A new season is upon us. Are you ready to finally complete that novel, memoir, children’s or other book in 2011? Despite years of putting off your dream, you can succeed. You can experience the joy of authorship. Here are some suggestions to help you move closer to your writing goals.
1: Schedule time each day to write. Make writing a priority just like you do feeding the dog, working out and going grocery shopping. You might be surprised at how much you can accomplish in smaller pockets of time. I once wrote a 200-page book in eight months while writing for only two hours per day.
2: Do five things every day toward your writing goal. For example:
• Write five paragraphs or five pages of your novel.
• Make five contacts with regard to research or expert interviews.
• Self-edit five pages of your book.
• Check out five resources to help you in your publishing journey.
3: Stay positive. As a writer, you are constantly setting yourself up for rejection. Your articles are rejected. Your writers group is critical of your work. You criticize your writing. It’s hard to come by positive feedback.
Here’s how I conquer this writer’s curse.
• I display things in my office that make me feel accomplished and loved. I have my published books around me, of course, and then there are family photos, treasured gifts from friends, certificates, plaques and ribbons I’ve won and some of my best photography.
• I connect often with my most positive and supportive friends and family via brief emails and phone chats.
• I take mini-vacations almost every day. I spend an hour walking amidst stands of oaks, along a nearby river, around a lake or at the beach. Go out and ride your bike, walk the dog, sit and read an uplifting book or play with a kitten or a child, for example.
• I frequently engage in something creative outside of writing. I spend time in my garden or working on a needlework project. Other authors I know paint, draw, do woodwork or participate in little theater.
If you’re tired of looking at that unfinished manuscript, make this your year of achievement. Incorporate these ideas into your lifestyle now and you, too, will do yourself proud.
Good tips, I feel a bit down at times or a felling of I just want to quit.