by Rebecca Yauger, @RebeccaYauger
How are you doing in this first month of 2021? Did you lay out your goals, choose your Word of the Year, tidy up your desk, crack your knuckles and prepare to write? Ready and refreshed after a difficult last year?
How many times have you been thrown off track already? For me, by January 6th, I was already scrambling, under pressure, and feeling way behind in my work! How did that happen so fast? Okay, I know I can claim extenuating circumstances with recovery from a Christmas time surgery, low energy during my recovery and all. But it’s discouraging when your plans go awry so soon in the new year. What’s a writer to do? Is there a magic formula to get back on track?
The formula might look something like this:
Step 1: Find your favorite way to write – Handwriting, iPad, Mac or PC.
Step 2: Determine your favorite writing software program, like Scrivener, Papyrus Author, Novlr, Novel Factory, or Word. (The list of the “perfect” writing software is nearly endless!)
Step 3: To make a good decision about step 2, determine if you’re a plotter or pantser. Do you need to plot out every detail of your book, or do you just want to sit down and write and see where the story takes you. Perhaps you’re a hybrid.
Okay, the steps above sound great. It’s all prep work, which might take you a step or two closer to your carefully planned goals. But you’re still not writing. This can lead you to say, “Okay, what is the magic formula?”
The formula is simple: Get up, tidy your desk, crack your knuckles, and get writing. The truth is there’s no substitute for showing up at your desk every day. There’s no substitute for hard work and dedication to your craft, and for putting your hands on the keyboard and filling up that blank page. Writing is hard. No doubt about it. However, there’s value in doing that work.
Once you see the words you’re creating, the wonderful story you’re telling, then you’ll discover that this journey is more than worth it.
Rebecca Yauger worked for 15 years in radio and television broadcasting, before starting on her writing career. She’s been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and Guideposts Magazine and continues to scribble away on various projects. She is also a blogger at www.TalkingAmongFriends.com. Becky and her husband live near Dallas, have two grown children, and two beautiful grandchildren.