As we settle into a new year of writing, it’s worth taking a look at our habits and forming an ‘if/then’ contingency plan to keep us working when our plans go awry.
For all you NaNo novelists out there, deep in the belly of a fast-written novel, I have a suggestion for a way to revitalize your writing and your excitement about your project.
For everyone (else?) I talk about regrouping: it’s November: There’s still time to rescue some of your writing goals for this year, and set yourself up for a successful writing year in 2018.
This month’s theme at StoryADay is “Refilling The Well”, in which I encourage you to find many ways of rebooting your creativity…largely by taking a break from your writing.
Let’s be honest: fame and fortune would be nice, but it’s not really the reason we write, is it?
We write because we need to. It should be enough but sometimes we want more. This post will lead you through three ways to get yourself closer to your image of ‘writing success’.
This time next year, you could be staring at a list of achievements that are directly related to the goals that matter to you…
Listen to the podcast episode that goes along with this post:
The Allure of the Fresh Start
I love the idea of a fresh start, don’t you?
It doesn’t matter when it happens (New Year, the first day of spring, the start of a new academic year), I’m always ready with my list of “this time it’ll be different” resolutions.
This time I’ll get my assignments done ahead of time!
This time I’ll write every day, even if I don’t feel inspired!
This time I’ll floss three times a day!
And What Happens Next?
You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?
I’m excited to follow through on my plans for about three days.
Then I start to force myself to stick to the new regime.
Then I start to miss a day here or there…
…and suddenly it’s June and I’m flipping through my journal and I find that massive, guilt-inducing list of Things I’m Going To Do Differently This Year, and my shoulders slump, and I spend the next three weeks in a slump, wondering why I can’t get anything done.
Make sure that your definition of ‘success’ for your writing is really YOUR definition of writing success. Don’t allow anyone else to tell you what success looks like!
Also covering: fifth grade failures; epic wins; a look forward to December 31.