How to Set Goals & Keep Them

This is post #14 in a fifteen post series, entitled “15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015,” posting on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday of January.

Okay, my little lovebugs. This is the second to last post in my "15 days to Writerly Awesome in 2015," and once it's all over, I'm going to take a long nap. Phew. 15 posts in one month is exhausting! But also, incredibly cool and fun.

Today, we're talking about how to set goals and keep them, which kind of goes along with this post on New Year's resolutions. For this year, my goal is publishing my book. I'm happy to say that #TATM will be sent off for developmental editing on February 11th, and so the ball is already rolling. I'm going to be a published novelist, say what?

The thing to keep in mind when goal-setting is establishing achievable, realistic goals, all the while pushing yourself to be better. Make sense? Okay let's get down to business:

Write a Goal List, then Trim

In the beginning of the year, you had a thousand million and a half goals. You were going to make a budget and paint your room and lose twenty pounds and start a blog... and and and. Good news? You still have plenty of time. Bad news? You are not Superman.

I'm a supporter of lofty goals; however, being overwhelmed often leads to quitting. Write a goal list. Every little thing you want to accomplish in your life should go on this list. Every lofty little thing. Then, circle the ones you think you can actually achieve. From there, take this list, and hang it somewhere you can see it. Read every day.

Take it a Week at a Time

I've been getting in the habit of working on one goal per week. For instance, a couple of weeks ago I wanted to make my bed every day. That habit has carried all the way over to now. The next week, I set a goal of heading to the gym at least three times. Now, I'm going nearly every day. By rotating changes into your schedule a little at a time, it's easier to form habits.

When it comes to writing, you should schedule your time, that way you feel more inclined to view it as a habit. You should also aim for something, like writing a chapter a week to reach the overall goal of finishing your novel. It's good to go into this with a vision.

How to Keep Goals

The key to keeping goals is to break them down into actionable plans. Don't simply say, "I'm going to write a novel." Create baby steps to reaching this, such as: I'm going to write 500 words a day. You have to give yourself the tools to succeed. It's one thing to have a goal; it's another to implement it.

Try the weekly goal idea, and see if this works for you. For instance, if you're trying to lose weight, say, "I'm going to cut all sugar this week." Then the next, maybe eliminate carbs. Set yourself up for success.

Discussion Time: How do you keep goals? What's one writing goal you'd like to accomplish this year?

Three Reasons Writers Should Walk

This is post #9 in a fifteen post series, entitled “15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015,”  posting on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday of January.

Below is a guest post by my friend Christine of the Better Novel Project:

As writers, we know there is one tried-and-true way to write a novel: Put your butt in the chair and write it.

But, like every rule, this one has an exception: exercise. And no, this isn’t a metaphor about exercising your fingertips. I’m talking about…(gulp) working out. To take the anxiety away from the idea, let’s start with the idea of taking a walk. You like long walks, right? Seriously, grab your pup and go. Here are three reasons why it will improve your writing.

Walk for Mental Clarity

Ever feel that burny-dry-eye-blink from staring at the screen for too long? After going for a walk, you return with your mind refreshed and ready for higher order thinking. No really, that’s science. And that higher order thinking may be just what you need to catch those typos, or realize which paragraph needs to be moved up a few lines to be oh-so-much better.

Walk for a Better Mood

Are you really writing during your screen time? In case you haven’t figured it out, refreshing your feed over and over again is bad for your psyche. That’s science too. Those little red bells, alarms, flags, notifications, and buzzes-- or lack thereof-- can be a vicious cycle.  Sometimes I hear my inner critic saying “nobody cares about you” as I check these things. Why do we do this to ourselves?

Stay positive. Break the cycle, even for a 15 minute walk. Come back and attack the blank page. Then post all over twitter because, hooray, word count.

Walk for Creativity

Something about setting the body on autopilot really lets the mind free to wander. Maybe it’s a small plot point that you can resolve, or maybe you’ll overhear a perfect snippet of dialogue. Going for a walk lets me entertain all my “dumb” or silly thoughts without that inner critic getting a chance to reject them. So when you are really stuck with what should happen next, walk it out!

Finally, writing and exercising are both habits. You may not *feel* like exercising, just like a lot of times you aren’t inspired to write, but you do it anyway. And who regrets taking a walk or writing 1000 words? It’s just a matter of getting over the hurdle of deciding to get up/sit down to do it.

To get writing and exercising to the daily habit level, join my brother Matt Frazier and me, over at writeandrun31.com. We are encouraging our readers to write and exercise everyday for 31 days straight. It’s got a positive facebook group for accountability and encouragement. You can start anytime (read: right now).

Christine (@BetterNovelProj) is writer, joyous outliner, and compulsive doodler. Follow her research on Better Novel Project, where she deconstructs bestselling novels, one index card at a time. She currently has over 90 index cards that show the common elements of Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games in her master outline, which you are welcome to use!

Be Your Best Self: A Writer's Perspective on Identity

This is the #4 in a fifteen post series, entitled "15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015," posting on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday of January.

I hope you're reading this from your bed, a cup of coffee on your bedside table, and sleep still in your eyes. (Gross.) Because it's Sunday, I invite you to do zero productive things. You've earned it. But if you feel  inclined to read this post while you lounge, well, who am I to stop you? Today, we're taking a writing break, and talking about you, the writer. 

We hear about author platforms all the time. Be available to your audience, but not too in their face. Be on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, but don't stretch yourself too thin. We get so caught up in checking off our lists that we forget to just be ourselves. Some of my favorite writers — John Green, Rainbow Rowell, Ransom Riggs — are my favorite not only because of what they've written, but because of who they are. To clarify: writing is not a popularity contest. But having a personality can only work in your favor. A few thoughts on how to be your best self:

Act, Don't Simply React

If someone has taken the time to tweet you or comment on your blog, by all means, answer them. Manners, man. But don't wait around for that. The Internet is a dialogue between you and readers, as well as you and other writers. Schedule a little time in your day to explore. Look at other people's blogs, scan your Twitter feed and respond to people you follow, search your Instagram and find new friends. You are not a Queen waiting on your subjects. You are a person. They are people. Be a part of the conversation, not as a strategy, but because you are genuinely interested in the lives around you. 

Be Open About Your Failures

We don't admire the people we admire because they are cyborg perfectionists. Failures are an inevitable part of life, and they don't make you a failure. People love an underdog and respond to real, live people. If I were a picture perfect Barbie doll, telling you about how I've mastered the publishing world with my wit and charms, you would hate me. This is 2015, people.

Celebrate what makes you different. There are so many times when I'm sitting inside on a Saturday night, thinking, "I'm 23. Shouldn't I be at a bar or something?" But then I remember my goals and that I don't have to be everything at once. That's a pretty awesome feeling. Speaking of honesty, my friend Ashley R. Carlson does it best. Hop over to her blog and fall in love.

Be Your Best Self, Not Someone Else's

How many times have you caught yourself trying to be a copy cat? "Well, John Green uses tumblr, so I should too." "Tahara Mafi started a lifestyle blog, so I should definitely do that as well." "Hugh Howey was such a successful self-publisher, so I'm going to self-publish too." Here's an important truth for you: what works for one person, does not work for all. The book world is evolving every single day. If you try to write based off of trends or market yourself in the latest fad, then you're setting yourself up for a loss.

Find your own voice. It's actually pretty simple. All you have to do is be yourself. (Yes, this is cliché. Doesn't mean it's not true.) This is to your own advantage: if people love you, they'll want to support you, meaning they will buy your work. Being who you are can only help you, and isn't it so much easier? Stop trying so hard. Just wear your onesie and let your hair down.

Discussion Time: Let's get to know each other: Tell me about yourself! In what ways are you practicing your best self? How do you embrace your identity?

How I Kept My New Year's Resolutions in 2014

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Hello, happy holidayers. It's almost 2015, which means about now, you're making a million promises to yourself. "I will lose 15902 pounds." "I will make my bed every morning." "I will finally figure out how to use the garbage disposal." Hats off to you, my friends. There are so many posts out there about how to keep your resolutions next year, but I thought it might be helpful to show you how I kept my resolutions this year. Say goodbye to 2014 with me, won't you?

On January 6th of last year, I wrote this post and made a handy dandy resolution guide for myself. Let's see how I did, shall we?

2014 Goals

1. Edit. Edit. Edit More. When I first wrote this, it was in regards to my first manuscript. Now that I've finished These are the Moments, the full editing process is under way. I've completed my first read-through, and now it's on to implementing the second draft edits. Mission Accomplished. 
2. Create an E-Newsletter. Hooray! The Blots & Plots Newsletter is a real thing. Currently, I'm at about 112 subscribers. Not too shabby, huh? This year, I intend to utilize this even more, tailoring it to your wants/needs/requests. Mission accomplished. 
3. Go Outside. Explore. Travel. This is less writing-focused, but certainly feeds into the inspiration for writing. In the beginning of this year, I moved to Houston, Texas. I attended a Writer's Conference in Austin, and a Blog Conference in Galveston. There could definitely be more exploring and traveling, but overall, I'm happy with this. Mission accomplished. 
4. Build a Blog Audience. As we speak, I'm at 2,464 followers on Twitter. I've started an Instagram, had a successful following on Pinterest and have a very interactive space on this blog of mine. I've made incredible friends through this space, and I'm grateful to anyone who visits me here. I can't wait to see where all of this goes. Mission accomplished. 
5. Finish. That. Novel. (Excuse me while I jump for joy.) Check and check. Mission accomplished.

Bonus Achievements

1. Empty Bookshelf Challenge. On my Goodreads page, I made a goal to read 40 books this year. So far, I've read 37. (I'm pretty positive this will hit at least 38 by the end of the year.) This was a completely random number I pulled out of the sky, so I'm pretty happy with this result. Mission almost accomplished. 
2. Oh yeah, I'm a published author. At a later date, there will be a complete post about this, but for now, just know that my short story, "Carry Urns & Stowaways" was recently published in an Australian anthology called Kindling, by the wonderful people at Writer's Edit. This was an amazing journey, and I'm thrilled to be even just a small part of it. Mission super accomplished. 

A Special Note/Words of Un-Wisdom

If I could give you one piece of advice on New Year's Resolutions, it would be this: don't waste your time making lofty, unmanageable goals. When it comes to hitting milestones, make lists of things that you're bound to make happen. I knew I would write a book. I knew I would pursue this blog. It was only a matter of time/dedication/tons of coffee. There's something amazing about wanting to climb mountains and bike across the country and be Cheryl Strayed. But I'm not going to live that kind of life (anytime soon, at least). You have to set goals that you can see yourself reaching.

P.S. Thank you for being amazing this year.

P.P.S. That was only un-wisdom because I like putting "un" in front of words. A Very Merry Un-New Year's Eve to you.

TATM is done! (Almost) (Mostly)

Dear friends,

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, as it's bed time and I need to bring myself back down to Earth. Today I finished writing my book. That's right, it's all there in print, pretty and pink and… wait what? Let's talk emotions. When I realized last night that I only had one scene left to write, the last scene, I realized I still wasn't completely sure how I wanted it to end. That scared me, of course. So I went to sleep and hoped on every last hope that I could figure out what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.

This morning I woke up with a little bit clearer of a vision. A fuzzy, looking-at-it-through-a-bubble kind of image. And then I did everything possible today to put off the whole last scene that just felt so big and heavy. I even cleaned. I know. Be shocked. And finally, I sat down and wrote the scene I've been avoiding since like… the beginning of this whole adventure. And it flowed. Word after word, it just started to piece together for me, and when I wrote the last word — which is "wait" by the way, but subject to change — I thought, did I just write a book? 

And I did. Which is kind of awesome in that it's my first book. But also, I'm aware that others have written book after book before me, so I've got a long road ahead of me. Anyway. I finished writing a book today, and the editing will come tomorrow, so I feel kind of pins-and-needles-ish and I want to hug all of you and drink some kind of pink drink together. While wearing pink. (God, I really shouldn't write these posts while half-asleep.)

Now allow me to be a little sentimental. Big thank you to everyone who reads this blog and has followed through this crazy (bound to be crazier soon) book journey with me. All of your tweets, comments and thoughts really mean a lot to me, and I'm just so happy to be part of this amazing community. You are the best. And now, a video: