As some of you may know, I am engaged and in the process of planning a wedding! In that process, my fiance and I are also underwent pre-marriage counseling (which was been a lot of fun as well as insightful and I recommend it for anyone thinking about getting married). Did you know that recently it has been announced that what kills marriages faster than anything else is unmet expectations?
Now, my blog is not about marriage, however, I could not help thinking how this applies directly to our writing. How often to we come up with grandiose ideas for our novels that will sell a billion copies and make us millions of dollars? Ever catch yourself day dreaming about which actors and actresses would star in your film once that adapt your book into movie formatting? (No one, just me? Anyhoo . . .)
The point is, in our writing too we must manage our expectations.
Writing is hard and making a break through in the industry is even harder, some might say that it is nearly impossible. So I am encouraging you to “make resolutions” (without the need for a New Year) and to set goals for your writing, but in doing so, make them realistic!
- Set yourself real goals that you truly can accomplish!Here are some examples:
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- Write Every Day (even if it’s just for 5 minutes)
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- Try to hit a word count every day (even if it’s 20 words).
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- Try to finish as much as that book as possible (even if it’s not the whole thing.)
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- Send out queries to multiple publication houses (but don’t stop writing, waiting to hear back)
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- Don’t give yourself unrealistic expectations.Here are some examples:
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- Starting and Finishing that new idea for a book and having it picked up within the year (yes it can happen, but it doesn’t often)
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- Becoming a millionaire with your first book (Suzanne Collins wrote amazing books for YEARS and was not known until her latest series).
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Be kind to yourself and be honest with your writing. Expect that some days will be more productive than others and set realistic expectations so that you do not cause unnecessary hardship.
Happy Writing Everyone!
***If you enjoyed today’s tip, be sure to check out more under the “Writing Tip” tab on my main menu. Have any questions about writing? Feel free to ask in the comment section!
Derek Harvey has a great article expectations in marriage if any of you are interested in reading the article.
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Great tips. Best of luck with the wedding! 🎉
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Thank you so much! I’m really excited.
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Being realistic takes a lot of pressure off. I agree with your tips, 100%
Thank you.
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Thank you Darnell for your comment! It’s hard to find a realistic level of productivity sometimes but it’s best for our overall writing career.
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This is something I struggle with so much. Thank you for your insight!
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You are not alone! I struggle with it too, which is why I wrote this, ha!
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My goal is to write daily. Hasn’t happened yet. I think I have these expectations that I need to write 30 minutes or and hour a day when I can focus on 15 minutes and that’s progress! 🙂
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Exactly! I know how hard it can be, especially once every day stuff gets in the way! During the summer I was writing for at least an hour a day and then school came back around and I struggle to write daily. But even a little here and there is progress.
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Excellent tips! Writing every day is helpful. I write almost every day and store my work in a Word document. That way, I have backup for those days I draw a blank about what to write. Even I change what I wrote, the idea is there.
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So smart! I was doing so good there for awhile, but now I need to get back up on that horse and write!
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Wow thank you!
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Thank you for sharing!
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