Writing Plans

The new year is here, and many people charge into it with resolutions aplenty. Making a resolution may work, or it may be the surest way to prevent something from happening. One thing those in the know, financially speaking, say to do is use January 1 as the one day each year to take stock of your financial portfolio to see if it is growing from year to year. So, instead of making writing resolutions for the new year, why not take stock of your writing portfolio and make plans to grow it.

The first thing you should do is to look back. Maybe you look back over the previous twelve months, or maybe you look back over several years. Whatever time measure you choose, take stock of what you have accomplished. How many writing projects have you started? How many have you completed? How many completed projects have you sent out for publication, and how many have been published? Taking stock of your current writing situation can help you make plans for your writing in the year to come.

Next, decide what you want to accomplish in the coming year. No, this is not a resolution, it is the beginnings of formulating a plan of action. If you have many projects underway, but have yet to complete one, maybe completing the first project is what you want to accomplish. If all you have are ideas and a few scratchings, maybe your goal should be to coalesce some of this material into a single project and complete it. It’s okay to challenge yourself, and probably a good idea to do so, but also be realistic. Looking back on what you have done, or not done, as the case may be, should give you a pretty good idea of what you are realistically going to be able to do. Don’t set a goal that is overly ambitious or you may have a very difficult time achieving it. Just as with a financial portfolio, you want your writing portfolio to grow from year to year.

Once you have a goal (or goals) set, sit down and map out how you will achieve it. This is blatantly obvious, but there are only twelve months in a year. Break down the steps needed to achieve your goal into twelve sections, or fifty-two, if you like. They don’t need to be equal sections, and, in fact, likely will not be equal. That’s just the nature of things. But, you don’t have to wait for NaNoWriMo to churn out your first draft. Create your roadmap to achieving your goal for the year, and then fire up the writing engine and head on down the highway.

Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.