Suzanna's Writing and Reading Goals for 2023: October Update

  

(Image source)

It is that time of year where I update my goals and begin thinking about my goals for next year. 

Here are my writing goals for 2023:

1. Write 100,000 words in 30 days as part of a NaNo project (Camp in April, Camp in July, or NaNo in November)
1. The plan is in motion. I have my word tracker and two projects planned so I can reach 100K.
2. Write at least one children's book in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.)  
1. Will move to 2024.
3. Write at least one new short story.
1. Been thinking about one. Need to find the first paragraphs of a draft.
4. Edit at least one short story from my undergrad days.
1. Still sorting papers.
5. Write at least one new poem each week.
1. I've written some poems but not where I'd like to be with this one.
6. Put together a poetry collection.
1. Still a dream at this stage.
7. Work on the draft for writing a nonfiction book about the day job.
1. One of my NaNo projects!
8. Work on the draft of the graphic novel.
1. Second of my NaNo projects!

Of course as a writer, I also need to read.

1. Read at least 10 children's books in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.) and focus on one category each month and then rotate. (72 read of 60 children's books)
2. Read at least one book of short stories each month. (2 read of 12 short story collections)
3. Read at least one book of poetry each month. (5 read of 12 poetry books)
4. Read at least one literary magazine each month. (2 read of 12 literary magazines)
5. Read at least one nonfiction book regarding the day job each month. (15 read of 12 nonfiction books)
6. Read at least one graphic novel each month. (17 read of 12 graphic novels)
7. Read a total of 150 books in 2023. (203 read of 150 books)
8. Participate in every Kindle Reading Challenge this year and get at least 90% of the badges. (The hardest one for me is the perfect month where you read every day in the month.)
1. I have earned 100% of the achievements for all of the 3 completed challenges: the New Year Kindle Challenge (January to March), Kindle Spring Challenge (April to June), and Kindle Summer Challenge (July to September). I have 9 of 15 achievements for the Year End Kindle Challenge as of October 31.

Reflection so far on this year's goals. I'm shocked at how much I have read. I finally got bit by the audiobooks bug, so I have been invested in reading more than on Kindle or paper copies. Do you have a favorite audiobook?

I have, sadly, reached more of my reading goals this year than my writing goals. I'm still sorting my art studio space, and I'm hoping to organize my books and set aside what I'd like to read each month. Here's to hoping to a productive NaNo in November and some creative time in December.

What are some of your writing and reading goals for 2023? What are you going to do with the last quarter of 2023? How are you preparing for NaNo?

Suzanna's Writing and Reading Goals for 2023: January Update

 

(Image source)

It is that time of year where I make some new goals and check in on my progress so I can adjust. Hooray! I absolutely love making goals.

Here are my writing goals for 2023 and progress update from January:

1. Write 100,000 words in 30 days as part of a NaNo project (Camp in April, Camp in July, or NaNo in November)
1. Right now, this is in brainstorm mode as to what I want to write.
2. Write at least one children's book in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.)
1. I brainstormed but have not started a first draft yet.  
3. Write at least one new short story.
1. Did not write one word.
4. Edit at least one short story from my undergrad days.
1. I am looking for them in my paperwork piles. 
5. Write at least one new poem each week.
1. I wrote one poem. I am working on making this a weekly habit.
6. Put together a poetry collection.
1. I am looking for them in my paperwork piles to start editing and sorting.
7. Work on the draft for writing a nonfiction book about the day job.
1. I have not continued the draft, but I am collecting information to assist with this project.
8. Work on the draft of the graphic novel.
1. I am researching how others have created graphic novels, and creating a plan for how to accomplish a new draft.

Of course as a writer, I also need to read.

1. Read at least 10 children's books in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.) and focus on one category each month and then rotate. (8 read of 60 children's books)
2. Read at least one book of short stories each month. (0 read of 12 short story collections)
3. Read at least one book of poetry each month. (0 read of 12 poetry books)
4. Read at least one literary magazine each month. (0 read of 12 literary magazines)
5. Read at least one nonfiction book regarding the day job each month. (6 read of 12 nonfiction books)
6. Read at least one graphic novel each month. (0 read of 12 graphic novels)
7. Read a total of 150 books in 2023. (17 read of 150 books)
8. Participate in every Kindle Reading Challenge this year and get at least 90% of the badges. (I have earned 8 achievements so far and I am on track to get a perfect month this month.)

What are some of your writing and reading goals for 2023? How did you do in January?

Why Children's Books?

There is just a certain magic children's stories. Some of my favorites are ones like Beauty and the Beast, Oh, the Places You'll Go, and The Giving Tree. I have many, many favorites, but why do I like them so much? Is it because I read them a zillion times growing up? Is it something about the characters or the story itself? Or the fact I can read it twenty times in a day?

Why are part of my 2023 goals focused on reading, and writing, children's books?

1. Write at least one children's book in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.)  

     1. Read at least 10 children's books in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.).

It is something that I've been thinking about for a while. There is a mystery to how books so small and with so few words can be such a big part of why I read and write today. Maybe focusing on children's books will make my 50 K novel and graphic novel projects become more manageable.

Not that I want the mystery to be 100% solved, mind you. I want to explore children's books and see if I can write them. 

What are some of your favorite children's books?

Suzanna's Writing and Reading Goals for 2023

(Image source)

It is that time of year where I make some new goals. Hooray! I absolutely love making writing goals.

While I did not quite finish unpacking all of the boxes from my move, I did make significant progress. I am hopeful that in the next two-ish months, I will not have a single box in sight because they will comfortably reside in the closet or the recycling center. I found a lot of surprising things (two booklets of stamps!) and stuff that I am embarrassed to share on the internet. Cough. Needless to say, not everything survived and might be in the landfill or recycling center.

Here are my writing goals for 2023:

1. Write 100,000 words in 30 days as part of a NaNo project (Camp in April, Camp in July, or NaNo in November)
2. Write at least one children's book in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.)  
3. Write at least one new short story.
4. Edit at least one short story from my undergrad days.
5. Write at least one new poem each week.
6. Put together a poetry collection.
7. Work on the draft for writing a nonfiction book about the day job.
8. Work on the draft of the graphic novel.

Of course as a writer, I also need to read.

1. Read at least 10 children's books in each category (board book, concept book, early reader, wordless, transition books, narrative nonfiction, etc.) and focus on one category each month and then rotate. 
2. Read at least one book of short stories each month. 
3. Read at least one book of poetry each month. 
4. Read at least one literary magazine each month. 
5. Read at least one nonfiction book regarding the day job each month.
6. Read at least one graphic novel each month. 
7. Read a total of 150 books in 2023. 
8. Participate in every Kindle Reading Challenge this year and get at least 90% of the badges. (The hardest one for me is the perfect month where you read every day in the month.)

What are some of your writing and reading goals for 2023?

June Update on 2022 Goals

  

(Image source)

I posted in December 2021 some of my 2022 writing goals.

Six months into 2022, let's check my progress.

1. Unpack from the move. 

    Hooray! I have some boxes left to unpack. I am still figuring out how to organize my studio, and I have made significant progress in unpacking several stacks of boxes. Any tips on organizing paper? Marie Kondo and Clea and Joanna have been helpful, so I have been working through their systems to get myself organized. Labeling shoe boxes of art supplies was more satisfying than I anticipated. 

2. Get my writing office set up.

    Not exactly what I want my final set up to be, because making rainbow pen holders has been on the list for a while. It is nice to see my fountain pens again and get back into writing letters. It has been much too long.

3. Schedule bi-weekly write-ins with my people.

    Well, I have scheduled some write-ins with my people, but I was definitely not consistent. With the office set up, and adjusting to my new job hours, I hope to have more write-ins in the next three months.

4. Show up to scheduled write-ins.

    I showed up to the ones I scheduled. I have not been able to attend others that my friends have scheduled due to work schedule changes.

5. Sit down and plan what project I will tackle in the new year.

    I am definitely focused on working on my graphic novel project and a Beauty and the Beast retelling at some point this year. I am combing through my old NaNo projects to see what projects I would like to start rewriting and editing. The plan is to work on the graphic novel project during July Camp and then outline the Beauty and the Beast retelling, probably for November NaNo.

6. Plan my next NaNo novel. 

    In the works. My plan is to see what happens in July Camp, and start planning for my November NaNo project. I want to try Save the Cat, StoryGrid, and The Hero's Journey for July Camp, and then make a decision from there of how I will plan my November NaNo project.

7. (Maybe do Camp in April and July).

    Ok, I am going to be doing July Camp NaNo. So I will be working on my graphic novel. I did not participate in April due to switching jobs in April. 

8. Make writing a daily routine. 

    Not quite there yet. It will be easier to dig into a writing routine once unpacking and studio organization is more polished. In the meantime, I will write during the bi-weekly write-ins. 

What are your tips for organizing your writing spaces? Any special ways that you organize/sort/display paper, like writing drafts and rounds of edits?

Celebrating 2021 and Preparing for 2022

 

(Image source)

Well, here we are, days away from saying goodbye to 2021 and saying hello to 2022.

I accomplished a lot of my career change goals, all the while dreaming of the good ol' days where I could write my morning pages daily, and then work on some poems, stories, novels, and graphic novels. With the major shifts in my life, 2021 did not see a lot of writing. I did complete NaNo successfully, which re-ignited my desire to figure out how to balance my career with my passion for writing.

First I need to unpack from the move. Get my writing office set up. Schedule bi-weekly write-ins with my people. Show up to scheduled write-ins. Sit down and plan what project I will tackle in the new year. Plan my next NaNo novel. Maybe even do Camp in April and July. But most importantly, make writing a daily routine again.

How was your 2021? What are you planning for 2022?

NaNo tips from O'Abby's Archive

 With NaNo in full swing, I thought this month I'd bring back some posts from years past that might have helped writers struggling with NaNo.  Post like this one from three or four years ago.

Dear O'Abby,

I signed up to do NaNo this year for the first time and a week in, I'm already struggling.  I did tons of prep beforehand and I know what I want to write, but I have a physical condition which makes it difficult to sit in one position very long, and it's hindering my ability to reach the necessary word count each day.  I already have anxiety issues, and not reaching my daily word count is making me even more anxious. And that's making it even harder to write. Do you have any advice?

Yours,

Word Panic

Dear Word Panic,

I don't know exactly what your situation is, but you mention physical discomfort while sitting too long.  Is there a possibility you could stand?  I use a standing desk at work and that has immeasurably improved a long-standing struggle I had with arm, back and shoulder pain.  If you can't get yourself a standing desk, it's possible to raise your computer or desk using phone books, bricks, dictionaries and the like.  I also find the kitchen counters are a good height for standing and typing.

If that's not an option, maybe you could break your writing time down into small chunks so you can sit and write only as long as it's comfortable.  Then stop, do something else, and go back to the writing when you feel like you can sit again.  You will soon figure out how many words you can get through in each chunk so you'll be able to figure out how many writing sessions you will need to reach your word count each day, and how to schedule them around the rest of your life.

But even if you don't figure it out, at least you gave it a shot.  You got some words on a page. NaNo isn't for everyone.  Some people thrive on the pressure of having a daily goal to reach, but for others, it's added stress that isn't needed.  Especially while juggling everyday life as well. 

If NaNo is making you anxious and you're feeling like you can't cope, it's not the end of the world if you stop.  No one is going to die if you don't write 50,000 words in November.  It's no crime if you take until January to hit that 50K mark.  What's important is that you want to write a book, and you've started it.  Keep writing, even if you're not writing the 1,667 words a day NaNo dictates.  Write what you can and keep going.

X O'Abby

Creating a Writing Routine...And Sticking With the Game Plan

(Image Source)

Do you want to write (fill in the blank) and you've been trying for (length of time) to write your project? But to begin with, what is your current project? What has your current timeline looked like in the past and what does your current writing routine look like for a current project?

Here's my example.

So I have been working on this character's story since 2011 when I combined two short stories into a novel, and I made several attempts at a novel draft. Then I took a graphic novel workshop in 2015 and now the story is a graphic novel. I created a script and just need to decide how to organize the mini stories into a cohesive or somewhat cohesive graphic novel so I can start the sketching and final stages.

My goal is to take the graphic novel script and rearrange my outline, then do sketches, then final artwork. 

Writing Routines that Worked for me in the past

1. Getting up early and working on current project prior to work. 

2. Working on lunch break.

3. And...I have not usually been successful with working on a current project after work. Just too tired. 

So that means that working on the project before work is my best bet. 

Coming up with a Game Plan

Since this is my first graphic novel, and I am a self-taught artist, I am unsure of how long it will take to complete this project, let alone the fact that I have been working on this story for a solid decade, as of this February 2021. 

What are your steps? What needs to happen first?

My steps include:

1. Organize the script.

2. Create sketches.

3. Feedback from beta readers who are fellow artists.

4. Create sample final pages.

5. Feedback from beta readers who are fellow artists.

6. Create final pages.

Tracking your progress

I'm a huge fan of bullet journaling and I have been experimenting with daily trackers. My initial goal will be working on my project every morning before work for 30 minutes and to work on my project on my days off for an hour. Once I have settled into this routine, then I can revise my progress and game plan as necessary.

How do you tackle your writing routine and game plan for a current project? What has worked for you in the past? What works for you now?

2021 Writing Goals

(Photo source)

 

Every year I enjoy making a list of goals and seeing what I can do to achieve them. 2020 has been (insert word here). When it comes to goals I made at the beginning of 2020, I have been successful in some ways, and terrible in others (cue the laughing and crying).

It is more pleasant to think about 2021 goals because there is hope around the corner. I participate in National Novel Writing Month in November every year, and since I will be graduating, I will be able to write more in the coming year. So here are my goals as they stand now.

1. Participate in April Camp National Novel Writing Month

2. Complete masters thesis

3. Prepare thesis for publication

4. Participate in July Camp National Novel Writing Month

5. Participate in November National Novel Writing Month

6. Edit 2020 National Novel Writing Month Novel

 

What are some of your writing goals for 2021?

 

Resetting the Goal Clock: 100 Rejections Again

My mother and I recently had a very eye-opening conversation. It involved my lifelong tendency to set gloriously unachievable goals for myself as well my recent mental health diagnosis from the doctor (bipolar II).

Phew. I haven't really shared that diagnosis with anyone before online — not officially, that is. But there it is. I wasn't keeping it a secret so much as waiting to see if it was true, because I've had so many diagnoses and the only ones I trust are depressed and anxious. I've been bipolar, I've been borderline, I've been OCD, I've been it all, and nothing has stuck. This new one felt real, though, but I wasn't about to go announcing it to the masses until I knew.

So this conversation with my mother, it was in mid-December, and it was about New Years' Resolutions, and it was about Bipolar II, which includes episodes of hypomania, which involves feeling invincible. Feeling like you can take on the world, no problem, easy peasy. Write a book a month? No freaking problem, buddy. Cause you're the king of the world. Conqueror. Hero. Borderline almighty.

Until all that energy fizzles out. You hit a roadblock. Someone says no. Your bottle of prescription meds is empty and the pharmacy is closed and the weather is cold so instead of getting a refill you crawl into bed and you sleep and it's been 24 hours since you took your meds and, well, shit. 

A whole nasty cycle begins, and now you're not on top of the world but being buried alive in the center of the Earth, and it takes every ounce of strength to claw your way out. Fingernails broken and covered in dirt and you can taste blood in your mouth but at least you're not buried anymore, right?

Until next time.

So what does that have to do with writing? What does that have to with getting 100 rejections in 2018? What does that have to do with anything related to Operation Awesome?

The thing is, so much of last year was coming in and out of Bipolar II cycles. From depression to slight hypomanic states to deep, incredibly deep depressive episodes. At the beginning of the year I set these lofty goals for myself and I was so disturbingly confident I would meet them all.

This did not happen. I met not a single one of them.

I wrote no new novels. I did not read 52 books. I did not meet any more of my literary heroes. I did go to book conferences. 

Finally, I had made a goal here on this blog that I'd seek 100 Rejections by Dec. 31, 2018.

I'm pretty sure I got to 10? Maybe. If that.

And not because people said yes. Because I didn't ask. I didn't write. I hardly could, it seemed.

But the thing that I did in 2018 is that I survived.

I don't know why last year was so hard for me. I've managed to work full-time, even longer hours, while writing and having a social life and watching TV/reading books. But for some reason, 2018 was the year where all I could do was work and maybe watch TV and read and then be depressed. And the watching TV and reading (I mean, except for the four months when I literally didn't crack the spine, electronic or physical, of a book) was the only way to not be depressed.

Y'all, I promise this is relevant. 

Here it is: sometimes you have to reset the clock. You make a goal. You surge forward. And you just...you don't make it. For whatever reason. Maybe it's your fault — maybe you have been dropping the ball lately. Or maybe it's not even your fault. 

Life hits us with unexpected circumstances sometimes. It's out of our control. The thing that I remind my friends, even those who don't have mental illnesses, is that there's always going to be things that hit them out of the blue and, for periods whose length I truly cannot predict, and it'll knock the wind out of their sails.

And that. Is. Okay.

Life is unpredictable. Sometimes it's possible to speed along and do it all. And sometimes it's just about surviving. Putting one foot in front of the other and making do.

I've been in such a long, long, long extended period of making do. To be honest, I don't know when (or if, really), I'll snap back into vibrancy. 

All I know is that...I'm gonna keep trying. One foot in front of the other, yes, but also, goals.

When I fall, when I fail, I'll just reset.

Therefore, for 2019, one of my goals is as follows:

Score 100 Rejections Across All Writing Submissions 

Fingers crossed. Check in soon.

What are some of your goals you're working on in 2019 that you've had to reset, maybe even multiple times?

In Search of 100 Rejections by Dec. 31

Y'all remember way back in early March when I publicly declared I was striving for 100 rejections in 2018?

Well. That has gone...not swimmingly. As it turns out, not writing anything for three months actually decreases the number of projects you can have rejected! Who would have thought, am I right?

On a serious note, I have counted only eight (8) rejections so far this year. Which isn't to say I haven't had more, because I'm sure a few slipped through the cracks of my depression during the last few months. All that number really proves is that I haven't been submitting and pitching like I had planned.

Of course, one drawback is the fact that my novel progress has been, how to put this nicely...painstakingly slow. I wrote a combined 3,000 words for June and July combined. None so far in August. A handful more in May.

You can't query an unfinished manuscript, and seeing as I was already nearing 20,000 words in a re-written but fairly polished draft by mid-March, I was filled to the brim with confidence that I would finish it off and be able to begin querying by mid-summer.

Maybe there's something in here about "the best laid plans," or whatever, but that feels more pontificatory than anything, and I'm...not in the mood to lecture myself. Or you.

I actually think my slow progress on the novel is due to a few factors, including the "middle slump," the fact that I'm suddenly working full-time again, and the freezing nature of fear.

Which is what I want to explore here: fear, and how it freezes us. And this time, not the fear of failure.

The thing is, as a writer, I'm used to "failure." I've been submitting my writing since early 2014, and had the bulk of it rejected until late 2015. Since then, I've been active as a freelance essayist, and while I've had multiple acceptances, I still regularly get rejected, both from new publications and from ones I have a relationship with already.

I queried my first novel beginning in January 2015, and out of 30+ queries, I received two partial requests. Neither went anywhere.

Failure, as a writer, is an intimate acquaintance of mine.

I'm not afraid to query ALLIE MAE DOESN'T GET THE GUY because I don't want to look its failure in the face.

I'm afraid to query this book because I believe in it. Because I have hope and faith and belief that maybe, just maybe...this will be the one to succeed.

I had that belief in my first book (hence, why I queried it) but it turns out it was massively misplaced. The next two books I wrote and edited never reached a place, plot-wise or writing-wise, where I was confident in querying them.

But this one? This one I believe in. I believe in the story itself; I believe in the characters; I believe in the themes and motifs and the small yet defining personality traits of my protagonist; I believe in the writing.

I also definitely believe in pretty aesthetics!

And I'm terrified of being proven wrong. Terrified that I'll finish it, that my critique partners and beta readers will love it and promise that it will snag me an agent. Terrified that I'll send it out to agents and nothing will come of it.

That I'll be disappointed. And that I'll turn that disappointment upon myself, shape it into a knife pointed directly at my heart.

You idiot. I can't believe you thought you were good enough. I can't believe you thought you would ever be good enough.

I swear, I can already hear the mocking words, reverberating in my brain, if I send this book out, heart high, and my hopes are dashed.

So, yes. I'm 25,000 words into my novel, and I'm frozen with fear. I've spent the past few months telling myself I needed to finish the book because maybe, just maybe, this would be the one. And all that pressure has me caving.

But.

But what if, instead, I don't finish the book because it will get me an agent. What if I flip the narrative (again). What if I finish the book because it will help me reach my goal: 100 rejections by December 31.

Again I find that looking at rejections as notches in a shield and not "the worst possible outcome" helps. I don't know how or why. I just know that it reframes the issue, and suddenly I'm not afraid of them.

Each rejection is a sign that I tried. That I flung myself out there, vulnerable and unafraid, and yes, I was turned down, but you know what?

I tried. I faced my fears. And even if they think they won, I know they're wrong. Because the way you defeat fears isn't by proving they were unfounded. It's by proving they can't hold you back.

What is something you're afraid of in your writing journey...and what steps, small or not, can you take to try to prove your fears won't hold you back?

Working Toward a Goal: 100 Rejections in 2018

Common, and good, writing advice often takes the form of setting a goal: a reasonable goal, that is. For example, I could set a goal that I'll get published in 2018, but since I'm currently unagented and still a few drafts away from querying, that goal is not just outlandish, it's also out of my control.

A more reasonable goal would have been: query the book by the end of 2018. That's something that I can manage, something that is within my power, and something that's necessary, because I'll need an agent in order to get traditionally published, which of course is the dream.

This year I'm aiming for a somewhat lofty goal: I'm aiming for 100 rejections. If you want to know the reasoning for that goal, I'd urge you to check out the piece by Kim Liao that, as far as my internet digging can discern, laid out the original goal.

Great, now that you've read her wonderful piece and know the background, I'll explain my process for this goal.

So far, I'm really not doing a great job of meeting it.

We're two full months into 2018, and I've only garnered three rejections! I've had personal essays rejected from Racked, Seventeen.com, and Electric Literature. So, as far as places that are rejecting me, I'm pretty comfortable with these three; they're all outlets where I would love to publish, and a rejection from them merely means that I'm aiming high enough.

It's the number of rejections that bothers me. Three, just three!

It's low because, to be honest, I haven't pitched that many things this year. Oh, in the beginning of January, I had the most lofty of ideas! I was going to go on a submitting rampage, sending out a barrage of poems, essays and queries that would overwhelm the literary world. Sure, most of them would be rejected. But you learn something with every rejection: you learn that maybe this piece isn't ready yet, or that maybe you should have sent it to someone who's more suited for it, or that whoops, that publication is closed to unsolicited pitches!

Each rejection adds to your knowledge of the field of publishing. More importantly, if you submit high quality material and it's rejected because it just doesn't fit, or the publication doesn't quite have the room for it, but the editors still like your work, they'll invite you to pitch again. They know your name by now. They remember you as that writer who does good stuff, yes, and maybe, if the stars all align and smile down upon you, there will come a day when they need to assign a specific piece and they reach out to you.

Honestly, I have a great excuse for having fallen so far behind on my rejection goal this year. I've not been well for much of the year, and that's made it hard to  make progress on my writing. But! I'm re-committing to my goal! To submit, to query, to pitch...to send out a flurry of words and hope for some to land, but to rejoice in the ones that don't because, hey, they're just adding to my goal!

I'm going to check in with y'all monthly, with an update on what I've submitted and how many new rejections I've garnered. Hopefully, my journey will inspire and encourage you to send your words out as well!

Writing Goals for 2018

The new year is upon us, and it's a great time to reflect back on the past writing year and set some goals for the next one. I always find it's best to keep New Year's resolutions within the realm of my own control: 'resolving' something like 'I want a six-figure book deal!' is great, but it's not something any of us can control. It might happen, but you're setting yourself up for disappointment if it doesn't. Instead, resolving something like, 'I'm going to write six hours a week' sets a goal that's attainable, measurable, and within the writer's control.

What are your writing goals for 2018? What are you most proud of from 2017? What lessons did you learn this year that you're going to apply moving forward?

Happy New Year!!!

Motivation for Procrastinators

my actual motivational stones

I'm always on the lookout for motivational tools that I can get behind, something that can nudge me in the right direction without being a drill sergeant about it. I'd seen those pretty inspirational stones for sale before, but usually they cost more than I wanted to pay. So, when I found one at a thrift store for fifty cents (maybe even twenty-five) I picked it up. It was black and shiny and said "DREAM" in lovely white serif font. Now, I knew that a rock really couldn't inspire me that much... unless perhaps I kept it around my work area and looked at it all the time. So, I decided to set it in front of my keyboard and hope it would inspire me.

It was a lovely thought, but I didn't feel as inspired as I hoped I would. Eventually I realized a stone with the word "DREAM" on it, wasn't going to make me productive. I needed another word. I had to find another stone! I trolled Ebay (another wonderful way to spend a potentially-productive writing day) for such a stone, and eventually I found one. It was mottled white and said in no-nonsense depressed san-serif, "CREATE". This was it! I was sure that this stone, paired with my 'Dream' stone, would help me to finally see my goals through.

Guess what? It didn't. I still have those stones sitting in front of my keyboard, nudging at my conscious mind to DREAM and CREATE, but they mostly just make me feel guilty for not doing it.

This is a classic procrastination tactic, and I am a classic procrastinator. Did I really believe two stones would be all the catalyst I needed to launch into productive mode? No. Did I think it was more fun to search Ebay for more clutter I don't need than work on my current project? Yes. At least, at the time I did.

Procrastionation is an ugly, greedy, short-sighted mistress. It steals your time - time  you could be using to do the things you love. For me, the only way to beat procrastination is to remind myself on a regular basis what I really want and what I need to do to get there. The rest is about breaking down those To-Dos, and scheduling them, which I'm really bad at.

I seem to work best spontaneously. I spontaneously clean, spontaneously cook, spontaneously write. The key to getting myself to be productive a little more often is to psych myself up. Anything I want to do, when I think about it and how much I love it, or how great I'll feel after it's done, I become inspired to do it.

Here are the tips I've read that actually work for me:

1. Encourage yourself. Remind yourself how fun whatever you want to accomplish is.
2. Be passionate. If you aren't that into it, you're not going to want to do it. Find your passion for it, whatever it is. 
3. Imagine the goal finished and how great it will look/feel/sound/taste. (good for chores)
4. Break a big goal down into smaller tasks. Perspective makes all the difference.
5. Give yourself a time limit/deadline. This helps especially when it's something you don't really want to do. If you know you only have to do it for _ hours, it's not so bad.
6. Treat yourself. Give yourself an incentive to get the work done, and celebrate when you do. This might be going out with friends, writing a celebratory blog post, watching a tv show you love.
7. Surround yourself with people who encourage you to accomplish your goal, or people trying to accomplish the same goal you are. This is the writing community, so you won't have to go far before you run into someone who's also writing a YA set in the civil war, or a contemporary romance set in a bakery.
8. Dump the negativity. If someone - even a writer friend - makes you feel talentless, stupid, or doubtful of your skills, get away from that person. Accomplishing big goals is hard enough without naysayers trying to trip you up. 
9. Start. Just do the thing. It isn't that big a deal. Really. 
10. Repeat steps 1-8 and keep going. 

We are not stones, and the impulse of creativity/productivity is not inert. It is motion. It is fire, and it pulls and pushes and makes you very uncomfortable until you take action. So take action now. No amount of gentle, happy words telling you how great you are can beat that. Go to it!

It's the Middle of January; Do You Know Where Your Resolutions Are?

Well, do you?

I know not everyone is as organization-challenged as I am. I have some amazing organizational examples as blogmates here on Operation Awesome. But for me, it's generally a trick to remember, exactly what were those fifty goals I set on January 1st on the high of New Year fireworks? By the middle of the month, I'm awash in daily life and lucky if I remember to follow through with two or three of those original fifty.

If you're feeling a bit swamped by daily life, you're not alone. I'm right there with you. Fortunately for us, there are organizational genius like Abby who create downloadable spreadsheets entitled, "2015 Writing Goal Tracking Spreadsheet."

Yay, Abby! Does it get any better? I submit that it does not.

So while Abby's awesome tool helps you keep your writing goals, I'll just mention a new tool I've been using. It's called THE VISION BOARD.

It's not a storyboard. It isn't framed in filigree, although it could be. Shoot, it would be so much better in filigree. Don't judge me, Pinterest.

It's just a poster I made to include some of my favorite hopes and dreams, as cut out of magazines or as coined in clever phrases, like "Live Life On Purpose!" But mostly my vision board is personal. It's customized to me. I plastered the background with images of lush, green gardens; cozy, stone fireplaces; and rich, hardwood bookcases filled with treasured tomes. These are the places where I want to write. These are the inspirational images that lure my imagination from its daily-sludge hiding place.

Writing goals--or any goals, for that matter--ought not to be about the guilt you feel when you don't keep up, or even the totally awesome feeling you get when you reach them (though that is the huge payoff we all crave). Goals are about the journey. 

I may not have read all 500 something books on my bookshelves (one of my lofty previous New Year's Resolutions), but looking back on the past year, I can say that my time was well-spent. The journey took me through a pregnancy, the discovery of an amazing ancestor, a failed attempt to buy our first house (the one owned by that ancestor)... followed by a successful attempt to buy a different first house (one frankly more suited to us), and the birth of my fourth child. We enjoyed celebrating our first Christmas in our own, really-own place. I even made a construction paper fireplace.

We hiked, we danced, we camped, we watched sunsets, we randomly met old friends in unexpected places, and read a billion books that found us (ones that weren't on my to-read list, incidentally, so they don't count toward that goal). We lived. It was absolutely unusual and inspiring. And I wrote.

I could make a list of things that didn't happen. But that would be ungrateful. As the guru says, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." Or maybe that was John Lennon.

Never be afraid to make those other plans. That's how the journey begins! Bon Voyage!

The Art of Letting Go

In preparing for the New Year (Abby is right--the future is coming soon!) I've been thinking about the baggage I'm carrying into it. Not just literal baggage (I'm on a holiday trip as we speak), but the mental baggage too. Often, it can become heavier than we realize, and a lot of times we don't know why we're even carrying it.

It's...so...heavy...

Luckily, unnecessarily heavy baggage allows me an opportunity to assess whether I can let it go.


Elsa definitely had the right idea.  

It got me thinking of things that take my brain energy on a daily basis. Sometimes it's social networking. Other times it's graduate school. But if I'm being honest, most of the drainage comes from my full time librarian job. On my other blog, I've documented some of the library questions I get, ranging anywhere from the mundane to the just plain goofy. (If you'd like more, Mental Floss recently posted some pre-internet questions from the New York Public Library). 

There is a lot I like about my job too. But when I'm able to separate myself from it, strip away what I don't need, it allows me to focus more on my writing and inner sense of well-being, both of which I intend to put front and center in the coming year. To do that, I need to ask myself the following:

1. What am I holding on to, and what makes it important?

2. What will happen if I decide to let go of things that might not be as important as I'm making them?

3. How can I prioritize what's important over the other stuff that isn't?

The first step I took was going dark on my other blog in December. As time goes on, I may be more selective about what I post there, at least until I get enough fiction writing under my belt to support the platform I've built for myself.

The second step I took was making a list of conferences I hope to attend. Google Docs is a great place for to-do lists, and if you need ideas on how to organize and prioritize, Getting Things Done is an excellent book.

Finally, per Abby's advice, I'm setting measurable goals for the coming year. Currently, I'm editing an old project and drafting a new one, and my goal is to have something submittable and polished by the end of 2015.

So what about you? What are you holding on to? Is it helping you? And if not, are you ready to let it go?

The 2015 Accountability Post

Happy Holidays, everyone! Whatever you're celebrating, I hope your year is winding down nicely and that you're getting some well-deserved relaxation.

So that said... is it too early to start talking about goals for 2015? ;)

While I am pretty good with self-set deadlines, I do work full time, and my days just seem to get fuller and fuller as I go on, and sometimes it's easy to shunt all my wordcount goals to the weekend. So I do find it useful to state my writing goals in a nice, public place. I wouldn't want to go back on my word, after all!

So while it's early, I'm setting my first goal of 2015: I plan to finish my current work in progress by mid-March. Sure, that leaves this notoriously slow-drafter three and a half months to finish a project that is not quite half-done yet. But it wouldn't be the first time I've surprised myself!

If you, like me, find it useful to shout your goals from the rooftops, then please do join me in the comments! What are some of your writing goals for 2015?

Checking in: New Year's Resolutions?

TGIF, everyone! Is it really almost the end of January? I hope your 2014 so far hasn't been as breathless as mine!

My post today will be a short one: the complete draft of my WIP must be on my agent's hard drive by mid-February, and these last three chapters aren't going to write themselves! Though this is a self-set deadline, I am sticking to it as best I can. This project has been ongoing since the spring of 2012, and my main New Year's Resolution is to get it in fighting shape by May.

In publishing, after all, so much is out of our control, and it can be hard to set concrete goals. Though it's difficult to stop thinking about getting an agent, or getting a book deal, or selling x many copies by the end of the year, it's usually best to focus on the things that are within your power: finishing a chapter, nailing that revision, creating a kickass marketing plan. At least, it's certainly always helped me!

So this post is to check in with all of you. Where are you so far with your 2014 writing? And where do you hope to go?

Summertime, when the writing is easy

Ready to earn your writing badge? Join Camp NaNoWriMo or another writing challenge.

Is writing ever easy? Well, no. But this year, I'm going to try make summer my writing season, easy or not. I've got a file full of WIPs and outlines, and by the end of the summer I'm going to polish off a couple picture books and make solid progress on my next novel.

I know a lot of writers with day jobs as teachers and school librarians look forward to summer as a time to work on their writing. For a lot of writers, it's business as usual at the day job, with writing during nights and weekends. And other writers with children find summer their least productive time, when kids are home from school. Operation Awesome's Toni Kerr wrote about challenges and strategies for handling the season earlier this week. Becky Mahoney wrote about the frustrations and agonies of the summer publishing slow-down for writers who are querying or on sub.


For me, it's not a great time to write -- children, day job, and the distractions of summer fun. But I've realized no time is really good -- the only time is the time we have. So for me, this summer is it!

Need some inspiration? Summer is also the season for writers' conferences, retreats, and workshops, small and large. Here are a few of the biggest:

Camp NaNoWriMo - Pick your summer month, then write a novel during a month-long virtual writing retreat. Join now for the July session! 

ALA Chicago - The summer conference of the American Library Association is where librarians convene and rub elbows with writers like Alice Walker, Khaled Hosseini, Temple Grandin, and Ann Patchett. (June 27 - July 2)

The 42nd Annual SCBWI Summer Conference - The Los Angeles meeting of SCBWI is about craft and networking with fellow children's writers and illustrators, like Laurie Halse Anderson, Kirby Larson, Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, and Richard Peck. And be sure to check your regional SCBWI for more events.  (August 2-5)

What are your summer plans? More writing? Less? What are your goals? Do you have any events on the calendar, or know of any others? Any books you're especially interested in reading?

Secondhand triumph

Hello out there, Operation Awesome!  My name is Becky Mahoney, and I’m one of your new bloggers. I’ve been a huge fan of this site for a while now, having participated in my first Mystery Agent contest almost exactly two years ago, and I am thrilled to be part of this sensational team.

I am rather newly agented (and I’ve been trying for the past two months to get this to sink in!) but my publishing journey thus far definitely hasn’t been straightforward. And yet, shockingly, I ended up exactly where I desperately wanted to be. It’s funny how these things, on occasion, work out absolutely perfectly in the end.

So here I am, on sub for the first time, doing what people on sub do. Which is to say, I alternate between periods where I feel like it's not real, and periods where I realize it is real, and then absolutely freak out. On top of that, though, I've noticed that one thing in particlar has intensified. It makes me ridiculously happy to see people succeed.

I'm not sure when this started - probably around the time I started querying in earnest - but success stories became my drug of choice. Suddenly I couldn't get through the Olympics, or an award show, or even one of those cheesy singing competition shows without misting up a little, because awww, they look so happy!

But, of course, that impulse is the strongest when it comes to writing. I love reading agent stories. I love reading book deal stories. And last week, that impulse almost got me in trouble - it would have been hard to explain to my boss that I was beaming at my desk because I'd set my Twitter feed to #ALAyma. For whatever reason, bosses don't like it when you're ignoring your work to watch authors find out, in real time, that they've just achieved another dream.

Part of it is, of course, that feeling is stronger now that I've been in this community for so long, and I've gotten to know these authors, agents, and editors through the beauty that is social media. But it's mostly that I can't help but be absolutely thrilled for them, because I know exactly how it must feel. When it comes to my own publishing journey, I am quite the stubborn realist, more out of sheer self-preservation than anything. But I've been where these people are a thousand times in my own head, sometimes so intensely that it takes me out of wherever I am and puts me right in that moment. It's the kind of moment you don't want to leave - and sometimes, I don't even try.

But for whatever reason, bosses aren't too fond of that, either.

So happy Friday, Operation Awesome! Indulge yourself in a little daydreaming today. It's good for you. ;)

And in the spirit of this post, if you'd like to post in the comments about something fan-freaking-tastic you've accomplished lately, have at it!