When Your One Year Plan Looks Nothing Like It Had On Your Five Year Plan Four Years Ago

When I was a freshman in college, I met an upper-classman who had a Five Year Plan. One day, he let me see it.

I got hives looking at it. Not only did his planning make me feel like a useless, going-nowhere ingénue, it made me worry that I'd never know enough or be good enough at anything to actually be able to plan anything the way he did.

I suppose all freshmen feel like that. I outgrew it, to some degree, but never got over being intimidated by the idea of a Five Year Plan.

If you're like me, you hate the idea of planning things out but know that without a plan, you'd collapse into a pile of useless click-bait clicking and Candy Crushing.

I once called myself a die-hard pantser. Give me pantsing or give me death! was my battle cry. (Not to confuse pantsing with "a pantsing". Moving right along.)

When I started writing seriously more than ten years ago (gah, wrinkles pop out just by writing that), I had no plan. I had a dayjob and two young children and a bossy dog that stole entire loaves of bread off the kitchen table. Writing was my escape from that. The hour or two that I spent a day thinking about my first novel were respite. It was legal daydreaming. The only plan was to see what would happen next.

I wrote my first novel in a series of vignettes, scenes and conversations and fun little action-packed sequences. There was no outline. There was no formula. There was no plan for what I'd do if I ever got to the words THE END.

Imagine my dismay when I did type those words and realized I had a novel staring back at me. Like bringing a first baby home from the hospital, I knew I had to do something with it, and I'd better learn how to do it--FAST.

Thus, the first plan was born: I had a book. I had the choice to do something with it or let it get forgotten in a Word folder.

My first One Year Plan was super-sketchy. I mean, if it hadn't been safely home-schooled, it would have dropped out when all the other One Year Plans made fun of it. (I also had a secret Five Year Plan, which only included World Domination, but, honestly, who doesn't have one of those?)

The OYP had vague things like Edit Manuscript, Enter Contests, Join Writers Group. They were doable. Baby steps, right? And, unlike a FYP, a OYP didn't give me hives.

There was also an addendum to the OYP that I referred to as the "After OYP", vaguely time-framed because I had no idea how long anything would take to do. Heck, the term ONE YEAR Plan in itself was vague because I never specified if it was an Earth year. (I still won't and you can't make me.) The AOYP included Seek Representation, Finish Book Two, Finish Book Three, Develop Platform, Write and Publish Poetry and Short Fiction.

I still can't say that, at the time, I considered any of this stuff an actual "plan". There were more like goals. The difference between plans and goals is that a plan has a timeframe or completion date. And there was no way I would pin myself to something like that, because I was still learning how to be a writer. I was still learning the craft and the business. You can't make a stable plan when you're still pantsing your way through it all.

So I pantsed along, making goals and changing them with things didn't go the way I'd hoped, and waded through a series of non-concrete OYPs. No failures, just redirections, and eventually, successes.

My first novel was published by a small press in 2012. It had been signed in a three book agreement the year before, after having a string of big accomplishments in the RWA chapter competition scene. The book and I had come a long way since I typed the words THE END in 2007. So had the ever-changing OYP.

No legit FYP, though, because I was still intimidated by them. OYPs were fluid and had more goals than deadlines. One thing, for sure, was that I never had a Five Year Plan that included See First Novel Published. (World Domination seemed like it had a better chance of happening first.)

Prior to 2007, I didn't have a FYP because I had no plan, just a hobby. That hobby evolved as I began placing in writing contests, getting poetry and short fiction published, and actually earning money from it all. Basically, the hobby was becoming a job.

And when you have a job, you need to have a plan. I had to get over the whole FYPs-give-me-hives thing.

We plan because if it's a job we like, we want to keep it. A lot of authors get lucky with their first book, getting it to the right place at the right time. But even those cases of serendipity had a plan behind it, as super-sketchy as it may have been.

People get lucky, but not so lucky as to have kept their work to themselves, done nothing to improve their craft, and bumped into a random stranger in the frozen food aisle who remarked, "Tater tots? I bet you're a novelist. I just happen to work for the biggest of the Big Five. Sign this, here's your advance. Oh, I also have an extra coupon for those tots. Here you go."

So I saw my first book published in 2012. I also wrote my first FYP. It was time.

Next year will be Year Five. I decided to crack open the vault and take a look back to way back then (another wrinkle just exploded somewhere, I can feel it.) In 2012, my FYP looked like this:
• Promote Book #1.
• Complete revisions on Book #2 within 6 months.
• Be ready for publication of #2 in 12 months.
• Finish Book #3 within 6 months.
• Begin revisions on #3 in 12 months.
• Attend conference within 12 months.
• Arrange library visit within 12 months.
• Plan and write new story idea out aiming for 1 new title each year.
• Get 10 poetry/short fiction pieces each year years 2 through 5.

And that was it. Some of those goals, to me, seemed pretty darn reaching.

Like, super-reachy. I mean, a new novel each year? For an emerging writer? With a full time dayjob and two middle-schoolers and a bossy dog who learned how to steal the butter while she was stealing a loaf of bread off the table?

Sure, why not? Because, although I'd pantsed my way through a slew of OYPs up to that point, I'd accomplished some pretty neat stuff.

So, now to the big question of the day: Am I following my plan?

Actually, yeah. No one is more surprised than I am.

I did see books #2 and #3 published in 2013 and 2014. I did get many short pieces published, well over the goal I'd set. I did a con and a few library appearances. And that novel a year thing, that super-reachy over-the-top goal? I did it. I sat my butt down and I wrote those books. If it wasn't for all those Plans, I might have dribbled away all my writing time on BuzzFeed and Netflix (I just discovered Royal Pains. #Boris!)

But there is a huge difference, now. I rely on yearly plans to keep going. I don't even need anti-histimines to keep the hives away when I think of a FYP. My system stopped rejecting the idea of structure when it realized structure makes me productive.

Another difference is that my OYPs are a lot more specific. In particular, my OYPs looks nothing like the vagueness of 2012's FYP. Here's why:

I've grown as a writer, indie author, entrepreneur. I learned how to network and I have a wonderful professional pool of writers and publishers who share camaraderie and resources. I'm neck-deep in the business. I can make plans because I know what I'm capable of getting done.

But I also know I'm not done learning. I'm pretty sure my OYPs are going to get more and more detailed as I learn more about publishing, promotion, marketing, and yes—writing. Writers never stop learning how to write.

And new opportunities for authors never stop coming. I listened to a podcast in August that really had the gears turning in my head. In fact, that same day I added "Participate in NYT-worthy box set" to my FYP.

Super-reachy, I know.  Especially with two teen-aged kids, a fuller-than-ever full time dayjob, and a dog that needs things reached off the table for her because she's not a puppy anymore.

But the world changes around us every day...The least we can do is develop plans that can change in time with it.

Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who, despite having a Time Turner under her couch and three different sonic screwdrivers in her purse, still encounters difficulty with time management. She's the author of the urban fantasy trilogy The Books of the Demimonde as well as WORDS THAT BIND. She also writes for YA and NA audiences under the pen name AJ Krafton. THE HEARTBEAT THIEF, her Victorian dark fantasy inspired by Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”, is now available.

Is Your Writing a Hobby or a Business?

A new year means a new headache for many Americans because it's the beginning of the dreaded tax season.

I use the word "dreaded" very lightly, though, because I actually enjoy doing my taxes. (Don't judge me. Statistically, I cannot be the only person to admit that.) I use tax software to organize and file my yearly taxes but, even so, it still takes a working knowledge of tax preparation to do it right.

This year, I am filing with a new occupation: a writer. Are you?

It all comes down to whether your writing is a hobby or a job. Hobby Writers file differently than Job Writers. There are benefits and downsides to each of those positions so it is very important to determine where you stand.

I do not pretend to offer professional advice: so, here is my champion disclaimer. *Ahem*

Disclaimer:

Don't take my bizarre love for filing taxes as professional advice because I am definitely not an accountant. I am still learning as a writer and, for me, this is just one more lesson.

Please refer to www.irs.gov and their publications for the rules and regulations that govern this topic and ask a real accountant for advice.

(Just remember--I write speculative fiction. I lie for a living.)

Okay, now that we've established that, I want to let you know there are a lot of things you can consider when trying to determine your own position as a Hobby Writer or a Job Writer.

Do You Operate Your "Writing Job" in a Business-Like Manner?

For several years, I've been "grooming" my activities in preparation of becoming a Job Writer. Like any business person I, as a Job Writer, should do things to promote myself and my writing. These are some of the things I did to show I wasn't scribbling only for the fun of it.

• Joined a professional writing organization, such as Pennwriters, RWA, Pikes Peak Writers, the Maryland Writers Association, or the Science Fiction Poetry Association (to name some of my favorites.) 
• Entered contests, either for the prize or for feedback.
• Networked by distributing business cards, using social media, or maintaining a website or blog.
• Kept a file of what I've sent to editors and agents--even the rejections.
• Attended conferences, took online classes or seminars (even free ones), and read books on the craft of writing and publishing.

A Job Writer will keep records of all these things, often incurring expenses such as in the case of memberships and book purchases. A Hobby Writer may not be as interested in making substantial monetary investments or building a network.

Once you decide you are a Job Writer, you'll need to prove you can back up that claim. In the event of an audit, the IRS will look for key elements to determine your status. According to the IRS, an activity qualifies as a business if it is carried on with the reasonable expectation of earning a profit.

I pulled this from the IRS website:

In order to make this determination, taxpayers should consider the following factors:

• Does the time and effort put into the activity indicate an intention to make a profit?

• Does the taxpayer depend on income from the activity?

• If there are losses, are they due to circumstances beyond the taxpayer’s control or did they occur in the start-up phase of the business?

• Has the taxpayer changed methods of operation to improve profitability?

• Does the taxpayer or his/her advisors have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business?

• Has the taxpayer made a profit in similar activities in the past?

• Does the activity make a profit in some years?

• Can the taxpayer expect to make a profit in the future from the appreciation of assets used in the activity?

Are You In It For The Money?

Do you write for the joy of it? Or because you want to see your work published and selling? Even if you are not yet earning royalties, you may still be a Job Writer. What it all comes down to is the time and effort you put into your writing--as well as a motive to earn a profit.

Before my novel was published, I was writing and submitting short stories and poems, while using Duotrope.com to track my submissions. Never knew it would come in handy at tax time, but it will--all because it shows nearly every submission and response I've ever sent. Likewise, my Query Tracker account is a record of all the agents I've approached. Both spreadsheets contain ample proof that I put serious time and effort into getting published.

Keeping a calendar will help, too, especially if you are big into events and activities. Mark the days and time for each activity you attend--and, while you're at it, mark off things like blog tours or days you devote to polishing your query.

Basically, keep a time card. Hobby Writers may not have an inclination to keep such records, but they provide valuable proof for Job Writers.

Do you depend on income from the activity?

I know I'm not ready to give up my day job yet, but that's not going to stop me from filing as a Job Writer. Every business starts off small and often incurs losses in the beginning--just as indicated in the next bullet point in the list. The point is, earning a living as a writer is my ultimate goal--and one day, I hope to support myself with my writing.

Losses and dry spells are to be expected, just like in any business. Besides, everyone in the publishing business starts off small. Think about that. Why would I be different?

Have you changed your methods to improve profitability?

What this basically means is: are you attempting to grow as a writer? Do you enter contests to obtain feedback? (Read more about that here) Do you take classes in person or online to improve your skills, learn new ways of promoting, or pick up new writing tips? Do you try different outlining or storytelling techniques, searching for a better method?

All of these things change the way we write and the way we attempt to get our projects noticed. If the ultimate goal is selling that novel, then those activities help you meet this requirement.

Do you have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business?

Do not think this means you need a license or degree to be a writer. However, you do need to learn about publishing before you dive in. Lucky for you, there is a splendid place called the Query Tracker Forum, which is an excellent place to start toeing the waters. There is also a hoarde of fabulous publishing blogs and websites that help demystify the publishing process. The knowledge is out there, waiting for you.

You can also expand your knowledge through conferences, webinars, and reading newsletters from published authors. Even reading blog posts such as this one demonstrate your intent to learn more about the business of writing. (You're welcome, by the way. :D)

The last few bullet points discuss past, present, and future income.

These sound pretty straightforward to me.

I have yet to earn significant amounts from my writing, yet I have every intent to file as a writer. Why? Because I put a lot of money into my business last year--I went to conferences, I purchased tons of promotional swag, I paid for advertising, and I entered contests. What I spent far outweighed my income…and, hence, the day job comes in handy again. (Huzzah.)

If I was better informed before now, I would have filed sooner--I've been running a "writing business" for a few years now but I let my lack of reportable income keep me from filing as a Job Writer. I could have been deducting my expenses for as long as I've been a member of Query Tracker, because that was the year I decided I would pursue publication. Last year, however, the hobby officially became a job, so my own path was clear.

It's a tough decision that I had to make for my own reasons--and so must you, if you are still in the unpublished phase. You should become familiar with these IRS guidelines because you can get your "business" in order and look ahead to the future. Even if you aren't ready to declare yourself a Job Writer now, one day, you might. These points may help shape you as a professional writer and may even point you in a new direction of growth.

It's never too soon to get your business in order.




Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer. Visit Ash's blog at www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com for news on her urban fantasy "Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde" (Pink Narcissus Press 2012) and the follow-up "Blood Rush" due May 2013.