HAPPY NEW YEAR: NOW WHAT?
The New Year is galloping toward us at an alarming rate. Are we ready for new challenges and the work to meet them? For many of us, preparing for the New Year means setting goals. Now, goal setting can get us in trouble as we either set unrealistic goals, goals dependent on the behavior of people and factors outside our control, and goals that reflect what we think we ought to do rather than things we are actually motivated to accomplish. This year, I've decided to pursue a new method of setting goals based on the things that have been the most rewarding for me in the past. I thought you might be interested in this six point process.
Listen to the episode for all six points!
What's your question?
Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
A KIND ASSESSMENT OF YOUR YEAR (AKA DO NOT USE YOUR PAST YEAR TO BEAT YOURSELF UP)
For many of us, as the end of the year creeps closer, so does the inevitable assessment.
• How did I do at meeting my goals?
• Where did I fall short?
• Why did I fall short?
And those are perfectly reasonable questions as long as they’re not used as a stick with which to beat ourselves up.
For many of us, the yearly assessment looked good for the first month or so. And then we began to slide farther and farther from the goals we'd intended to meet. And as we slid, so did our morale. For many, goals are completely abandoned by Fall and the self-condemnation begins.
What does it mean when we don't reach our goals and what should we do about it? Listen to the full episode to find out.
What's your question?
Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/
ARE YOU FEELING WRITER'S HIBERNATION?
It's been my experience that one of two things happen this time of year. Editors work in a white-hot frenzy to clear out all submissions before holiday break (so things you've been waiting to hear back about forever may suddenly pop up with responses) or editors become covered over with all the “stuff" that comes around this time of year and anything you submit basically gets an extra month or two added to the response time. So, I said all that to say: it can be frustrating. It's better to stay flexible this time of year.
Editors are not the only ones frustrated by the busy stuff this time of year. As writers, we are often trying to cram a little bit of writing in a day already packed to the gills. Some of us, just give up and spend the winter on a kind of writing hibernation, planning to get back in the swing of things when our blood warms up. Others only hibernate until January 1, when New Year's Resolutions push us into a frenzy of writing.
Whether you're getting any writing time or not, you're probably feeling guilty. Let's talk about that in today's episode.
What's your question?
Tell us and we'll answer your writing questions on the podcast. Go to this link and leave your question: http://www.writingforchildren.com/speak.
NEW Expanded Critique Service
We've just expanded the IFW Critique Service! You can now get a full critique of your manuscript whether it's a picture book, middle grade chapter book, YA, Memoir, Fantasy, or Adult Fiction. It's time to make your story the best it can be before you send it to that perfect agent or publisher. Go to https://www.instituteforwriters.com/critique-service/