goals Archives

Writing on the Tough Days

February 15, 2019February 10, 2019Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A few weeks ago I’d read an interesting post from Cathy C. Hall about the danger of waiting for ‘the perfect time to write.’ She gives examples of likely ‘perfect time’ scenarios, which are basically anytime but now. Waiting until life is less-challenging.

As Cathy puts it:

There is no such thing as the perfect time for writing. There will always be something or someone coming along to give us a perfectly good reason not to write. And before you know it, it’s been weeks, months, years, since you’ve written much at all.

Waiting for the perfect time (or, at least, a better time) to write may seem to have an easy solution: prioritize your writing. But that’s only part of it.Continue reading

Gaining Confidence Through Experience

February 8, 2019February 3, 2019Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I have a lot of sympathy for writers who get great ideas for other projects (known as SNI…Shiny New Ideas) while working on a book. When you’re in the daily slog of writing a novel, it’s very tempting to jump ship and start working on a new book that seems more like a sure thing.

But it worries me when I read blog posts by writers who are having trouble finishing any of the books they’re working on. There’s a lot to be said for finishing a project. That’s because, after you’ve finished one, you know you can do it. You know that, no matter what kind of shape that manuscript is in, you have the ability to work your way all the way through to The End.

There are other benefits to having lots of experience writing (whether on one book or multiple books). It gives you confidence when you face a problem with your story. I know that, with probably every other book I write, there’s going to be some point when I run into an issue. It could be a plot hole or a character that seems flat or any number of other problems.

But, when I run into an issue, I always feel so much calmer when I realize: I’ve been here before. I don’t think there’s a problem that I haven’t encountered at this point. And it keeps me from getting stressed to know that I’ve handled other roadblocks that have sprung up and turned out a decent book afterward.

Life is sort of like that, too. With years comes experience and the experiences…good and bad…help us to know how to handle problems when they pop up.

Establishing a writing habit and finishing projects are two ways of gaining this experience as writers. You’ll just need to find out what works best for you: writing in the morning? At lunch? In the evening? At home? At the library or coffeehouse? At work during a break? Then make sure the goals you set (as I’ve mentioned before) are reasonable and something that you can easily meet. It doesn’t help to set goals that make us discouraged.

For more tips for setting up a writing habit and for finishing a book see:

12 Tips to Get Unstuck and Finish Writing Your Book by Lorna Faith

How to Develop a Rock-Solid Writing Habit by Daphne Gray-Grant

5 Hacks to Create a Good Writing Habit by Joe Bunting

It’s a nice bonus that a writing habit leads, not only to a finished book, but to more experience to handle future projects (frequently in less time).

Have you run into roadblocks with your books that you’ve realized you can work through? Do you ever have trouble finishing a book?

Gaining Confidence Through Experience: Click To Tweet

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

February 1, 2019January 31, 2019Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One cool thing about blogging for over ten years is that a lot of the posts form a sort of unexpected diary. I was glancing over some older posts and came across this one from 2010. My son and daughter would have been 13 and 9 when I wrote it. I spoke of our bike ride on a nearby greenway and how we were biking so erratically (my daughter was still on a little kid bike) that a jogger kept passing us over and over again. He was going slow and steady and despite our occasional bursts of speed, kept overtaking us.

I made the observation that this was how my writing life worked. I didn’t go fast enough to get burned out but I didn’t go slow enough to get overwhelmed with the length of the project.Continue reading

Goal-Setting With Prolifiko

August 17, 2018August 16, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Today I wanted to pass along a helpful goal-setting and tracking tool for writers.

I’ve gotten very into tracking lately. I especially like it when it’s easy to do (which is why I use the free app Daylio to track exercise, healthy eating, etc.) There’s something very satisfying in plugging in info and getting charts and data in return. Plus, I think it helps me to stay motivated.

That’s why I was happy to get early access to Prolifiko (now released to the public…I’m not affiliated with the product).

As they state on their website, Prolifiko helps you get writing in four ways:Continue reading

The Benefit of Small Goals

February 2, 2018January 14, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth Spann Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read an interesting article recently, “What Setting Small Goals is Costing You,” from author and publisher Michael Hyatt. I think it interested me because it had such a radically-different point of view from mine. But it was onethat gave me food for thought.

In it, he said:

“Setting small, unchallenging goals is one of the five blunders I cover. I call it “sailing too close to shore.” We tend to set small goals because we’re unaware of our own inherent fear of loss. We don’t want to risk much. But there’s a direct correlation between low risk and low achievement. The greatest achievements are waiting on the other side of discomfort.”

He gave a couple of pretty compelling examples to support his position.

I could see where he was coming from. But for me, it’s totally the opposite.

For me, slow and steady wins the race. I’ve had 25 books published, but this has been over nine years. I set small goals that I can easily achieve. These small goals have made it possible for me to build a daily habit of writing and have helped to keep me motivated over the long-haul.

When I was first starting out and seriously writing, I purposefully set my writing goal as low as I could. I had a toddler in the house and a kindergartener. I set a goal of writing for 5-15 minutes a day. In less than a year, I had a book.

Knowing that I could accomplish my goals under challenging circumstances gave me confidence in my ability to push through, just like finishing a project (as opposed to stalling out or starting a completely different manuscript) gave me confidence in following through and trusting my ability to deliver.

But back to Michael Hyatt’s point of view. He does make some good points. For me, though, I think I’ll incorporate them differently. It is important to stretch oneself. But I’d rather that be a weekly extra goal instead of a daily challenging goal. Since I nearly always hit my daily goal, maybe that is an indication that I need to re-evaluate how much I’m expecting of myself.

But let’s face it. Some days just stink from start to finish. The kids are sick, the dog needs to go to the vet, you thought there was chicken in the freezer, but there wasn’t. I think on days like those, it’s best to still hit our usual goal, maintain our habit, and not feel disappointed in our performance.

What kinds of goals do you set? Do you stretch yourself or set small, attainable goals?

The benefits of small, attainable goals: Click To Tweet

Photo on VisualHunt