing my creativity, albeit in a positive way.
Life teaches you. Consciously and subconsciously. Whether you are an active learner or a passive bystander.
4. Did not read and review as many books as I would have liked.
My husband often remarks that I have become a sporadic reader since becoming a writer. It was certainly true this year.
Though I read every day, courtesy of two newspapers, the TBR list keeps growing, with more books being added than taken off.
In last year’s review, I had mentioned that I would read at least two books a month. I read 6. This is the first time that my favourite author Jeffrey Archer’s book is pending on my bookshelf waiting to be read.
I can make the excuse of a lack of time. But the hard truth is that if it were important enough for me, I would have made time irrespective of everything, just like I made time for writing.
Because I read less, I reviewed less. Against my stated objective of reviewing 10 books this year, I reviewed 3.
5. Did not take up any new writing courses this year
Since becoming a writer, this is the first year that I haven’t taken up a new course. And I am not happy about it. There’s nothing more I can say.
6. Physical health deserved more of my attention
A sedentary role. Work(mostly) out of the home. Stopping badminton meant minimal physical activity.
Result: Knee aches, neck pain, muscle discomfort and weight gain.
I had a lot on my plate. But that’s an excuse.
I would have found time for it had I considered it important. Despite pressures and constraints, I never missed a single day of my daily writing, for instance.
You can’t do your best unless you feel your best. And I didn’t feel my best this year.
Overall Writing Journey: Progress Vs. Plan
Here’s the actual progress against the 2025 goals I had set for myself in my annual reflection last year:
1. Daily writing with selective focus - will write no more than 15 stories during the year. Not achieved. Exceeded despite being selective.
Couldn’t limit myself to the number committed and wrote more than double the number planned in the original writing calendar. While I don’t believe I compromised on quality, I need to feel the passion for the words coming from my pen.
2. Win/Publish on at least 1 major international fiction and 1 major Indian fiction platform, respectively. Exceeded.
3 international and 3 Indian platforms published/will publish my stories, and I won 5 writing contests, including 3 global ones. This is my highest ever count in a a year.
3. Publish my first non-fiction book and fifth book – Achieved. Leading With Words came out.
4. Not draft a new manuscript in 2025- Not met. Despite specifically having the goal to ‘not’ draft a manuscript, I ended up writing one.
5. Review at least 10 books during the year- Not met. Reviewed 3 vs 10.
7. Get published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology-Don’t know; half-met. I have submitted and done my part. Time will tell the rest.
What Will Make 2026 Great?
I am doing things differently from next year.
My non-negotiable writing principles for 2026 are:
Quality over Quantity
Enjoyment over Achievement
Personal Development over Recognition
Reading over Writing
My energy word for 2026 is ‘ease’. I want to enjoy the craft (process) of writing without getting bogged down in the art (marketing activities and publishing outcomes).
My specific writing goals for 2026, centred around the above principles, are:
1. Adhere to writing calendar without overshooting- Have white spaces for flexibility, but don’t write something just for the sake of it (something that I have been doing through my daily writing ritual). I am decoupling daily writing from consistent writing, and probably won’t be writing daily this year onwards. A big shift for me, and I am okay with it.
2. Make reading books a daily habit- I am adapting the same approach that worked for me in writing. Instead of keeping a number target, I will make it a point to read a book daily for 30 minutes. Some portion of time kept for writing will be reallocated for this
3. Take up at least 1 writing course this year- What got me here won’t take me there. I need to invest in my growth as a writer
That’s it. I am keeping things simple and not putting any metrics to my goals.
Numbers tell. Stories sell.
As an established writer, my focus is to rewrite my growth story rather than chasing numbers the way I did when I was a beginner.
My Second Career: Journey as an Executive and Life Coach
2025 has been more eventful for me as a coach, entrepreneur and speaker, with the year beginning and ending with recognitions and me delivering my third TEDx talk. I have penned the blog post in a similar format on my coaching website here if you wish to read the same.
A Special Day: Named among India's Top 10 Executive Coaches
My 2025 Writing Journey: The Last Word
Consistency trumps talent. The definition of consistency evolves over time.
The word 'author' is now indistinguishable from my identity. This was evident when I was awarded the prestigious Dr Sarojini Naidu International Award for Working Women, 2025, and the citation mentioned 'Author' before other encomiums. I was personally delighted with the same.
Recognised with the Dr. Sarojini Naidu Award
Setbacks are inevitable in your writing journey. How you come back is what will make a story.
Writing is my passion. And right now, I am at a phase where daily writing(the habit that got me here) is getting in the way of enjoying the process. So I will be going slow on this.
I will continue to write consistently. Probably not daily.
Giving up something that has worked for me so far is scary. But then, growth comes from stepping outside one’s comfort zone. And this comfort zone has become a compulsion for me, which I want to break out of.
And what got me here won’t take me there.
2026 is not going to be about proving anything to anyone. It will be about honing my craft and coming up with a new writing ritual that respects my limits, my values, my family, and my craft, while still meeting my professional aspirations.
The same time next year, I will be a better writer. I know that.
Wishing you an empowered 2026. Cheers!
Want to Speak With Confidence and Lead With Impact?
Find Out How in Leading With Words
Smita Das Jain is a writer by passion and an author of 5 books. Her debut short story collection 'A Slice of Life' was named among India’s top three fiction works in 2021. Her debut novel 'A Price to Love' came out in October 2022, followed by 'Twisted Tales and Turns' in July 2023, 'Till Fate Do Us Part' in August 2024 and 'Leading With Words' in September 2025. Smita's award-winning short stories have been featured in 12 anthologies around the globe. You can learn more about her writings at https://www.smitaswritepen.com/
Outside the world of writing, Smita is an Executive Coach and Life Coach enabling people to get better at what they do, a 3X TEDx speaker, a keynote speaker at prestigious corporate conferences and a guest columnist on personal development matters for leading magazines and platforms. You can learn more about 'Smita's Empower Your EDGE' coaching program at https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/
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