365 Blank Pages for Writers

We're almost at the end of the year 2024. My last post asked you to answer some questions about what you have done in your writing world this year. Today, lets' look forward and consider what you hope to accomplish in 2025 as a writer. 

I like to turn the page on my calendar to a new month. It feels like a fresh beginning, and opening a brand-new calendar is even better. There are twelve months, 365 days waiting for me to accomplish something as a writer, as well as appointments and social engagements that I mark on each month's calendar page.

What I hope to do this year: 

A.  Continue to write my blog posts two to three times a week. 

B.  I'll seek out new places to submit my unpublished work. 

C.  Revise my middle grade novel one more time.

D.  Propose a possible book about writing to a publisher I know

E.  Spend some time writing every day

F.  Act on ideas that swirl in my head, instead of merely thinking about them

G.  Write more poetry

H.  Continue subbing and critting at my online writing group

That's quite a list, isn't it? Try making up a similar list for yourself. Consider what you didn't get done in 2024 and make that part of your goals for this new year. 

My list consisted of eight things I hope to do in this new year. Maybe it's too long, or perhaps too short. I'll be a happy writer if I accomplish all of my goals. Writing goals is the easy part, achieving them can be a bumpy road. It all depends on how serious you are about working toward each one. As always, it's up to you to work on your goals. No one else is going to do it for you.

Writing is a solitary game most of the time. There are also moments when we interact with other writers, attend workshops and conferences, and even ask another writer to critique our work. Maybe this is the year you join your state writers association, or a local one. 

When you open your new calendar, think about the 365 blank pages that are all yours. It's up to you as a writer to fill them in the best way you can. 
 

Writers and Goal Settings

 

You knew this was going to be a topic this week, didn’t you? We talk about setting goals every year in early January. Why?

We’re at a new beginning, the entire year stretches out in front of us. It’s the perfect time to give thought to our writing world. It’s a great time to ponder where we are in our writing journey and to give consideration to where we want to go and how to get there. 

The goals a beginning writer has will differ from the ones a veteran sets. The longer you write, the more complex the goals become. It doesn’t really matter ‘what’ your goals are. Instead, how you work toward achieving them is what should be most important. 

We all know how quickly New Year’s resolutions slip away and are forgotten. Your writing goals for 2022 should stay front and center each and every month of the year. One way that helps is to make a list of your goals and post it where you will see it quite often. Somewhere in the vicinity where you write is ideal. Having those goals in front of you on a daily basis can serve as inspiration.

Be cautious in the number of goals you set  Too many, and it can become overwhelming or even depressing. Also, don’t set unrealistic goals. A beginning writer should not set a goal of receiving a Pulitzer Prize this year. The odds are against it.

Spend some time setting a few writing goals this week. If there were some 2021 goals you didn’t achieve, go ahead and add them to this year’s list  a goal is something to aim at. Nothing says you absolutely must be successful, but it’s so very nice when it happens  

Take Writing Goals A Little At A Time

Wouldn't we all love to be consoled with chocolate and a lot of money? Even the hug might be of big help when our writing life doesn't go according to plan. 

We talk a lot about setting goals and achieving them. It's good to have goals, something to reach out and hold onto. The hard work comes when attempting to achieve our goals. Making the list is easy. We know what we want and where we would like to go on this journey. Next comes working at each goal a little at a time.

That's what it takes--a little at a time. To quote an old cliche Rome wasn' t built in a day. Anything worth having is worth working for. But when we take those small steps, one at a time, we can get tired of waiting for results. Discouragement becomes a close companion.

As an example, if you set a goal of being published in a high paying magazine even though you've yet to be published anywhere, back up and start small. Try a website or a small local magazine when you submit your first stories. When you've found some success with those, move on to the next level and keep moving until you reach your goal level of publication. It may not happen in a year or even five, but if you keep working toward that goal, you might very well achieve it. 

When we don't reach our goals in a short time, we feel bad, as if we've failed. Then we need that hug and the chocolate. And, oh yes, that 6  million dollars. You haven't failed; you're taking it a little at a time to eventually reach your goal. Make a chart with your goal at the top and your status now at the bottom. Draw a line toward the top every time you get published. You want that line to move steadily. Sometimes it will and others it may stay at the same point for an achingly long time. Keep that end goal in mind--it's the gold ring on the carousel; it's the piece of birthday cake with the flower on it; it's the handsomest guy in school asking you to the prom. 

When your get bogged down with the way your writing journey moves, commiserate with another writer. They can relate better than anyone. Then, get back to work on your current writing project or start a new one. Keep your goals in mind but don't let achieving them be the most important part of your writing journey. The thing that is of prime importance is to write and keep writing. Edit and keep editing. Submit and keep submitting. Do that, and the goals will happen. A little at a time!

Dream Or Do?

Could this be you? Dreaming about a great idea you have for a new story? Haven't we all been hit with a wonderful project that we think about or continue to dream about but never seem to get around to actually starting?

Dreaming about a new writing project and turning it into reality are two different worlds. Ideas for new projects sometimes come out the blue, hitting us when we least expect it--often at inopportune times. We continue to think about the project, maybe start making a mental list of what needs to be done. Then  Life gets in our way and we don't get the project started.

Time moves on and the project slips farther into the recesses of our mind where it is going to rest and grow whiskers unless you do something about it. I'm guessing that we all have more than one of these dreamed-about projects that have yet to see the light of day. I can almost see the little compartments in my brain where story ideas reside. Some are aging rapidly while others are hammering to get out.

You're a writer, but maybe a few subheads might be applied, as well. You might also be:

1. A dreamer

2. A procrastinator

3. An idea-only person--one who likes getting ideas but doesn't act upon them

4. An overflow project person--too many ideas and not enough time to start any of them

We're human, so we do some of the above occasionally, or maybe even on a regular basis. There might be another reason we put off starting on one of our long-held story ideas. We might be just a little bit afraid of beginning, especially if we aren't sure where the story, or novel, is heading. We might have only the seeds of the project in our mind. There's no shame in being afraid to begin a new project. We need to push that feeling aside and begin one step at a time. Each successful step is going to send that fear farther back so you can push ahead on the project.

Why not make it a goal to work on and finish a project that has only been a dream so far?  Give yourself a deadline. By the end of 2015. Or six months from now. Or 30 days, Give yourself ample time but don;t srtetch it out too far or it's apt to get away from you again.

Dream or Do? Which one is it going to be?