For When Things Aren't Working Out

Ash had a wonderful post last week about the bravery and necessity of creating plans. Unlike her, I am and always have been a planner, not a pantser. I have made new year's resolutions without fail since I was 17 years old. For something like the past 5 years, I've broken those resolutions into quarterly, monthly, and, ultimately, weekly goals. I like check marks. I like seeing my progress. I will argue to a stalemate with anyone who tells me lists aren't important.

But, as Eisenhower says, "...I have always founds that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

We've talked about how indispensable planning is, so I want to focus on how useless the plans themselves can be sometimes.

In 2011, I had some ambitions new year's resolutions. Already a resolutions veteran, I knew I had to make actionable, measurable goals if I wanted to get anywhere. So I did. And one of the things on my list was to be able to run two miles without having to walk. I was getting married that September, and though I wasn't out of shape, I certainly wasn't in shape, either. So I joined a gym and got on a treadmill. I followed my plan.

By early summer, I still couldn't run two miles, and I'd learned something: I hated running. I didn't enjoy that time in the gym at all. I had to focus on anything else to keep me on the treadmill. My knee, which has a stress injury from doing gymnastics as a kid, was hurting me again. Instead of looking forward to meeting my goal, I was looking forward to lifting weights, which I did after my dreaded time on the treadmill.

That goal, and many others in 2011, I never met. But I learned a lot about myself in making them. At the time, I was frustrated that I didn't meet my goal, instead of happy that I learned something.

Fast forward two years to when I decided to write a novel. I made a plan: write it, edit it, query it, publish it, profit. Simple. I planned on the whole process going quickly, so I edited as little as my CPs would let me get away with. I started querying long before the book was ready. I wrote another book, edited it, queried it. I saw some small problems with how the plot was going, and knew my word count was on the short end. I decided the agent who would inevitably fall in love with my book was going to help me fix it, so why bother.

When 2016 started, I had 40,000 words of novel #3 and no agent. My goal for this year was to finish my third novel and be querying before the year was out. I finished my first draft at the end of May, but unlike with my previous novels, I decided to take the advice of basically the entire writing world and set it aside for a month. So I did. Then, as I revised, I was determined to do the best I could by this book, because it's one I really believe in. So it's the middle of November and not a single critique partner has seen my novel yet. I'm not going to be sending out my first query by the end of the year.

I need to remind myself that it isn't a failed goal. It isn't something I stopped working toward, and it isn't a story I gave up on. The unchecked box on my Resolutions page represents not giving up, but hope. I believe in this book, so I'm going to take the time I need to make it as good as I possibly can before I query it. I'm going to send out the most polished writing I can muster.

Without my plan, I would never have gotten as far as I have on this book. Every week, I write out a new micro-goal that will push me closer to sending this book to my critique partners, and ultimately to agents. Every week, I fail that micro-goal but make progress. I am not defined by that box I won't check at the end of the year, because that goal is the reason I am as far as I am, and the unchecked box is my hope that this book, with enough time, will succeed.

Rochelle Deans sometimes feels like the only writer on the planet who rushes through the writing so she can start editing. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two kids two and under. Her bad habits include mispronouncing words, correcting grammar, and spending far too much time on the Internet.

Writers and Resolutions

Over the holidays, I moved my writing space to a big broad table in our living room. The table had been my grandmother's and previously kept by my brother. A few months ago he redecorated and decided he wanted it gone. For sentimental reasons, I took it home.

Not that I needed another dining room table, because I really didn't have room for it. After months of alternatively burying it under coats and moving it from spot to spot, I finally placed it in a window alcove of my living room. Success. My houseplants were happy, my Keurig carousel was happy and, best of all, my laptop was happy.

Unfortunately for me the table is once again buried--this time with piles of paper. I'm getting ready for tax time. (I just heard a collective groan!)

As I separated my receipts, I saw just how much I'd spent in 2012 to promote my novel. It never seemed like a lot as I purchased business cards here, a promo tour there, but once the receipts were added and stacked and beheld as a whole, I realized how much money I'd spent. However, that wasn't what really stunned me.

What hit me was the time I'd spent. I saw dates on emails. I saw receipts for magnets that I pass out just about everywhere I go. (I get a kick when people snap photos of them and tag me on Facebook.) I realized how many hours I spent on social networks and blogs, chatting and promoting and introducing my work to new readers.

Don't get me wrong--these are all worthy activities. These are things that authors should be doing, if we want to expand our audience.

However, I saw all the time I'd spend promoting and realized it was time away from what I loved--and that's writing.

I may be a published author now, but I've always been, first and foremost, a writer. I love seeing words on paper. The stream of thoughts that move from the brain to paper. The creation of actual stories out of images and ideas--that's what I really love to do.

While promoting gets my stories out, it does seem like I spent more time on promoting than I did on writing new ones.

Yesterday morning, I sat in my writing space, looking out over the stacks of paperwork and receipts. I did a mental tally of 2012 and remembered each activity--the blog tours, the emails, the weekend at Balticon and I thought; 2012 was a pretty good year.

Then I looked at the small pile of papers that had gotten tossed in the tax folder by accident. On top, was a stapled stack of manuscript, my WIP--a short-for-now story about wizards and gods and destruction.

A new story. It made me smile.

Yes, 2012 was a great year for sure but I decided that 2013 would be even better because I finally made my New Year's resolution…

I'd make more time for writing.

Too Much (Wasted) Time On My Hands

I took a good hard look at how I actually spent most of my "available to write" time and realized I wasn't spending all of it arranging blog tours or sending out Tweets. I can't add extra hours to the day and I can't quit the day job but I sure can trim the fat. Promoting my work didn't take time away from writing…not writing took time away from writing. There is plenty of time to spend writing if I streamlined my other activities.

I can accomplish more by I thought I'd share my own battle plans for making more time for writing.


1) Get organized…but don't re-organize

If you are like me when it comes to buried desks and tabletops, then you know the importance of organization. Straighten up, throw it out, put it away. Reducing clutter will reduce stress as well as reduce distractions. However, don't re-organize. A complete drastic change will trap you in an hours-long endeavor and then you won't have time for anything else. Don't get carried away. The key is to manage, not re-design. A little time spent cleaning up my writing space ensures I'll keep my butt in that space, doing nothing but writing.

2) Turn off the tube

I admit my biggest time distraction is the television. Usually I get side-lined by a Bollywood epic (we are talking three hours of sub-titles. Doesn't leave room for anything but staring at the screen) or a Ghosthunters International marathon. My main excuse is that I keep the TV on to keep me company while I'm home alone, letting it play while I manage the housework or work on promotional activities. Funny thing, though: as soon as the kids get home from school, I find myself lamenting peace and quiet to get some writing done. DUH! Off goes the TV, out come the words.

3) Set goals and deadlines

I am a champion time-waster (as is evident by how long it actually took me to complete this post.) I can lose entire days if I'm left to my devices and, were it not for deadlines, there are things I might never get done. My biggest weapon against procrastination is a desk calendar. Simple as that. I use a month-at-a-glance calendar and mark my tasks down. For me, it helps that I mark non-writing deadlines and meetings down, too. I know the horror of putting off an article until the last minute only to realize that I had a Boy Scout meeting the night before my article was due. Setting goals and making deadlines--even arbitrary ones--keep me moving forward instead of standing still.

4) Make a to-do list

When my children were younger, I learned a vital lesson in parent survival. Never go to the grocery store without a list. When I go into the market freestyling it, I spend money on things I want and not necessarily what I need. Inevitably I end up with less money--and less time, as well, when I have to go back for the vital groceries I forgot to buy the first time around. The list keeps me on task and reduces aimless wandering through the aisles. Eventually, I realized this was a good way to streamline my writing activities. I list out the things I want to accomplish: next week's QueryTracker article, a short story that's laying half-finished on my desk, updates to my blog or Goodreads page. Seeing those tasks on paper make them substantial, real, necessary. If I kept my to-do lists in my head, they'd flutter off like the rest of my butterfly thoughts. Besides, I like crossing things of my lists when I complete them. Each one is a victory, and you folks know the value of each victory, no matter the magnitude.


I'm Resolved! Are You?

Hopefully, I will accomplish one main goal: streamline my activities to maximize my time to write. I don't have to reduce the time I spend promoting in order to get more writing done.

As is evident by the time and effort I put into promoting my work, I view my writing as a business. Perhaps I just need to adopt the attitude that all writing time is business time. If I'm on the clock, I better get the work done.

I plan to use these tips to increase my writing time. Do you have a favorite time management tip to share? Leave a comment for the rest of us. Some of us need all the help I can we can get.


Happy New Year, QueryTrackers. Hope you find a worthy resolution of your own and wishing each of you a year of many words.




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).

Goal-setting for writers

Did you make a writing resolution for the new year? Writers especially need to be careful when setting goals, moreso than in other fields.Goal-setting for a hockey player is easy: “Get the puck into the net.”

Goals are especially important for writers because writing is a "squishy" pursuit. Without goals, we lack a means to judge our performance. In setting goals, however, we must be careful to make “us-dependent” goals rather than “them-dependent” goals.

A goal that is us-dependent is a goal realized through our own effort. It does not involve anyone else’s response. For example:

• I will write one poem every week.
• I will keep a journal.
• I will attend the writer’s group and bring something to critique.

A goal that is them-dependent relies on others for its fulfillment.

• I will get my novel published this year.
• I will write a column for the newspaper.

Publication and contest wins are beyond your control. You can improve your odds of publication with market research and a sparkling query, but you cannot guarantee acceptance. The editor might not even read your query. Is that rejection truly a measure of your skill? The publisher might have just accepted a piece similar to yours. The newspaper may not have any funding. While important, this sort of goal is not an accurate gauge of progress.

A writer’s goals should combine the two types. If your ultimate goal is to be published, then use that…but add in others.

Just for example, my goals one year were:

• Get a novel published.
• Get 12 pieces accepted or get 100 rejections in the process.

The first was not dependent on me. I could submit all I liked, but if my genre wasn’t snapping, I wasn’t going to sell, and I didn’t.

For the second, though, I was guaranteed to achieve one part or the other if I submitted 111 pieces: two pieces per week, and some weeks three. Plus, every rejection letter, rather than being disheartening, carried me closer to my goal!

As it turned out, I did get 12 acceptances that year, so I made my second goal. I didn’t sell the novel until the next year.

Finally, is your goal achievable? If you’ve never written a short story before, publication in The New Yorker is less achievable than the goal of bringing one highly-polished story every month to your writing group. Also, the goal must be challenging. If it doesn’t involve enough effort, we’re more likely to let it slip, and achieving it would be meaningless.

Your take-away: Set goals, but make them reasonable, and make most of them dependent on your own effort. Then get the puck into the net.