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Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the January 3 posting of the IWSG are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane, and Rachna Chhabria!
Click here to view everyone in the Blog Hop.
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January 3 question – What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?
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Scheduling? What’s that?!
I am a horrible procrastinator (she says as she sits here past her bedtime on Tuesday night writing this blog because the first Wednesday snuck up on her).
No, really, I am absolutely terrible at making a schedule for anything creative and sticking to it. When it comes to my day job or other things where other people depend on me, no problema. When it comes to being accountable to myself? Nope.
I really don’t know why that is. I can even go as far as to schedule something, and then neglect the schedule I set. Maybe it has to do with this fear of failure that I have yet to overcome. If I don’t complete these manuscripts then I’m only letting myself down. I can’t fail at my dream of getting published if there’s nothing to publish anyway.
I, at least, plan to plan. Sometimes I get as far as planning the plan. Implementing it is where I fall short, except during November. I run a NaNoWriMo region and because I am accountable to SO MANY people, the month is perhaps over-scheduled.
I want to do better this year. A lot is changing in my life for 2018. Not to be a downer, but my partner and I are separating after nearly 11 years together. It’s for the best, and on good terms, so no pity party here, but I have a lot of soul-searching and work on myself to do this year. Part of that includes throwing more energy at my creative endeavors, especially at my writing. I want to query before the end of 2018. That’s not going to happen if I keep putting off revisions.
I run a local writing group that is an offshoot of the NaNoWriMo group. I plan to schedule at least two writing events a month with that group, for their benefit and for mine. Beyond that, I need to find a time of day that I can really focus on writing. It’s difficult for me because I am a nighttime writer, but being a teacher I get up at 5am and cannot stay up as late as I would like to write. Also, I’m so tired by the evening that it makes focusing difficult. I think during the summer I could write in the mornings and do well. I need to focus on the weekends and maybe early afternoons for now (she says as she nods off writing this blog).
Baby steps must be taken. I have to focus on writing before I can focus on publishing. As much as I’d love for my current drafts to be query ready, they’re not. Once the schedule for writing/revising is in place, then the schedule for publishing will come. It is what it is. Like I said, 2018 is bound to be a year of big changes for me. I’m looking forward to the freedom to focus on myself and writing is a huge part of who I am.
Only time will tell what the future holds, and I’m taking everything one day at a time, but I have a feeling that 2018 is going to be pretty damn awesome before it’s all said and done. Hopefully, a schedule for my writing that I actually adhere to will be part of that awesomeness and lead to major breakthroughs before another New Year’s Eve.
Happy 2018 everyone!