by Jeanne Takenaka, @JeanneTakenaka
Welcome to 2022! There’s something exciting about opening a brand new calendar and seeing all those blank squares of possibility. How do we plan for a successful writing year?
We begin by setting goals. SMART goals.
SPECIFIC—outlines a specific thing we want to accomplish
MEASURABLE—as in word count, scenes edited, or some other aspect of writing that can be measured
ACHIEVABLE—something we can attain if we put in the work
RELEVANT—realistic and results-based
TIME BOUND/TIMELY—goals with a deadline
Organizing for a successful writing year:
First Pray. Ask God for His guidance as we prepare for our writing year.
Create a plan that enables us to meet goals. At the beginning of a new year, look at our projected schedule and plan accordingly. For example, my son graduated last May. I knew I wouldn’t do much writing around that time. I made physical preparations for graduation, the party, family coming in to celebrate, and I faced full-on weariness. As we’re able, anticipate big events in the year and plan with those in mind.
Determine in advance to say no to some activities in order to meet our goals. When we develop the mindset that this two-letter word is okay to utter, we can focus on writing goals.
Plan annual, monthly and weekly goals. For example, if we want to write three books in a year (annual), that means we have four months per book to fast draft, rewrite, edit and polish it. We can break these goals down by the month and by the week to attain our goal.
Know how long it takes to complete each aspect of the writing process. I’m a speedy fast-drafter. But, editing takes me longer. I must accommodate that in my goal setting timelines.
Give grace and time for the unexpected. When my mother-in-law passed away last summer, I didn’t write for six weeks because real life trumped writing life. I did my bare minimums—my blog and some social media—and that was it. We can’t anticipate all the unexpected, but we can do our best to work in a way that, when the unexpected happens, we aren’t left stressing about deadlines.
If something beyond our control happens that throws us off our deadlines, especially publishing deadlines, we must communicate with our editors as early as possible.
Final tips:
When we develop a mindset that we are going to devote time to writing, let’s uphold the mindset that our writing is worth our time. And then do the work.
Determine how much time we can devote to our writing in a month, week, and day. Mark that time off on our calendars as appointments. And treat it like an appointment, backside in chair, fingers on keyboard. Turn off notifications, emails, and phones while you write.
These are my tips for starting a new writing year strong. What would you add? Happy Writing!
Award-winning aspiring novelist, Jeanne Takenaka, writes contemporary inspirational fiction that tackles real-life issues with a heart to draw women closer to God and those around them. She lives near the mountains in Colorado with her amazing husband and two exuberant boy-men. She loves being God’s girl—always learning about His grace, hanging out with friends and enjoying a great cup of coffee. When she’s not writing you can find her with a camera in her hand, looking for #alittlebitofpretty in her days. You can connect with her on her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.