The 5 Minutes A Day Rule

Happy New Year!

Well, the dust from all the various holidays and associated craziness--parties, families, cooking, travelling, et cetera--has finally begun to settle, and I'm trying to get back into the groove. Back to reading and tweeting and somewhat-regular blog posting. Back to writing.

But first, I made a few goals and resolutions for the shiny new year!

I wrote a long and detailed list of new year's resolutions with my husband this year, because we're total nerds like that. We write out lists separately and then read and discussed them with each other.

(Note: I think resolutions are one of those things that, if they work for you, awesome! And if they don't... don't worry about them. But I personally LOVE them. Having goals helps me a lot, and I get such a rush when I look back and see that I've met them.)

Most of my resolutions are personal, like giving more to charity this year, and the rest are mostly places I'd like to see myself professionally in a year rather than actual resolutions (although I know what I have to do to get there). But I do have two goals for the year that I thought I'd share.

They're easy to remember because they both have to do with the number 5.

I got the idea for the first one from Alexandra Sokoloff's blog, and it is so simple but so smart that I am totally incorporating it into my goals for the year.

It's this simple:

Write at least 5 minutes a day. 

Now, for me, the hardest part about writing is actually sitting down and starting to do it. I can find any excuse in the world to not sit down and type at my computer, especially if I feel stuck in a rut or uncertain about where the story is supposed to go. So with this goal, I can promise myself that I only have to do 5 minutes. But HOPEFULLY I'll get sucked in, as often happens, and do much, much more writing that day. But even if I don't, 5 minutes is something, and something is better than nothing.

My second goal is also pretty simple:

Read at least 5 writing books this year.

I made (and met!) this goal last year as well, and it was tremendously helpful to me. I'm trying to always be growing and learning when it comes to my craft, and this is one great way to do it.

Do you guys have any big goals or resolutions for the new year?

Continuing My Writer's Education

I am all about making goals. I am slightly obsessed them. For some reason they motivate me really well ... maybe it's because I feel like I'm in competition with myself? I'm not sure, really, but I know they work for me.

So today I made a new goal, in effect immediately, that I hope to continue every year for possibly the rest of my life.

I was on Amazon, looking for a book on editing that I could read while I'm revising the current WIP (which is almost at 30k now, and *fingers crossed* I'm hoping to have it almost finished by next week, and ready for revisions before the end of June. I'm writing about 3k a day in it. Mind you, the only reason I've been able to maintain this blistering pace? I'm not working this summer.)

Anyway, so I was looking for a book on editing, and I was blown away by all the writing books.

Now, I've read several books on writing in the past ten years or so, sure, but looking at all those rows of tip-stuffed tomes, I could've slapped myself.

Why am I not delving into this vast spread of knowledge and expertise all the time? It's right there, just waiting for me!

To be honest, I think one of my weaknesses is my tendency to assume I've reached a plateau, and in a sense "arrived." I still have TONS of room for improvement. I will always have room for improvement, even when I've been writing for 40 years.

To be REALLY honest, sometimes I get a tad bit arrogant and decide I don't need to read books on writing anymore.

This mindset is SILLY. Not to mention WRONG.

So new goal! Read 5 writing/editing/some other writer-related skill-improvement books a year.  5 is a nice, solid number, not too many, but enough that I'll be semi-saturated with writing advice throughout the year, especially all those things I technically already know, but tend to forget (like over-using "to be" verbs).

I'm also contemplating writing up posts about the books I read, and how helpful they were for me.

I think it's totally doable. My husband is a bit wary (he says I'm already really busy). But I think I can do it. This year (since it's already June), I'll test out 3-4 and see if that's too much.

In slightly related news, I'm also contemplating doing a "1k a day" goal next year. That's 365,000 words total. Just the thought of that makes me salivate. I KNOW I can do 1k a day. It's so manageable. That's the beauty of the whole thing. 365k sounds monstrous, because it is, but 1k? No sweat.

SO. Back to writing books. Anybody have recommendations for me? What's the best writing (or editing) book you've ever read?

New Year's Resolutions

I make them. Yes, I am one of those annoying few who like New Year's resolutions. I make a list, get all excited, and whatnot. I love goals, and the start of a new year is a great time to make a slew of them.

Last year I made only one writing-related resolution. I wanted to complete four novels in 2010. (Not really sure why I made that resolution, since from a business perspective it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but whatever ... I made the resolution.) I didn't achieve it, actually, but I came VERY close, and since it was such a hefty goal I'm still pretty proud of myself. I did complete 3 rough drafts for separate books, and I wrote 50% of a fourth before throwing everything out and starting over. (The fourth was going to be completed in NaNoWriMo, but then I decided not to do NaNo and instead wrote a bunch of short stories that month.)

Anyway. I think I set that goal just to see if I could do it. I was (and am) trying out my creative abilities, seeing how long it takes me to write things, enjoying the relative freedom that I have right now since I don't have any contractual obligations.

This year, however, I'm going to focus more on publication and less on what amounts to creative screwing around, no matter how fun that is. I'm also setting a range of goals. Easy, possible, and unlikely chances of success, you know?

I have some submission goals which mainly consist of writing an obtainable number of short stories and then submitting them to a certain number of markets before giving up, and I have an older book sitting on my hard drive that I plan to revise and submit by the end of Feb.

I'm also going to finish my rough draft of Masquerade if it kills me.*

Does anybody else make New Year's resolutions? Do goals help you or merely frustrate you?



*This isn't exactly how the goal is worded, but ...

WIP Wednesday: Forcing Productivity

If you saw my previous tongue-in-cheek-but-actually-confessional post about actual productivity for many writers, you'll know why I was distressed after I took a good hard look at my own time set aside for "writing."

I had to come up with some kind of plan. Some incentive to keep me on the straight and narrow. Otherwise it would be internet forever and no books at all to show for it.

But, my inner self whines whenever I think this, I like writing rough drafts about as much as I like shoveling manure. On the other hand, I LOVE internet.

I had to do something! So I created a rule for myself that went into effect immediately.

NO INTERNET unless I've written at least 1 thousand words in the WIP. Per day. 

Writing is hard. But will write for internet!!!

BUT so far, it's working out pretty well. I grit my teeth and bang out the required lines, which produces a happy, glowing feeling inside. Once I'm finished, I triumphantly hit save, and then I can log onto Twitter and brag about my success. With this accomplished, I'm free to gleefully watch youtube videos about fainting goats and baby tigers. And chances are, since I got my creative juices flowing, I might just return to the WIP too.

Speaking of Works in Progress, I've returned to the nasty nasty MS that gives me fits. And I think I'm making headway!

* fireworks! applause! ice cream cake! *

The biggest push for me was a new and enthusiastic beta reader who is begging for more. Naturally, being the kind and generous soul that I am, I must write in order to put her out of her misery. * modesty * Annnnd with the writing comes sudden bursts of creativity.  It's really a lovely cycle.

So thanks for that, Rebecca :-D

Anybody else making headway with a WIP lately? What's YOUR secret to getting that creative drive back?

Setting Personal Goals

I love goals. I set all KINDS of them--"I will be showered and dressed before noon," for example, or "I will only spend X amount on ice cream cake this month."

Ice cream cake, while delicious, must be eaten in moderation.

Writing is no exception. Personally, I have tried a diverse assortment of goals when it comes to managing my creative output--some with success, some with not-so-awesome results.*

In one of my high school classes, we were taught about making goals (I believe it was health class specifically, which is weird, but ... whatever). I remember being told that you should have 3 types: 1) short term goals, 2) medium term goals, and 3) long term goals.

I absorbed this information like a good little student and have replicated it in my writing life. If you're like me, and goals help focus, motivate, and compel you, I would encourage you to set a few.

But what sort of goals should you make when it comes to writing?

Short term: 

This usually looks like "I will write 1k a day all summer" (*snort* because THAT happened, yeah...) or "I will spend X time each day writing instead of on twitter."

Medium term: 

For me this usually looks like "I will finish writing this book by August."

Long term:

"I will finish 4 WIPs this year." I really set this goal this year--whether or not I'm crazy, I'm not sure... (I have, however, completed 3 to date. I'm not holding out hope for the completion of that 4th one though!) This might sound super productive, but in reality I have about 8 WIPs in various stages of completion lying around at any one time. Finish, of course, means "complete the rough draft." Editing is a whole different animal.

I play lots of mind games with myself (an aspect of my ocd, I'm afraid) and for me, goals are mostly about suckering myself into expending some extra frantic effort for the singular consolation of achieving said goals. But hey, it can be very effective!

If you don't have any goals regarding your writing, I'd encourage you to make a few.

It could be as simple as "I will write every single day, even if it's just a sentence."

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* Once I set a short term goal (1 week) of writing 5k a day. It ALMOST KILLED ME. No, seriously. It was awful.