It’s a new year and the perfect time to start fresh. I like to recommit to my writing and draft an action plan two times a year: in January at the start of a new year and in September when school begins. These seem like good times to reassess my progress and plan my future.
Here are some ways to do that:
Set Your Writing Goal
This one is essential. If you have no goal, it is too easy to procrastinate and let your writing languish. Set a quantitative goal. It can be a daily or weekly word count goal or a page or chapter goal. It doesn’t really matter what form your goal takes. You could as easily make a plan to query a set number of articles or write a certain number of scenes. The key is to be realistic. You won’t be able to sustain a lofty goal. If you set 4,000 words per day, you are going to fail and stop trying. I prefer weekly goals so I have the flexibility to handle changes in my schedule. I do this with my workout goals too. For example, I set the number of miles I want to walk each week because I know planning to walk four miles a day isn’t going to happen. Sometimes my days are too packed and I don’t have the time for that. I can, however, walk 20 miles a week working around around my production calendar. My writing follows the same model. I write every day, but the amount varies depending on client projects. Some days I’m on location filming and don’t write anything other than a journal entry. I find that setting a realistic goal motivates me. Setting one that is too difficult only overwhelms.
Create a Writing Schedule
You can’t set a writing schedule ahead of time except in a general sense. I know I write better in the afternoon and evening than I do in the morning. I am not a morning person, so that is when I work out, check emails, do administrative tasks and research. I plan my days accordingly. But if you do client work, you need to stay flexible to work around those commitments. If you are writing in your spare time, around a full-time job, then you will need to factor in your personal life and responsibilities. My suggestion is to roughly plan a time to write, say every morning before work or for an hour after dinner. At the end of every week, plan the following week’s writing time. You can use your rough schedule as a guide and then make adjustments to meet the goal you set above. Putting your writing time on the calendar helps make it official and less likely to be dropped for a shiny, new invitation.
Set Your Reading Goal
Reading is as important as writing. Every January I set an annual goal for the number of books I want to read. In the past five years, I’ve only fallen short once. Having a goal helps me keep reading a priority, not that it is ever an issue. I love to read. But having a goal forces me to keep track of what I’m reading and to pick up the pace if I am falling behind on my reading because of other distractions. I also recommend setting a goal for reading broadly—change genres, read new authors, try new types of novels, read nonfiction. This will help sharpen your skills.
Learn More About Your Craft
Most jobs require professional development. Writing is no different. The best way to write well is to keep learning from the experts. Plan how you are going to sharpen your skills. It could be attending a writing workshop or seminar, picking up some books on writing, or taking a class. Like everything else, it helps if you plan how you are going to work on your skills.
Start a Journal
Journaling can be a powerful tool for writers. In fact, I think it is so important I wrote an entire blog on the subject. It will be posted next Tuesday. Look for it.
Find Support
Writing can be a lonely venture. In the midst of the work, it is only you and the words. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find support along the way. Look for ways to connect with other writers. Create a writing group, form a critique group, join a writing association, seek writing groups online. It helps to talk about challenges in the process and the work itself with others who share them. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have support from someone who understands the struggle.
Find Balance
This one was tough for me when I began freelancing. I wrote all the time and ignored my life until I burned out. When I realized I had gone three weeks without leaving my house, I decided to change. I joined a martial arts studio where I met my husband-to-be. It wasn’t exactly what I’d set out to do, but it did break me out of that “all work, no play” attitude. These days I schedule time off to enjoy my family. Evenings are family time, as are chunks of time during the weekend. I also build in breaks in the middle of my day for a bit of “me” time. I take a walk, read, meditate or just sit back and enjoy a cup of tea. Being glued to my desk is not a healthy way to live and unfair to those I love.
Be Kind
Give yourself a break. It’s easy to be judgmental and let your inner editor go wild. Don’t give into the negative. It’s a terrible habit and won’t help your writing. If you are just starting out, give yourself a break. Writing has a learning curve. If you are more experienced, you will still face fears of not being good enough. Remember to be kind to yourself. Stay positive and release your fears and anxieties so the words can flow.
Play
Creativity takes a certain freedom. You have to learn how to release the “rules” of adulthood and tap into the freedom of childhood. Play is the easiest way to do that. Make snow angels. Play video games. Host a game night. Dance around the kitchen. Let yourself be silly without restraint or reserve. Find something that speaks to your inner child. If you loved coloring as a child, take it back up. Whatever you loved then will help you tap into that side of yourself now. Play will help your imagination grow, which will help your writing.
Stretch Yourself
Forget about playing it safe. This is the time to stretch yourself. Try new forms and story types. Practice different writing styles. Do multiple drafts of a particular scene to find the right approach. Don’t take the easy route. Take the detour to see if you can strengthen your skills. It’s like working out. If you do the same exercises month after month, you won’t see the same progress you would if you changed your workout and pushed your body with new exercises.
Go to the Hard Places
Similarly, don’t play it easy with your emotions. Write what is hard for you. Dig deep and ferret out those emotions that you naturally shy away from and put them on the page instead. True emotions will show through your writing and influence your characters. If you aren’t emotionally affected by what you write, how can you expect your readers to be?
Listen and See
It’s easy to live within our heads as writers, to form our own worlds. I do it all the time, as my family loves to tell me. But to write well, we need to lift our heads and observe the world around us. Listen to the birds. Indulge in eavesdropping. Identify the details that make up life. That is where great setting and description lives. It’s in the details we see and remember. It’s in the rhythm of real conversations. It’s tough to describe the world if you don’t look at it. Make observation a habit.
Put Down the Tech
Our world is distracting, which is not great when you’re trying to capture the perfect sentence or build a character that rings true. Don’t be afraid to turn off your phone and ignore your emails for long stretches of time. They can wait. If you want to write well, you need to focus. How can you do that if your phone is blowing up every few minutes? It’s okay to walk away from it for the sake of your writing. It will be there when you finish your pages.
Quit the Excuses
The only way to be a writer is to write. There is no magic formula or shortcut. You must write. You must write when you don’t want to and when you don’t feel well. You need to write when you’re out of ideas and when you feel like it’s hopeless. You need to write when it seems daunting and when you are exultant. There is no muse, no perfect place to write, and no excuse that matters more than putting the words on the page. So stop making excuses for why you’re not writing. Either commit to it or walk away.