New Year Resolutions for Writers

As you write your resolutions for the coming year remember to include some relating to your writing goals and dreams. Here are a few that might get you thinking:

• Enter a writing competition every month
• Complete and submit a short story or article to a paying publication at least twice a month
• Complete a detailed outline, including character profiles and locations, for a novel
• Organise the office or writing space
• Undertake a writing course
• Join a writing group
• Read for at least 10 minutes a day
• Write for at least 10 minutes every day
• Keep a journal.

 Select those that appeal to you and will help you achieve your writing goals – get started on them right away and you will soon find you are making progress towards your ultimate dreams.

Happy writing.

Is this the year you'll get that book written?

It’s that time of year when we look back and think about what we have achieved during the last year and, inevitably, realise that there are one or two resolutions we haven't quite managed to keep - only three chapters of the novel completed across the last two years.  When we have finished reflecting it is time to write our resolutions for the coming year with one or two "rolled over" from the previous year(s).

This year why not set yourself up to succeed, write your resolutions as usual and then write out how you are going to achieve them. For instance if your resolution is to write a novel then work out what you need to do in order to achieve it. First be a little more precise – are you going to complete a first draft or is your novel going to be ready to publish? Write this down. Next decide on the word count, whilst this may change as you develop your novel a good starting point is 100,000 words. Finally work out how much you need to do each month/week/day in order to achieve your goal. For a novel ready to publish you might allow a month at the beginning to plan and three months at the end for second/third draft and editing/proofing. That gives you 8 months to write the first draft – 12,500 thousand words a month (does this sound doable, if not don’t panic) or around 3000 words a week (still too much), or 500 words a day. When you break your resolutions down into small chunks they suddenly become achievable, 500 words is only one page of writing. 

For a novel you will also need to breakdown the planning stage into small chunks – characters, plot, location and research (only do the minimum research at the planning stage). You might have 5 major characters and 10 minor characters – you could allocate a day to develop the characteristics and motivations for each major character and then write brief character outlines for the minor characters across two days. You will need to take the same approach to editing however you don't need to break this down into daily tasks until you have completed your first draft.

You don’t need to have the whole year broken down into daily tasks on day one. Start by having monthly targets for the year ahead, at the beginning of each month break down that month’s target into weekly targets and at the beginning of each week develop a daily plan of tasks for the week ahead.

Work on your tasks each and every day, if you don’t reach your daily target don’t worry – 200 words might not be 500 words however it is still 200 words closer to your dream. Don’t try and catch up if you miss a target, you will find that as you progress towards your goal you will naturally have days when you do more than you planned. If you don’t feel inspired to write – sit down and write anyway. On really bad days think of your goal – that published novel in your hands and on bookshelves – and then write your 500 words. Always have your end goal in mind however only work towards achieving the next small chunk.

If you find it motivates you keep a progress chart to record tasks completed and your word count. 

Get started today – write out your resolution, commit to it, plan the week ahead and get started. This time next year you will have that book in your hands.

Happy writing.

CreateSpace now offer extended distribution for free

Up until recently you could publish your book using CreateSpace for free. Your book would be available on Amazon and through the CreateSpace estore. If you wanted to make your book available to and through other online and offline retailers you would need to pay for extended distribution.

CreateSpace are now offering this option for free. You can choose to make your book available to major high street and online retailers providing you with additional sales channels, each with an extensive customer base, at no extra cost to yourself.

If you have published a book using CreateSpace login in and select these additional channels now. If you have written a book and have not yet made it available in hardcopy then have a look at the services CreateSpace offer that enable you to publish and distribute your book for free.

Happy writing.

5 Time Management Tips for Writers

Do you ever get to the end of the day and feel you have not got as much done as you had hoped? There are two main reasons for this:

• You have planned to do more than is actually possible – in other words your goals are unrealistic.
• You are not using your time wisely – that is to achieve your goals.

This second reason is why many people achieve less than they are capable of. Do these sound familiar – I’ll just check and reply to my emails, a quick game of Solitaire will start the mind working, I'm at home so I’ll get the washing on and have a quick tidy up, I must watch this episode of my favourite soap, I'm not sure which task to work on first, I'm blocked – and I'm sure you can add your own. By the time you've completed all of these really important tasks there is no time left for writing.

Here are some quick and easy tips to help you make better use of your time and get more done.

1) Set realistic daily goals – 1000 words written, an article edited and sent to a magazine, write a blog post, send a tweet, outline a new book, and/or complete a character profile. Note that these are achievable daily goals, number of goals will be dependent on the time you devote to your writing activities. If you write full-time you may decide you are able to or need to write 4000 words, if this is the case you will find it beneficial to set your goals as 4 times 1000 words because ticking tasks off your list can be motivational whereas not achieving your goals can be demotivating. Set up your daily goals for the week ahead as you then have a clear idea of what you are doing each day and can also ensure you have allocated enough time to hit deadlines.

2) Track progress – for large projects, such as a book, create a chart or written record of your progress. You can use a count up and/or countdown approach. If you are writing a book that you plan to be 120,000 words have two columns, one headed target - 120,000, the other headed completed - 0. Each day subtract that day’s word count from the target and also add it to the completed column. For small projects create categories e.g. short story, blog post, and/or article. Keep a similar record of word count and number of stories/articles/posts. You may also set a target word count or number of completed projects for each category.

3) Plan non-writing tasks around your writing (not the other way round) – many part-time writers try to find time to write when all other tasks are completed. If you do this the likelihood of you creating any time at all is small. There will be things in your day that you have to do such as going to work – plot these into your day and then plan your writing slots – everything else can get done when you have achieved your daily writing goals.

4) Set specific times to check and respond to emails and phone calls - if your email programme says you have mail you do not have to read it. If your phone rings you do not have to answer it. Set up an auto respond message for your email if you feel you need one – something along the lines of I will respond to your email within 24 hours. Also set up a message for your phone. Check emails and phone calls at a set time each day and respond to them at this point. If you need to spend time researching information or completing a task before replying then plot this into your day.

5) Turn off your Internet and delete any computer games – the amount of time that disappears into a black home as you surf or play is astronomical. Plan when you are going to use the Internet, set a time limit, and focus on any Internet tasks to need to complete whether research or shopping. Of course you can have fun either playing games or surfing the net however do not let this impinge on your writing time – do it after you have completed your writing goals.

Take this approach for the next month, this allows time for good habits to form, and you will notice an increase in productivity and you will start to realise your goals and dreams.

Happy writing.