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IWSG #8: Making A Plan


Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to kick off 2017 with a bang!


It's that time again for sharing with the Insecure Writer's Support Group.
What is that you may ask, well their mission statement is this:

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.

The first Wednesday of each month, we blog about our fears, insecurities, or even an accomplishment we had.

This month I'm all about making plans to achieve my goals. I made a post last week listing out 5 things I wanted to accomplish this year, but I didn't come up with any solid plan on how to go about getting them done.



I've thought about what I can do this year to stay on track and not let all my previous doubts and fears stand in my way. I'm sure they'll still trip me up every now and then, but I have to keep going. Here's how I'm hoping to do that.

1.  Publish Not Broken--To do that first I have to finish writing it. That of course is my biggest hurdle. Since joining IWSG I've gotten back to putting the words down and they keep coming. It's not done yet, but I'm making progress. I will keep my writing routine going that I have in place, but I'm adding to it. My oldest child is off at college and her room sits empty. I've staked claim to it as my writing zone for when I'm home. I joined another Facebook group called 10 Minute Novelist and a sub group within that called the 365 Club. The goal is to write at least 100 words a day, everyday. Now it doesn't all have to be on your WIP if you have one, but I want to make sure I open my WIP and add to it, at least a little everyday. My personal daily goal is 1200 words a day.

2. Increase my social media presence--One of my posts for IWSG was about social media and my struggles. To overcome that I'm dedicating at least an hour a day to social media. Looking for challenges on Twitter, like the one I'm doing this month #WIPjoy. Continuing my blogging on this site as well as on my new Tumblr. Lastly maybe trying to understand Instagram. I want to do over the course of the year is identify which ones give me the biggest return. Not in sales, but in making connections with others in the writing community as a whole. The most ambitious thing I'd like to do is a major overhaul of both my blog and website, but tackling that myself scares me so I'll be on the hunt for someone that can maybe help. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to let me know.

3. Start on my third book--I have ideas for future books. I keep a running doc of ideas. I try to not work on more than one major project at a time because I get side tracked easy and I want to keep my main focus on Not Broken right now. Once I get it out in the world I will blow the dust off some of those ideas and get moving on one.

The last two go together.
4. Write a novella and 5. Participate in NaNo--With the goal of NaNo to focus solely on a new project of 50,000 words I figure I can kill two birds with one stone. I don't plan. It's not how I write, but if I want to be successful in NaNo I figure I might need to attempt to think through plot points beforehand instead of flying by the seat of my pants. I have the next 10 months to work on planning and yes, it'll probably take me that long to do just the planning. Seriously I'm kinda allergic to being organized.

That's it. I made some goals, and thought through a plan on how to accomplish them for the first time ever. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to them and at the end of the year I'll be able to make a woo-hoo I accomplished stuff post.

Thanks for stopping by
~Meka

Comments

  1. I tend to do a lot of wishing. Maybe I do need to not only make a plan but stick to it. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well this is the first time I've set goals. I may still be just doing a lot of wishing by the end of the year.

      Thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  2. Having goals always helps you accomplish things. Even if it's not all you want to do, it gives you a framework to at least start. Good luck to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's my hope. When I get lost, I will be able to look back here and hold myself accountable. That's the idea at least. Thanks for the good luck, I'm going to need it.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  3. Whenever I write out my plan I feel it holds me accountable. Good luck on completing your list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what I'm hoping for. I can see what I said I wanted to do and the plan to get it done. No excuses. Thanks, hoping that I can get it all done this year.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  4. At least you have a writing cave now. Watch out for Pinterest if you join. It can be a real time suck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I do. I needed one since my office is technically the dining room and sits in the middle of the house. I have a Pintrest but haven't gone back to it since I joined. I'll stay away for now.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  5. A plan is a good start! Instagram is pretty easy. I find it most effective if you post one or two photos a day. Food and sunset photos get tons of likes:)I follow a lot of reader and writer types if you want to go through and follow them too! Happy New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First time I've thought through what I want. Oh, well I'm behind on posting on Instagram then because I think I have all of 7 photos up in the 3 or so weeks since I joined. Need to get better with that. I'll try and find you on there to follow. Happy new year to you.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  6. Lots of goals, but it sounds like you have a plan. I too am struggling with social media. Recently I discovered twitter chats which I love and have gotten my twitter followers up, but I haven't figured out facebook or instagram yet. Time will tell.

    Hope you are successful with your writing goals as well. Like Doreen said "A plan is a good start!" :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried to keep the list short and manageable this first time. Too many and I feared I'd get lost and not have time to complete anything. I've not done a twitter chat, but I have been doing other things like the #WIPjoy and #1lineWed and from that my twitter followers are increasing. I'm convinced that a FB author page is mostly useless since most of my followers don't see my posts unless I want to pay for them. Might have to just create another account or something, haven't decided yet. Instragram I'm still trying to figure out.

      thank you, I hope I can at least get #1 done as it's the most important.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  7. I joined the 365 FB writing group as well. I'm really trying to make writing a daily practice. I'll look out for you over there :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool. That group is helping me focusing on getting some words down daily even if it's not a lot. Since I can't join groups from my Author page (another reason I'm thinking of making an account) I'm over there under the same name as in this group. I'm team Dragonfly.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  8. I hope you kick those goals' butts! I'm actually doing a challenge next month like NaNo, and it's at a far more reasonable time for me (November is just crazy). If it hadn't come up, I was planning on doing something like it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I hope so too. Good luck with your challenge this month. Last year I tried one of the camp NaNo events but didn't get close to finishing. November is crazy with so much going on, we'll see if I sink or swim.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  9. Congrats on all your goals. I hope you hit them out of the park!

    I love the new feeling of beginning another year--that feeling that anything and everything is possible. Rock it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm hoping to keep focus and get them done.

      I'm going into this year with a much different outlook than I have in other years in relation to my writing. A new love for it emerged thanks to this group and I want to keep that going.

      thanks for stopping by

      Delete

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