Happy New Year!
I don't make a lot of New Year's Resolutions but I do look back at the events of the previous year to see if there are any trends that I want to change. (Well, the ones that I have control over any way.) The biggest change that I need to make involves my writing. If you've been keeping track of my posts you know that the past couple of years have been an emotional roller coaster which has taken a toll on my writing. This roller coaster continued right up until the end of 2017 when my mother-in-law, the last of our parents, passed away in November.
If I'm being honest, and I always strive to be, I'll admit that I have seriously considered just giving up writing altogether. I mean, it seems that I pretty much have - albeit unintentionally. However, I'm hard-headed (somewhere my husband is muttering "That's an understatement."). I'm not willing to just throw in the towel; I still have stories to tell.
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Continuing the honesty trend, I also had no idea how to fix a process that is currently broken. Getting from where I am now to where I used to be when I spent at least an hour and a half every night writing seems overwhelming. Then, I came across a tweet by an author friend that took my breath away. This friend and I have never met, yet we have encouraged each other through the ups and downs of elder care and the death of our parents - her mother died about a month before mine. What I didn't realize is that her writing had also suffered as a result of the events in her life. What a relief to find out that I'm not the only one who hasn't been able to "write through the pain!" So, what did her tweet say that impacted me so? In her tweet she was rejoicing having written a couple of thousand words in a days time because she hadn't done that in months. But, that wasn't the part that took my breath away. In her tweet she stated that her daily word count goal is only 250 words and that most days she doesn't make that. *insert angelic choir here*
That's when I realized - I don't have to go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds. I'm not a race car, I'm a writer. I don't have to go from only writing maybe once a week to writing an hour and a half a day. All I have to do is take baby steps. So, for now, my goal is to write 500 words a day. If I can write more than that, great. If not, I'm going to try something different and not beat myself up about it. (Wish me luck!) Baby steps will help me remember how to walk. Once I'm walking, then I can learn to run again.
I've also set myself a couple of goals as far as writing projects go - but no where near as many as I planned last year. First, I want to finish and submit DANCES WITH WEREWOLVES, the next entry in my Kudzu Korners sweet paranormal romance series. I wanted to submit it last year but, unfortunately, it's still not much more than a rough draft. Once that's done, I want to write the next entry in my Paws and Effect short story series. After that, who knows? I have any number of stories vying for my attention.
So, here's to new years, new goals, and baby steps!
Do you make resolutions?
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I don't make resolutions, but I do make a loosey-goosey yearly writing plan. The 250 words per day is actually more than I achieve on some days. So hang in there. *hugs* And Baby Steps is my mantra.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement Kaye. It's good to know I'm not the only one on the Baby Steps plan. 😊
DeleteIsabella, let me begin by saying, I am so sorry to learn what a tough time you've been having and the losses you have suffered. I know it must have been difficult to work through all of that.
ReplyDeleteI don't make resolutions either. I mean, come on, when did anyone ever follow through with a resolution? I DO, however, make intentions just as you did--take something inside myself that hasn't been working in my favor and make a decision to change it.
My breath nearly stopped when you said you thought about giving up writing. A writer that doesn't write goes crazy. It was wise of you to just change the way you write and your expectations for yourself. That's a good step in the right direction.
I'm a little different than you about what motivates me to write. The more emotional pain I'm in, the more I write. For me, writing is an escape from the harsh realities of life. I control the entire world and the people who inhabit that world when I write.
I tried setting word limit goals, but that never worked for me. Whenever I would fail to make my word count, I would feel like a failure. Instead, I write the scene I've plotted out and, when I reach a snag, I stop and go into my mind palace for a while until I can figure out how to untangle it. I can write as little as 50 words to 2000 words. Some days I don't write--I'm plotting, or planning a change, figuring out a character, or untangling a knot.
See? We're all different in how we write, but we're all here for one another. We've all experienced ups and downs in life and in our writing. I admire how open and authentic you were in the post, Isabella. I hope you never give up writing and I hope you heal and find your way back to it by any means possible. I wish you all the very best.
Thank you Sarah. I appreciate the encouragement. I've got too many stories to tell to give up - sometimes I just have to remind myself of that.
DeleteAs Sarah said, we are all different in how we write. I don't make resolutions or set goals. That said, a loose goal is a book a year in my series. So far that's working because I'm always a few stories ahead. Not sure what I'll do if I run out of stories. New series?
ReplyDeleteThere have been times I've stopped writing for a long period. Once I was writing a murder mystery that took place at the beach, and then a friend was murdered at the beach in real life. It took a while to pick that one up again. I also quit when I underwent a year-long medical regimen that left me dull-minded and in pain. I always picked it up again, and you will too.
Yours is a good reminder that things happen in life that affect our writing. Greif is tough, robbing us of so much more than our loved one. It takes as long as it takes to reclaim our lives, but it happens. My best to you.
Thank you Mollie. I appreciate the encouragement!
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