Your Fall Back-to-School Writing Plan (and a new Writing Challenge!)
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
It’s the last week of August, which means kids are starting to head back to school (college students are already there, for the most part). It signals a physical and mental shift for most of us. A time to buckle down, create new goals, and get back to serious work.
First, take stock of where you are now. Did you have summer goals? What were they? Did you meet them? I wanted to finish my novel draft and get some reader feedback. Mission accomplished! Other than that, this has been a pretty light summer. I didn’t push myself into any new projects, and that’s okay. I’ll have more revisions for the novel and I’ll want to focus on those this fall.
Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t meet your goals. Just work on setting new ones for Fall.
If you did meet or exceed them, congratulations! Give yourself a reward. Treat yourself to something you wouldn’t normally buy or do. I’ve been treating myself with travel to see friends, and indie bookstore shopping (which feels virtuous even if I’m still spending money).
Next, plan for fall. Be ambitious, balanced with realism. Give yourself a stretch goal – something that is doable, but with effort. Take into account your schedule, and any big events coming up. Are you planning to do NaNoWriMo? Now is the time to start pre-planning your novel. Unless you are a total pantser and just plan to write whatever during that month. Both can be interesting exercises.
Are you starting a draft?
Finishing a draft?
Revising a draft?
Doing final edits?
Have no project in mind but want to commit to a regular writing practice to just play and see what comes up?
Maybe you’ll really go back to school and take a writing class!
Whatever it is, own it. Make it a conscious decision. This allows you to get excited about it, which revs up that motivational engine.
What schedule can you commit to? An hour every day? 5 days a week? 15 minutes a day? 3 hours first thing every Saturday and Sunday? There is no perfect schedule, only the one that will work for you.
Start as small as you have to, if it’s been a while since you’ve committed to a regular writing practice. You may think 15 minutes isn’t enough to get anything done, but you’d be surprised how much it adds up (especially compared to zero minutes per day). You may also be surprised how quickly you start to bleed into more time. It’s often hardest to get over that initial hump of inertia. Once you’re in, you’re in, and it’s easier to keep going.
Set aside a time and place for your writing. Put it in your calendar. That becomes sacrosanct. No other appointments, social media, etc.
Write your goal down and prominently display it near your writing space. This accomplishes two things: one, writing it down makes it more concrete in your mind. Two, putting it where you see it regularly keeps the goal fresh in your mind. Maybe put it at your bedside, so you see it when you first open your eyes. Or on the bathroom mirror.
Also, think about getting an accountability partner. Even if all you do is check in by text to let each other know you’ve done your work for the day, it can help. Or you may want to do a more formal weekly check-in and goal-setting.
The main thing is, what doesn’t get planned, doesn’t get done. Figuring out your plan now will mean you have a much better chance of actually meeting your goals – or at least getting far more done than winging it and hoping you feel like writing.
As for me, I am going to aim for completing my novel revision, with the goal of starting to send it out later this fall or early in the spring. It will depend on how much I have to do, based on the comments I receive from my readers. (Readers, I LOVE YOU!!! Even though you’re going to make my life hard for a while.)
To help writers meet their goals this fall, I’m initiating the Fall Finish Your Novel Challenge!
This will include a special Saturday Zoom writing hour, plus time for check-in/goal-setting/Q&A (as well as the Mon-Fri Zoom writing hour from 8-9 am ET).
PLUS Monthly Zoom AMA with me (recorded)
AND Weekly email check-ins, as well as the invitation to a daily check-in via app
It all starts with a 30-minute goal-setting call with me!
This runs from 9/11/23 to 12/2/23. The investment for all of this accountability and support? Only $299!
To get started, hit me up via the Contact Page.
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