For most people writing is a long, self-directed apprenticeship. You need to be able to focus on where you are going and how you are getting there.
Publishing can be such a slow business that sometimes you can feel like years have gone by and you have only moved an inch from where you started. That’s one reason to keep up a list of accomplishments like I talked about last Friday. You may not have a book on the shelf yet with your name as the author, but knowing that you wrote 50,000 words more this year than last year will help you see that you ARE progressing.
As you think about setting your goals and routines for next year here are some items to consider:
What is your ultimate big dream? Bestseller list? Newberry award? A popular series?
Of course, we can’t expect to reach the big dream in a few months time. We have to set our expectations for the long haul so we don’t get disappointed too easily. But we still need to have the big dream, tempered with the knowledge that it’s going to take some work to get there.
Why do you write? What keeps you writing even when things get tough? Do you want to make a difference? Touch people’s lives? Do you just have fun when you write and want to share that with others?
Where are you in the process? The basic steps to publication look like this:
Write the book. Polish the book. Submit the book. Write the second book. Polish the second book. Submit the second book…rinse and repeat until you get the coveted publishing contract. (And if you are already published, toss in some marketing!)
Knowing where you are will help you plan out your year. One step at a time, get closer to finishing, polishing, and submitting your manuscript.
When are you going to write? We’ve talked about Randy Ingermanson’s theory that writing needs to become one of your “Three Big Chunks” if you are going to make it as a published author. Looking forward to next year, can you set up some routines that can help you funnel more time into writing?
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite writing books, ON BECOMING A NOVELIST, by John Gardner:
Writing a novel takes an immense amount of time, at least for most people, and can test the writer’s psyche beyond endurance. The writer asks himself day after day, year after year, if he’s fooling himself, asks why people write novels anyhow—long, careful studies of the hopes, joys, and disasters of creatures who, strictly speaking, do not exist. p.xxiv
LOL, I love it. Now let’s go write!
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