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    11Apr, 2023
    This is How to Use SMART Goals in Your Goal-Setting

    Have you set yourself up for success this year? Do you know how to actually do that? Let’s break it down.

    Y’all, we are 11 days into 2023’s Q2. You might look at that and be going: What? This is not a business. I don’t need to think about Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4.

    But to that I say: Yes. Yes, you do!

    Here’s why:

    You see, last year I started looking at the year in quarters rather than as a hole. Part of that is due to the intentionality that comes from the Mastermind group I talked about last week (the Sisterhood of Brushes and Quills). If you’ve ever done anything goal-setting related, then you know that in order to have the best chance of success, your goals should be achievable and measurable.

    SMART GOALS

    Because of this basic concept, I’ve always gravitated toward the SMART goals* method in which goals must be:

    • Specific
    • Measurable
    • Achievable
    • Relevant
    • Time-bound
    Intentionality

    When I first started to be more intentional about my goals, I did them on an annual basis.

    This year I will finish my book.

    This year I will lose 10 pounds.

    This year I will __________.

    It didn’t take me long to realize that I could never sustain that type of 12-month outlook. 365 days as a whole is just too long to focus on one big goal.

    That got me thinking about how to break my goals into smaller chunks. I have a good friend who is masterful at this. She’s taught me so much about how to plan and how to goal-set in smaller bite-sized pieces.

    Plan

    Now, I’m not as deep into it as she is (although I’m working on it). She’s got the type of brain that is both right- and left-focused. I do, too (thanks, Mom and Dad!). She just figured out how to really tap into her right brain when it comes to planning and goal-setting in connection to her left-brain life.

    Anyway, I digress.

    Here we are on April 11th and it’s time for a check-in. What did you hope or plan to achieve or accomplish during Q1? Did you do it? Make it? Get there?

    Whether you did or didn’t—because I’ve been there, believe me—it’s okay. This check-in period is not meant to be a time to self-flagellate because you fell short.

    It’s a time to celebrate the wins and acknowledge that there are some goals you’re still working on. Maybe some are even meant to cross over from one quarter to the next. Writing a book, for example, usually can’t be done in just 3 short months. Even if you’re on a rapid-release schedule, there is more to writing than… just writing. There’s thinking, planning, plotting, writing, revising, editing, copy editing, formatting, and marketing. The list goes on.

    When you have a big goal like writing a book, think about it in achievable pieces rather than as a whole.

     

    Look at this sample:
    Q1:
    • Map out the Hero’s Journey for story
    • Write 1 chapter per week
    • Eat vegetables 3x per week
    • Walk every other day
    Q2:
    • Revisit the Hero’s Journey map
    • Write 1-2 chapters per week
    • Eat vegetables 4x per week
    • Walk every other day + 1!
    Q3:
    • Revisit the Hero’s Journey map
    • Write 1-2 chapters per week
    • Eat vegetables 5x per week
    • Walk every other day + 1!
    • Do yoga 2x a month
    Q4:
    • Revisit the Hero’s Journey map
    • Write 1-2 chapters per week
    • Eat vegetables 4x per week (this is working)
    • Walk every other day + 1!
    • Do yoga 2x a month
    • Plan my end-of-Q4 celebration
    Things to Notice

    Notice how some of the goals change during the different quarters. This is just a sample, but some of this is exactly how I approach my goals. I love the ideas in Atomic Habits, specifically stacking your habits to help grow into them. If I start with the commitment of eating vegetables three times a week, that feels very doable, right? I’m setting myself up for success rather than for failure.

    Once I’ve achieved that success of getting my leafy greens on the regular, I can bump up my goal to four times a week in Q2. Then to five times a week in Q3. If that number is working and bumping it up feels undoable, then I leave it as is.

    Key Tenet

    My Key Tenet is to ALWAYS set myself up for success, not failure.

     

    Q2 Check-in

    As we launch into Q2, I’ve looked at my progress and evaluated how I did on my Q1 goals:

    WINS:

    Goal: Earn XX/month— ✅ I achieved this, so yay!

    Goal: Complete synopsis and proposal for Sky Girls—  ✅

    Goal: Start practicing yoga again— ✅

    Goal: Create covers for Lola Cruz re-release— ✅

    Goal: Create covers for Bodice of Evidence and Bobbin for Answers— ✅ (for one of these)

    Goal: Format Lola Cruz books—✅ (2 of 5 are done)

    STILL WORKING

    Goal: Write Bodice of Evidence Novella— 👩🏼‍💻

    Goal: Continue (ongoing goal) yoga practice with 2x week— 👩🏼‍💻

    Goal: Create cover for Bobbin for Answers— 👩🏼‍💻 

    Goal: Format final 3 Lola Cruz covers— 👩🏼‍💻 

    Q2 Goals:
    • Write Lola Baby novella
    • Write 2 scenes a week of Sky Girls
    • Finish Bodice of Evidence
    • Continue Yoga Practice 2x week
    Wrapping Up

    As you can see, many of my goals are ongoing or I’m still working on them. Had I set them as annual goals, I feel pretty sure my momentum would have waned and I would have felt less motivated. As it is, though, I’ve had some good wins.

    I encourage you to think about your goals in a new way—breaking them into these bite-sized chunks and looking at what you can achieve in 3 months versus 12, at what you can work toward, carrying the goal on from one Q to the next, and how you can set yourself up for success.

    *More about SMART goals

    Know a writer, aspiring or other, who might like this content? Share this site with them!
     
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    3Jan, 2023
    10 Reasons Writers Need To Be Readers

    There are 10 very good reasons why it is vital for writers to also be readers.

     

    Let’s start with this:

    Successful people read. 

    They read to gain knowledge, to learn about the world, its people, different cultures, and they read, as Oprah Winfrey says, because it is a “path to freedom”.

    For many people, reading is a hobby. Maybe that hobby is what influenced your decision to write. For writers, however, reading is far more than a hobby.  It should be something you do…and do a lot. It should be a priority in your daily life.

    So, writers, read…and reap the benefits.

    10 Reasons Writers Need to be Readers

    1. Practice What You Preach. A writer who doesn’t read is like a musician who doesn’t listen to music, or an artist who doesn’t look appreciate art, or teacher who isn’t a learner. You write so others can read your work. Can you expect others to read what you write if you, yourself, aren’t a reader? If you don’t enjoy the very thing you create?

    2. Grow your Language and Vocabulary. Letters from words. Words have meaning and create sentences. Sentences convey greater meaning. The more you read, the more language you are exposed to, the number of words you understand increases, and your use of language and vocabulary becomes more sophisticated. This knowledge transfers to your own writing. Your word choice options increase. Your use of linguistics (syntax, dialect, phonetics, semantics) becomes more developed. It all grows exponentially through reading.

    3. When you read quality writing, you become a better writer. It’s true. Some of this happens with intention. You start to recognize beautiful language, an artful turn of phrase, or description that transports you in space or time. When you read bad writing, you learn from that, as well. You learn what doesn’t work, what not to do, and what you need to do instead.

    By reading great writing, you can learn how a great writer develops character, makes a setting come alive, and how dialogue can flow with deep authenticity. Likewise, you can learn from a subpar writers what poor character development looks like, how a setting can fall flat, and how dialogue can ring false.

    No matter what you read, you will learn.

    Read within the genre you write. Don’t be afraid of being influenced by other authors. You want to learn from them, not copy them. Internalize that they do well, what you can emulate to strengthen your skills, and what you do differently. Read outside your genre for the same reasons.

    Just read.

    4. Relieve Stress. Life is stressful—for writers just as much as for everyone else. Reading has been proven to relieve stress. Take a walk, do yoga, engage in a hobby…all of those are wonderful ways to fill your creative well and relieve stress. But also read, because it can be more effective at whisking away that stress than anything else.

    In fact, the University of Sussex found that “reading a newspaper or book works better and faster than listening to music, going for a walk or sitting down with a cup of tea to calm frazzled nerves.”

    Reading, then, allows you to take a break from your own writing, relieves stress, and can help fill that creative well.

    5. Broaden Your World. As a writer, you need to learn about people and places. You need to be able to imagine characters who are different from yourself, who lead lives different from yours, who have jobs and relationships and exist in worlds unlike your own.

    Reading a variety of novels (and nonfiction) about a variety of people, in a variety of places, doing any number of interesting things allows your base of knowledge to grow, and it allows your imagination to blossom.

    As a writer, it’s your job to explore the world around you to gain insights you then embed into your writing. One way to do this is by reading what others write, by understanding different points of views, different philosophies, motivations, the conflicts that others face. The depths you can plumb through reading are endless.

    6. Increase Knowledge. Whether you read fiction or nonfiction, you are learning. It may be factual, like history from an historical fiction novel, or a nonfiction book about plants, or it could be increasing emotional intelligence through empathy gained from understanding characters and their conflicts. More knowledge in your brain gives you more to work with in your own writing.

    7. Heathy Brain and Increased Attention Span. We live in a fast-paced, social media driven world. Did you know that reading actually helps counteract the negative effects of our diminishing attention span? It’s true.

    Look at this tidbit from Rainer and Co.: “Studies have shown that bingeing content is a welcome refuge from our busy lives. Instead of dealing with the day’s stresses by zoning out, we’d rather become engrossed in an entirely different world. In a world of text messages, tweets and app notifications, immersive content can feel like a welcome break, especially when it is screenless like a podcast.”

    Or like a book. Our brains need to ingest long form content.

    8. Feeds your Imagination. Have you ever read something only to think, but wait, what if X, Y, or Z happened instead? Or what if that character had done A instead of B? This is your imagination at work. Reading is a fantastic way to spark that imagination, and writers need active imaginations. 

    Good writing sparks creativity. It sparks curiosity. It’s what you get from reading, and it’s what you give as a writer.

    9. Market Research. As a writer, you never want to write to the market. On the other hand, it’s important to understand what readers are consuming. What sells? What resonates with readers? And how can you take that knowledge and apply it to your writing to make it marketable? Because, after all, we write so that others will read our work.

    10. Feed the Machine. That is, the book publishing machine. It’s a sad fact that fewer and fewer people read. Fewer and fewer books are purchased each year. As a writer, that is the exact opposite of what we want to happen. So be a reader. Read other writers. Share about books. Visit your library. Help support the industry of which you are a part.

    Do you have other reasons writers should also be readers?

     

    Are you ready for the next step in your writing process? Hire me as your developmental editor and partner. Together, we will take your writing to the next level!

     
     
     
     

    Follow the WriterSpark page on Facebook.

    And I’m on TikTok with Lessons in Writing!

    Join the WriterSpark Academy newsletter! And share with your writing besties.

    Know a writer, aspiring or other, who might like this content? Share this site with them!

    Site: https://writersparkacademy.com

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    14Jun, 2022
    This is Why I Teach Fiction Writing

    I’ve been reflecting lately on why I teach writing.

    It started as a calling. Truly. I feel…I believe…I know…that I am a good teacher. My approach in the classroom was certainly teaching the curriculum, but also teaching students how to learn…why to learn..the process of learning. I was teaching metacognition before metacognition was a “thing”. 

    Later, after having left public education for a career in writing, I found I hadn’t actually left my love of teaching behind. Not long after my first few books were published, I began teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas with their continuing education program. I found I loved teaching creative writing. I started blogging about the Hero’s Journey (a passion from the beginning). I shared what I had learned and what I was currently learning in a variety of ways. I wrote articles for several industry magazines, including RWA. 

    I felt a need to continue teaching. 

    In On Writing, Stephen King says he doesn’t believe writers can be made, but rather they are formed. He says he believes “large numbers of people have at least some talent as writers and storytellers, and that these talents can be strengthened and sharpened.”

    I believe this, as well. I can’t beat the craft and art of writing into an aspirating writer anymore than I could into a twelve or thirteen year old during my middle school teaching days; but I can teach the craft and art of writing. I can guide. I can be a mentor and a coach. I can help mold one’s writing and storytelling abilities into something stronger and more salient. 

    That is my teaching gene roaring loud and strong. People sometimes ask me why I bother teaching, presenting workshops, why I spend time developing WriterSpark Academy when I have a successful writing career. 

    Roarrrrrr! My teaching gene is never fully tame or quiet. I am the type of person who won’t ever rest on her laurels. A moment after I typed this idiom, I looked it up:

    rest on (one’s) laurels

    To stop putting in effort, trying to innovate, or working to advance one’s career or status 

    and instead rely on one’s past achievements or accolades to remain relevant or successful.

    The example given resonated to a degree:

    I know your first novel was a smash success, but if you just rest on your laurels, 

    you’re going to fade into obscurity.

    It’s not that I want fame (although the fortune would be lovely), so I sought another example.  Further down in the idiom entry I found this:

    I know you got a very good degree from Oxford but what are you going to do with your life now? 

    You can’t rest on your laurels for ever, you know.

    I connect to this example more than the first (minus the fortune that comes with fame 😂). By anyone’s measure, I do have a successful fiction-writing career (mid-list, but still…). To date, I have had 26 novels published. Many have been national bestsellers. Several of my books have risen to #1 Amazon bestseller status (and not because they were free!).

    Discounting the fact that I still need to earn a living, I can’t stop writing. The need runs deep in my veins. I can go days without writing, but eventually, a story idea, a character, or simply the need to place my fingertips on the keyboard and let them move rises to the top again like cream. I couldn’t rest on my laurels in terms of writing, even if I wanted to.

    But why isn’t that enough? Why take time away from my writing career to teach? To be an entrepreneur and develop WriterSpark Academy? Why teach? 

    I see the concept of resting on my laurels in two phases:

    1- I could let my success as a writer be enough. I could stop learning and growing in my own craft, stop trying to make my books better, whatever that means. I know the formula for writing a cozy mystery, but that isn’t enough for me anymore. I want to push myself. I want to get better, to write better, to tell a better, bigger, more meaningful story. I can’t rest on my writing laurels.

    Also…

    2- I could let my writing life be enough. Except I actually can’t. I have more to give. 

    It’s like my husband and the life he has spent as an educator. He’s been in all areas of education, from teacher to a “turn-around” principal, to a central office administrator, to deputy and even superintendent. All of those positions are so difficult and challenging in their own ways. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. I know, I’ve been there. 

    The job of a principal is massive, and that of a principal of a large comprehensive high school is almost unmanageable. They are, in essence, running a little city. 

    My husband has had success after success after success. Of the positions he’s held, I’m not sure what the easiest was, but he is not willing (or even able) to choose that easy (ish) job, sit back, and coast into retirement. 

    He can’t rest on his laurels. 

    He is driven by the need to make a greater difference…a bigger impact. He impacted the lives of so many students as a teacher and principal. As a central office administrator, all the way up to superintendent—especially as superintendent—he found he was hog-tied by the politics. The job became less about helping students succeed and more about pleasing the higher ups or the school board to keep his job. 

    He’s at the point now where he could settle into the easiest of the jobs he’s held. Instead, he has recently taken a position as an Executive Leadership Coach, helping other principals navigate through the many obstacles and problems they face in their day to day lives. He’s walked the walk, and now he’s helping others by walking it alongside them. He’s chosen the job that allows him to have a bigger impact on more students by helping to reshape part of the system itself. 

    No resting on laurels there.

    When I started writing, the Internet wasn’t the behemoth of information that it is now. YouTube didn’t exist, and when I first published, it was in its infancy. Access to resources was limited to who you knew or where you lived. 

    This fact meant I had to learn a ton along the way, and it was a long road wrought with mistakes and ignorance and a simple lack of information. I had to teach myself, find obscure resources, and depend on luck and the generosity of others to grow as a writer and as a businessperson in the publishing industry. Allison Brennan. Brenda Novak. Kathia. Virna DePaul. Wendy Watson. Tonya Kappes. 

    I grew up as a writer with these amazingly talented women. Some of us were in critique groups together–Hey, Allison! Hey Kathia! Hey Virna and Wendy!

    Some of us blogged together,–Hey Tonya!

    And some of us collaborated on things outside the writing world (Juvenile Diabetes research) –Hey Brenda!

    Most of us were all at the beginning of our writing careers. 

    I knew them before…and they knew me before…

    We learned together before we had other resources.

    We’ve all figured it out.

    But, like my husband, I want to give back. I want to have an impact—for readers, yes, of course—but also with writers. It’s the idea of paying it forward. If I can help other writers jump the line, so to speak, then I’ll do it. If I can condense 15 years of learning into courses, I’ll do it. 

    I feel compelled to do it. 

    Not sharing what I’ve learned isn’t really an option for me. That’s not how I operate. I’m always thinking, what next? What more can I do? What else can I create, and how else can I help?

    King says right off the bat that for him, becoming a writer and storyteller was a “disjointed growth process in which ambition, desire , luck, and a little talent all played a part.” 

    I, too, had that ambition, desire, luck, and some talent. 

    I also sought information. I sought to learn.

    I go back to King’s belief that “large numbers of people have at least some talent as writers and storytellers, and that these talents can be strengthened and sharpened.” I can’t rest on my laurels. I need to push forward. To teach. I help people harness their innate talent as writers and storytellers, strengthening and sharpening through the process. 

    That’s why I teach. No resting on my laurels.

    Tell me Wordsters, have you read Stephen King’s On Writing? Thoughts?

    By the way: Follow the WriterSpark page on Facebook and the Memoir Challenge group!

    Join the WriterSpark Academy newsletter! And share with your writing besties.

    Know a writer, aspiring or other, who might like this content? Share this site with with them!

    Are you ready for the next step in your writing process? Hire me as your developmental editor and partner. Together, we will take your writing to the next level!

    8Jun, 2022
    Do You Know Our 5 Guidelines for Writing a Memoir?

    Do you know 5 Guidelines for Writing a Memoir? This free webinar shares my five tips. 

    But let’s back up. The mere idea of writing a memoir can be wrought with emotion. Do you really want to revisit–or dig in–to the past? The answer to that lies with in you. But I promise you, unlocking your memories and delving into your history will be life-changing.

    There are so many reasons to write a memoir:

    • to share your story with friends and family
    • to heal
    • for catharsis
    • to connect with people
    • to share history you’ve been part of
    • to reveal a truth

    I fall into the camp that EVERYONE has a story to tell. That means you! Even if you never write a memoir, take a look at this webinar. Thinking about your history and unlocking memories is a wonderful experience in and of itself.

    CLICK HERE to jump straight to the webinar, or below to watch a quick intro.

    18Dec, 2021
    Growth Mindset: What are Your Writing Insecurities?

    Would you be surprised to learn that all writers suffer from doubts and fears and insecurities?

    It’s true.

    I’ve written and have had published more than twenty-five novels. Each time I start a new book, I find myself wondering if I can pull it off. 

    When I’m halfway through, I wonder if I’ll be able to finish.

    And as I get close to the end, the doubts creep, my negative self-talk making me question whether or not it’s good enough.

    At some point, I realized that I was letting my negative self-talk have too much power. As a teacher, the concept of growth mindset is very present, and very powerful.

    A growth mindset means you push forward through obstacles, and failure is not an option. Instead, it is a springboard to a new way of thinking or a new path. Obstacles aren’t roadblocks that make you stop; they are opportunities to grow and develop.

    A writer’s journey is often paved with landmines. They come in the form of self-criticism, rejection, doubt, naysayers, and fear.

    Instead of giving in to insecurities and looking at obstacles as roadblocks that stop your forward momentum, think of them as opportunities to figure out a new way around. 

    Today, I have an exercise for you. I want you to think of a few obstacles or insecurities you face in your writing life, and then come up with ways to navigate through them, over them, or around them.

    I’ll start with a few examples of obstacles and insecurities I’ve faced on my writing journey, and how I’ve changed them into growth mindset opportunities.

     

    Obstacle/Insecurity #1: The What Ifs… What if I’m not good enough? What if I don’t finish? What if I can’t do it?

    Growth Mindset: Instead of getting mired down with the What Ifs, I realize that I can’t possibly answer those questions unless I actually try. 

    What if I’m not good enough? Well, what if I am?

    What if I don’t finish? I certainly can’t finish if I never start.

    What if I can’t do it? Anybody can do anything. It may take determination, but I have plenty of that.

     

    Obstacle/Insecurity  #2: I don’t have time to write!

    Growth Mindset: Time may be limited, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Cliché, yes, but also true. Ten minutes a day, five days a week, equals fifty minutes. Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, equals seventy-five minutes. 

    You’ll be surprised at just how much writing you can get done by logging just a few minutes a day.

     

    Obstacle/Insecurity #3: My writing isn’t good enough.

    Growth Mindset: Whose writing am I comparing mine to? What am I basing my self-criticism on? Instead of focusing on the things that may be lacking in my writing, I focus instead on my writing strengths. I choose to focus on the positive rather than the negative.

     

    Your turn! What are some of your self-imposed obstacles or insecurities? How can you turn them into growth mindset opportunities?