Should Writers Strive for 100%?

 

Writers must give 100% every day. That's a pretty bold statement. I doubt if very many writers give that amount each and every time they sit down to write. Or when they look for markets. Or when they are searching for inspiration. 

In a perfect world with perfect writers, 100% would be the norm. But, our world and our writing world seldom reach perfection. Nor do we as writers. There are days when we come close, and we should feel very satisfied about that.

Do forgive yourself if there are days when you can't give that percentage because you don't feel well, or life situations intervene. There will always be times when it's impossible to give that much to our writing world, but try to move on and get back on track as soon as possible.

So, how do we strive and reach that 100% mark? Setting small goals is one way. If we make our writing world goals huge, we're more than likely not going to reach them. Then, we get frustrated and discouraged. Definitely not a 100% situation. Instead, make a series of small goals. It's a lot easier to give your all when achievement is possible and in sight. 

Something else we can do is to have an attitude adjustment. Those writers who think positive are going to have better days than the ones who are down on themselves. If you think you can write a certain story or essay, you're much more likely to do so. 

Work at finding inspiration to start a new writing project. Inspiration doesn't always walk up and tap us on the shoulder. We have to create inspiration a good deal of the time. We need to put ourselves in positions where we can find inspiration. The reclusive writer is not going to find it very easily. The ones who mingle with others and put themselves in a social setting will be more likely to find a new topic and the energy to write it. Even going for a walk by yourself can bring inspiration, unless you walk with your head down, oblivious to the sights and sounds around you. I attended a zoom meeting yesterday with three other women. In the course of our conversation, there were several times that I thought about story ideas or felt inspiration of some kind. It's there, but it's up to us to recognize it and utilize it. 

Work at those three things--set small goals, make an attitude adjustment, and look for inspiration. Make strides in each of the trio, and you'll be well on your way to increasing what you give to your writing world. 

365 Opportunities for Writers

 

This past week, I've seen Facebook posts that tell us this next year gives us 365 opportunities, the same as the number of days in this new year about to descend upon us. A year seems a long time if you're waiting for something special like a graduation or a wedding or a house to be built. But if you look at that year as 365 opportunities, it might not seem quite so long. It could be that you'll be looking forward to 2022.

Think what those 365 opportunities mean to those in the writing world. Wow! You have 365 days to pursue your craft in the best way you know how. Each day of the year is a gift that we're given. It's up to us to decide what to do with each one. 

The days don't come wrapped in sparkly paper and topped with a big bow. Each morning, when you wake, the day is there for you. It's yours to do whatever is necessary and whatever calls out to you. If you're a writer, writing should be somewhere in your daily plan. Even if you do nothing more than a ten minue freewrite exercise or spend half an hour on research for your next project, it's alright. 

Some days will be filled with writing projects and anything related to them besides the actual new writing--research, editing, revising, submitting, and planning come to mind. 

What are you going to do with these 365 opportunities about to come your way? Maybe today is a good time to think about your goals for 2022. What do you want to accomplish this next year? Start a novel? Put poems into a book? Submit to bigger publications than you had in the past? Try a new genre? Be a better editor of your drafts? Finish projects that have been sitting in your files gathering dust? 

2022 brings us to the beginning of the third year of living and dealing with the pandemic. If I've learned nothing else during the past two years, it is that despite the dire circumstances we're living with, life goes on. Clothes need laundering. Groceries must be purchased. Meals prepared. And, for those of us in the writing world, words must be written.

For this next year, I wish you joy in your writing world, that you grow as a writer, and that you have many successes. Don't forget that you have 365 opportunities to accomplish all of them. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Strive for Perfection in Each Submission

 

Welcome to October! How it got here so fast is beyond me. It's a month of cooler temps, crisper days, falling leaves, jackets and sweaters, and many other things. We have two photos today--one to welcome this new month and the other to show perfection in a table setting for an autumn dinner. 

Why the table setting? Because it makes me think that our writing should strive for the same kind of beauty and perfection. It appears that the table is set for a special occasion meal, and the hostess wants to put her best into the setting. It's exactly what we, as writers, should do with everything we write.

If we are aiming at publication, achieving perfection in what we plan to submit is a leap forward in the publication process. Send in some slap-dash hurried writing, and you're most likely to get a rejection. Put some time and effort into creating the very best writing you can, and you're more likely to move ahead several steps in the line of submissions. Editors appreciate writing that shows the writer understands all the mechanics as well as being able to tell a story or make a statement in an essay.

How do we create a submission that is as near perfect as possible? Let me count the ways! (Shameless, I know, but it popped into my head.)

A.  Make sure your tenses don't jump back and forth. Be consistent.

B.  Check for spelling and punctuation errors.

C.  Limit the use of adverbs. You'll end up with more telling than showing.

D.  Make sure subject and verb tense are compatible.

E.  Use adjectives sparingly. One or two is best--not a handful for one noun.

F.  Check for clarity. What may be perfectly clear to you may not be for the reader.

G.  Look for overly long sentences and revise or split into two shorter ones.

H.  Make sure words and phrases are not repeated close to one another. 

I.  Turn passive verbs into active ones wherever possible.

J.  Check to see what words can be cut.

K.  Look at your opening and closing paragraphs. Are they strong?

L.  Have you included sensory details? They bring life to your writing.

If you can come up with a good story or essay idea, and you go through the checklist above, you'll have a better chance for publication than the many haphazard kind of writers. 

When you prepare for submission, use the same care, thought, and pride that the hostess of a beautiful table setting does. When submitting, you should send your best work. Don't be in too much of a hurry. Take the time to make your submission as perfect as possible. Not once, not twice, but every time you submit your writing for publication. 

What About Those 2016 Writing Goals?

The eleventh month has arrived. I don't know about you but it feels a bit scary to me. I like November because it is birthday month for my daughter plus a few other people I know. It's also Thanksgiving when families come together and pause to reflect on their blessings.

Besides that, it is getting mighty close to the end of the year. Suddenly, those goals I set way last January have popped into my head with a question. How many of your writing goals did you accomplish so far this year? 

My answer is that I didn't achieve all of them but I do get a gold star for several. Here's the list of results for the ones that get that star sticker: 

1.  I managed to write a blog post five days every week in this first ten months--except for a very few exceptions when vacation time rolled around.

2.  I sold a story to a major magazine.

3.  I sold a story that I'd written several years ago and had been rejected a few times.

4.  I've kept my commitment to my writing group to have 2 subs and 2 crits each month.

5.  I wrote more poetry than I did last year.

6.  I encouraged other writers whenever I had the opportunity

There are others that I didn't get done but there are still two months left in 2016. Surely I can knock off a few of them in 61 days. If not, nothing says I can't roll them over into the 2017 list of writing goals. 

How about you? Which of your writing goals for 2016 have you met? Which ones are still waiting to be achieved? Are you willing to give it your all this next two months? It's a busy time with holidays upon us soon. How dedicated are you to your goals? I hope you'll work at it. The ones that don't get done can slip right on into January 2017. No penalty, no punishment.

Deadlines and Achievement

This is one of my most popular posts. I hope you'll find it helpful to you. A big thank you to two new Followers who signed on last week. Welcome! 

Years ago, I told my five-year-old son he could not go to kindergarten until he learned to tie his shoes. "The teacher is too busy to do it for every boy and girl," I added for emphasis. For weeks, he struggled, gave up, and tried again and again. The day before school started, he achieved his goal. What happiness radiated from that little face when he demonstrated his new ability to me.

This little episode illustrates two universal truths. We push ourselves harder when there is a deadline and achievement is all the sweeter when we can share our success with others.

In our writers world, don't we tend to work better when there is a specified deadline? Of course we do. We think and think about writing a story or article but life tends to get in our way. We make vague promises to ourselves thinking things like Tomorrow, I'll get to it. Tomorrow arrives, the phone rings and we're off to another meeting, pick up a sick child (or grandchild) at school or.... But if a story must be sent to an editor by Thursday, we'll create time and get the job done.

That deadline looms over us, so we move it to the top of our To-Do list. The machine can answer the phone. Pizza places deliver night and day, so the family will be fed. Few of us like to dust or vacuum anyway, so that's not a problem. The library committee meeting can go on without us this time and a niece will appreciate a check for her birthday as much as a gift. We need to block out everything but the writing project. We don't want to face failure or the humiliation of telling the editor the piece is not ready.

Achievement is accomplished by setting priorities and being firm in keeping them. Get your ducks in a row might be a good illustration. If we're wishy-washy, our goals float farther and farther away.

When we receive good news from an editor, we've achieved a goal. We'd love to share the good news with someone--usually someone who means something to us. Like my son, we radiate joy when sharing news of an acceptance from a publisher. Satisfaction settles over us like a warm comforter. That, however, is not the end. Success only inspires us to continue writing and submitting. If you receive eleven rejections and one acceptance, which one do you think you'll remember longest?

That small son of mine is now a successful businessman. He learned all about deadlines and achievement before he went to kindergarten Here's hoping you did, too. If not, it's never too late to learn.

Small Goals For Writers Add Up

Any regular reader here knows I like lists. I didn't realize that lists were among my favorite things until a reader mentioned that she enjoyed my posts that included lists because she especially liked that form of organization. Her comment opened my eyes to the fact that I felt much the same way. I think it is because I have always been an organized person and a list is the perfect way to accomplish that.

Thus, today's poster is a list for those who whine. Oh come on...there are lots of you out there who whine about not being able to get any writing done. Hey, I'm one of them myself at times. Thinking about a big writing project can be overwhelming. Walking on the moon was probably pretty overwhelming in 1950 but by taking a step at a time in the future space program, we accomplished it.

You can reach your writing goal using the same process. Set a series of small goals that are attainable instead of making that one huge goal your end-all, be-all. Try to accomplish too much all at one time and you could end up making yourself a nervous wreck. You don't want to do that. Even though writing is darned hard work, there should be an element of fun, or satisfaction, in it, too.

There are times when we have to choose whether to write those 50 words or 400 words or a full manuscript. There's nothing wrong in writing 50 words and moving on to some other task. Come back later or two days hence and add another 50. No amount you write is too small. What is too little is to not write at all because you think you can't get the whole project completed.

Look at #4. I love how simple it is and yet what excellent advice. By writing every day, no matter how many words, we establish a habit. It's one of the reasons I have kept on with this blog for so many years on a Monday through Friday basis. It's become a habit that makes me write those 5 days of the week.

There are 8 points in this list. I could write a blog post on each and every one and I've probably touched on many in previous posts.

Use this list to remind yourself to slow down and take the steps to your final goal slowly but surely. You'll get there eventually. I've always been a NOW person, a person in a hurry, a person who want results right away. I sometimes think that becoming a writer served to teach me to slow down and take life in shorter hops instead of trying to accomplish too much at one time. It's worked in my writing life and I'm trying to apply it in my everyday life, as well. I've succeeded at times but still have little blips along the way.

We aren't perfect people so we're not going to be perfect writers either. But we can work to achieve being a better writer with the 8 step plan in today's poster. So go ahead--write 50 words today. It's a beginning. Remember this--there is no end unless there is a beginning!

Blog Looks and Looking Back

I've been trying out new backgrounds for the blog. Some were awful so ditched them right away. I liked one a lot until a reader commented that the background was blurry and she liked the old one better. So, I've kept looking for one that really appeals to me. Yesterday, I even thought I'd go back to the old one. But guess what? I can't find it! It doesn't seem to exist anymore. 

So, now it's imperative that I find one and stay with it. Not there yet, however, so you may be seeing a different look every day for awhile. Why the need to change? I'd gotten tired of the old one with the brown tones that seemed a bit dreary to me. I wrote about making changes one day last week. Maybe not all changes are for the better.

Now for the Looking Back part of this post. I'm not a fan of the many newspaper and TV journalist pieces which summarize the year's events for us. They tend to make me antsy. My mind rejects them as it keeps repeating to me, "Get on with the new stuff. This is all water over the dam." Well, maybe that's not the best attitude to take. There are good reasons to recap the year.

Writers need to recap the year just past in their writing world. It's time to look over your records (oh, please don't say What records?) and see where you stand in achieving your writing goals and ponder what you might do differently in 2012. 

Look at:

1. the number of submissions you made

2. the number of acceptances received

3. the number of rejections (grit your teeth and do it!)

4. your writing income and expenses (needed for tax purposes but also for your knowledge)

5. goals met and those still pending

6. your record keeping methods (good or need some changes?)

Now that you've looked back at 2011, make a list of goals you would like to meet in 2012. Make them realistic for the most part, but go ahead and put something wild and wacky in the list, too. Put the list somewhere visible so you can refer to it from time to time. You'll be ready for the new year.

2011 Goals

I wrote the other day about setting goals rather than making resolutions. We can work toward our goals in small steps and we're more apt to stay with it. Those major resolutions sometimes seem so overwhelming that it's easier to just plain forget them. Next year, you tell yourself. It's so easy to to that.

Yesterday, I gave thought to what some of my goals for 2011 will be. It never hurts to make a list and keep it somewhere where you see it often. Don't stuff it in a drawer or the same thing will happen as it does with broken resolutions.

In my writing world, my goals are:

1.  Read more.  I love to read, but my reading time seems to become less and less. I'm going to try to set aside at least an hour every day to read a novel or nonfiction book. I do read newspapers on a daily basis, but I consider that a totally different type of reading. Still, it's better than reading nothing at all. I am well aware that being a good reader helps me be a better writer.

2.  Submit more If you don't submit, you don't get published. Can't be said more simply than that.

3.  Read more books about writing  Some writers only read books on the tools and techniques of writing when they are beginners. It's important to do so then, but it's also beneficial to continue to read about our craft. Like the world of medicine, new discoveries are being made all the time, new approaches. I want to learn about them.

4.  Write more poetry  I enjoy writing poetry but I don't do it very often. I would like to try different types of poetry this year

5.  Write more fiction.  I've concentrated on nonfiction in recent years, but I enjoy writing fiction, and I've had a few fiction pieces published. I'd like to write more and write better in the fiction world.

Five goals seems a workable amount. I could probably make the list a lot longer, but if I do, I'm limiting my chances of success. So, five it is. How many goals will you set for yourself this year?