Have
you ever set a goal for yourself—maybe loosing ten pounds (or more) by THAT
special day so you can wear the dress you’ve been saving, maybe re-designing
the back yard in time for an end-of the summer get-together with friends and
family, or maybe saving enough for a family trip to Disney World (or whatever
place you have as your greatest vacation) next year?
How did you go about accomplishing it? What steps did you take? Or did that goal become a wish and just fly away because there were no steps to support it?
On Saturday morning in the middle of March, 2015, before I went to my monthly writers group meeting, I signed up and paid for the conference after carefully choosing which editor and agent I wanted to meet with.
At that writers meeting, my goals came crashing down. Well, they didn’t crash down exactly, they made a 180 degree turn. In the matter of two hours, I changed from having everything ready to go to conference to present my series to editors and agents to deciding to self-publish the books. WOW!!!
I now had a new goal—to finish the editing, proofing, covers, formatting, etc. in time to get the books published before the end of the year. Well, to be truthful, my goal was before Thanksgiving.
It’s amazing how having family and friends to guide, mentor, proof-read, etc. and having a definite goal with an ending time can help achieve that (new) goal.
With thanks to all those listed above, I got my books out in early December.
What kind of goals do you set for your writing? Are they general, a big vague ones? Or are they concrete plans with an ending time?
How did you go about accomplishing it? What steps did you take? Or did that goal become a wish and just fly away because there were no steps to support it?
Goals
take work and planning. If you notice the items above are all distinct ideas with an ending date.
In July, 2013, I set a goal for myself: I would write three novels, start a blog, have a historical website, and publish a historical magazine. AND I would do all of that in two years so I’d be ready to present to agents and editors at the September, 2015 ACFW conference.
Now you might think this is impossible, but you need to know that my children are grown, no grandchildren (yet), and my wonderful husband told me years before when he retired that he would do all of the housework (that means cleaning, laundry, cars, and yards). So all I was left with was to write. You also have to understand that I am a total non-geek. I got someone to deal with all the set-ups of my blog, send out my magazine, and design and do the upkeep of my historical website—I just needed to produce the WORDS.
I
decided I would allow six months to write each book, followed by editing and
corrections. Well, eighteen months later, I had the books written, but still
needed to finish the editing and corrections. My blog, Families Across the Generations, was up and going, my historical
website, Under the Attic Eaves, was
being handled, and my historical magazine, Worbly’s
Family Monthly Magazine, was right on schedule for publication.
On Saturday morning in the middle of March, 2015, before I went to my monthly writers group meeting, I signed up and paid for the conference after carefully choosing which editor and agent I wanted to meet with.
At that writers meeting, my goals came crashing down. Well, they didn’t crash down exactly, they made a 180 degree turn. In the matter of two hours, I changed from having everything ready to go to conference to present my series to editors and agents to deciding to self-publish the books. WOW!!!
I now had a new goal—to finish the editing, proofing, covers, formatting, etc. in time to get the books published before the end of the year. Well, to be truthful, my goal was before Thanksgiving.
It’s amazing how having family and friends to guide, mentor, proof-read, etc. and having a definite goal with an ending time can help achieve that (new) goal.
With thanks to all those listed above, I got my books out in early December.
What kind of goals do you set for your writing? Are they general, a big vague ones? Or are they concrete plans with an ending time?
Mischelle Creager
writes inspirational historical romances set in the mid-1800s. She's not sure
which she loves more--researching or writing. When she's not doing one of those
two things, she can probably be found reading or baking.
She loves to share her
historical research and has a website, Under The Attic Eaves, filled with
tidbits she's found in books written in the 19th Century. She also
"reprints" a historical magazine, Worbly's Family Monthly Magazine,
filled with items from books and magazines published in the middle of the
1800s. You can visit these two sites at http://undertheatticeaves.com/ and http://worblysmagazine.com.
If you would like to
know more about Mischelle, please visit her author website at http://mischellecreager.com.
