Friday, January 11, 2013

Writing Resolutions for 2013

Jordan Dane
@JordanDane

It’s that time of year when everyone is suddenly losing interest in their New Year’s Resolutions and having that slice of pie. Take this time to steal yourself for the year ahead. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s supposed to be fun and something we do for our souls and for self-expression. Writing is also the one thing we can control. So let’s talk about a solid set of resolutions for your writing and launch 2013 in style.
 
My FIVE Writer’s Resolutions for 2013:
 
1.) Carve out writing time and stick to it. Set attainable goals and make them part of your day. It’s easy to let life get in the way. And certainly if you have a sick child or pressures at work, it’s easy to forget about the passion you feel for the one thing you do for yourself.
 
2.) Set daily word count goals & track it. I keep mine on a spreadsheet for each book, so I can evaluate my progress and stay focused on my project. Even if you can only do 500 words a day, make it happen. Motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, said he wrote his non-fiction book doing it a page a day. He set a fire under me when I heard that.
 
3.) Cut out online social media until you get your daily word quota in. Being on facebook and twitter and Pinterest might seem like promotion and business, but it’s not the core of your business if you’re a writer. Writing is the one thing you have to do.
 
4.) Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a daily word count. Make it up the next day. Experiencing life and being with the people you love should be a priority too. Don’t take on too much and make writing an unhealthy obsession. It should be fun.
 
5.) Stay positive. When you find negative words coming out of your mouth, or in your own head, stop it. We get enough abuse from others.
 
What about you? Did you make any resolutions that you’d care to share?

2 comments:

Sechin Tower said...

The big thing is always a daily word count (or, in my case, a minumum daily time in front of the keyboard-- it amounts to about the same thing). It seems to either happens every day or it never happens.

Jordan Dane said...

So true, Sechin. A daily count keeps you on target & reinforces your progress at those times when you feel like you're spinning your wheels. Hope your writing goes well in 2013. I need to read another Sechin Tower book.