Silver And Gold

Raise your hand if you're a fan of Gordon Ramsey? I am. Love to watch the competitors on Master Chef but get a wee bit embarrassed watching Kitchen Nightmares. The reason I like Master Chef is because it reminds me that ANYONE can become successful at something they are passionate about.

It isn't easy. It's a process. A long, sometimes painful one where the bumps in the road can seem like brick walls waiting for someone to run into them. But nothing is indestructible with perseverance being rewarded with Silver and Gold.

As writers we need to remember that during this hectic time of the year. It doesn't matter whether you enjoy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or some other winter celebration...whirlwind activities can easily distract us from our writing endeavors. We may even start to think to ourselves it's okay to settle for Bronze...that reaching for Silver or Gold can wait for some other time.

But who suffers? We may not realize it at the time, but we do. When we settle for less than our very best we subconsciously tell ourselves we aren't worthy, aren't deserving of that coveted Silver or Gold. And we are. We soooo are!

You know who else suffers? The world around us. It deprives others of the next best picture book, the next best novel, the next best piece of art work. You get the picture. How will we ever get the chance to entertain, inspire, and motivate if we decide to stop short of the finish line?

In 2014 I'm challenging myself to a number of goals and I want my lovely readers to help hold me accountable. I might even add a blurb on my blog at the end of each month to give an update of what I was able to cross off that month's list. I might not achieve Silver or Gold every time but at least I will have passionately given my best effort.

Donna's Monthly Writing Goals for  2014

1. Submit one story to critique group by the 1st of every month

2. Submit two stories to RYS by 15th of every month

3. Write new PB first draft

4. Submit monthly research for required writing assignment to third party

5. Write four Motivation Monday posts

6. Write four Book Nook Review posts

7. Write four Tales From The Bayou posts

8. Submit 5-10 query letters to different agents.

9. Add a chapter to Lunadar

10. Do research for nonfiction PBs

11. Critique two stories from critique group by the 15th of every month

12. Create time to read more

I know...it's a huge list but I'm an organized person and determined for this upcoming year to be even more productive than 2013 has been.  And I want to be one step closer to becoming an author.

What are YOUR monthly writing goals for the new year? Are you thinking about reaching for Silver and Gold?

3 Ways To Avoid Lost In Time

I woke up this morning thinking about all the things I needed to do today.   Sitting down to create my daily blog post,  I looked over the past few days to make sure I hadn't missed any comments...and came to a slamming halt.

What in the world happened to Saturday?

I'm on a daily posting schedule and somehow...someway...in the middle of my hectic life, I managed to get lost in time and skip an entire day.  I'm not sure how I did that.  Heck, I can't even remember what I did on Saturday to be honest. And that bothers me a little bit.

Ever have one of those days?  When there doesn't seem to be an end to that tunnel?  When your "to do" list turns into a "to don't" one simply because you've run out of time?  I've always been a busy person.  I am a serious multi-tasker and magnet to people who want to load up my project plate.  And I let them.  Because it's in my nature to help others before I help myself.  

But when I find myself looking around, scratching my head, and wondering where an entire day went then it's probably time to stop and catch my breath.  Writers are like that.  We are driven to write and sometimes the ideas are flowing so quickly that we barely have time to write them down.  One good idea turns into half a dozen and pretty soon our writing plate is loaded down with multiple works in progress.  We run the risk of losing track of the time it takes to produce quality work in our efforts to do it all.

Writers can avoid the problem of getting lost in time by doing the following three things:

1.  Stop...take a moment at the beginning of your day to make sure you are on the right track to accomplishing the goals you have set out for yourself.  They can be challenging but don't overload your writing plate so much that everything is in danger of falling off and nothing gets done.

2.  Look...keeping track of which agents or publishing houses are requesting submissions will give insight into where your writing focus should be if you work in different genres.  Pay attention to "seasonal" or other themes so that the holiday picture book or summer time nonfiction one you just completed won't get lost in time and end up hidden in the slush pile.

3.  Listen...make sure you fuel your mind and body with the energy it needs to keep up with all you want to do.  Seek out the lessons taught by the great writers who have come before you and take from their wisdom only the things that you can apply to your own journey on the path to publication.  Don't get lost in time by spending too much effort on STUDYING the craft of writing and not enough effort on the actual WRITING part!

For myself, I can't get back my lost Saturday's post and I feel like I've let myself down in my goal of posting daily for my first year in the blogosphere.  But honestly, I don't have time to feel bad for too long...I've got today's goals to work on.

I wonder if it would help if I stood on my head?

Life's Little Hurdles

Life can be challenging.  Full of hurdles.  No one said it would be easy.  Some of us might even need a helping hand.  But there are those of us who always rise to meet that challenge.  We simply don't give up no matter what.

Then there are those of us who let those hurdles get in our way of meeting our goals.  We scratch our heads, look all around us, and simply can not figure out a way around those obstacles.  That's when life's little hurdles stop us in our tracks and prevents us from reaching the next level.

I guess writers could be categorized into two groups...those who are stars and those who are shadows.  The stars meet life's little hurdles head on.  They do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.  Stars climb over, crawl under, or break through any barriers between them and their destination.  It's the stars who leave the shadows behind to sit around and wonder what was that bright, shining object that passed them by?

For stars, the sky is the limit.  Which one are you?