With the turning of a new year most of us look towards making resolutions, setting goals, breaking habits and getting on with the things that we may have put on the back burner for a while. If you’re an author/writer this is the time where you’ll refocus on that (almost completed) manuscript, the one that’s been in a file on your laptop for the past six months without being opened. I’m not sure why we feel the need to wait for a certain day in the calendar (in all honesty, any day is a great day to make a positive change), but with the start of a new year it feels more like the ‘right’ time to make those dreams a reality. So, forget about the cliched ideas of working on your goal for a couple of weeks and then quietly dropping it, NOW is the time to move forward, NOW is the time to get back on with the manuscript you started, NOW is the time to begin the story you’ve been promising the world (and yourself) that you’d write, NOW is the time to make it happen. In order to make your goals a reality you need to take in to account several things, most of them are not rocket science, which is great, because it means we can all do it, but they do require a little bit of effort. 1) Break it down – A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, if you have a goal to complete a book of 300 pages or so, it can seem a little overwhelming when you face the very first blank page and a zero-word count. But you are not going to write the novel in one day, if you are also holding down a job or looking after children then you won’t have the time to spend 8hrs a day writing. You need to plan for the long term of writing your book, many writers start by trying to write thousands of words every day and get burnt out in the process, the manuscript then ends up in the ‘I’ll never touch this again file’, so, plan your time and be realistic, if you can spend 30 mins per day (Mon-Fri), then plan to write for this time only, some writers target themselves for just achieving 300 words per day (again, Mon – Fri) writing to this schedule you’ll have a novel completed in 12 – 14 months. 2) Have a time to write – Saying you’ll write each day is great but you do need to plan when you’ll do it, this is of course a very personal thing, some people feel more creative in the morning and others later in the day, also, you may only have certain times of the day when you are actually free to write. Which ever time of the day works best, plan and schedule for it, when you schedule a time to write (and stick to it) it becomes a habit and over time it’s this habit which will ensure that you complete your book. 3) Have a place to write – Just as important as making time to write, having a place which is free of distractions and that is conducive to creativity is vital to writing, you may not have an office or even a desk, but if you have a kitchen table and a laptop/pen & paper then you have everything you need. But the key is to ensure that wherever you choose to write it is free of distractions (and yes that includes cell phones, Facebook, twitter and the internet). 4) Just write – The most terrifying thing that a writer faces is the blank page in front of them, the notion of having to make everything perfect from the get go can stop you in your tracks, remember, everything CAN be edited and re-edited. Make a start and if you need to tweak it, just tweak it later. Following these four basic tips can help you to not only start your book but ensure you go on to actually finish it, so plan your new year and make it a great one!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
JD&JCategories
All
Archives
December 2024
All information within this website (including its blog) is published in good faith and for general information purposes only. JD&J Design LLC does not make any warranties about the reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information in this website is strictly at your own risk. JD&J Design LLC is not liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of this site and information.
|