Play it Again, SAM: Setting Goals instead of Resolutions

The new year is upon us. Have you set your resolutions yet? I hate resolutions. Declaring your purpose for the new year doesn't make it happen. I resolve to lose weight, exercise more, and get more done, but without a plan my enthusiasm waivers and I find myself drowning in my own resolve.

About a decade ago affirmations and intentions were the latest thing at the new year. Both are more positive forms of new year's resolutions. You state that you will do something. I will trim down. I will incorporate diet and exercise into a healthier lifestyle. I will organize to achieve more. While positive and presented with the mood that we all have the power to make these intentions happen, again, if enthusiasm waivers the positive crumbles into negative inaction. Before long I’m beating myself up for blatant laziness. Not exactly positive and affirming. So, I like to focus on goals. Some creative people freeze up at the thought of setting goals. It’s so . . . business oriented. If you fall into this category, think of goals as stepping stones toward achieving your dream.

Like task management, goals take the bigger picture and break it into manageable pieces. Each smaller task or goal leads to accomplishing the bigger task. Many of us do this without realizing it—during the holidays, for instance. In order to get those holiday cards in the mail, there are steps involved. You need to create the list of people you’ll send them to, make labels (or address the envelopes), write notes and/or sign each card, stuff the envelopes, stamp, and drop at the post office. Each step might be done in 5- to 15-minute segments as your schedule allows. In the end, the cards are in the mail and on their way.

Goal-setting is the same. Set a goal, a time frame for achieving it, and then create action steps (or small goals that lead to the larger goal). Use S-A-M as a guideline. The goal should be specific. Select a target and set a deadline such as trimming 2 inches off your waist by summer, losing 15 pounds, or sending out 20 manuscripts by December. It should be achievable. This means you need to make it happen; you cannot rely on what someone else does as a step in the process (such as an editor accepting just 1 manuscript to launch your career). You need to find an exercise you enjoy doing if you are going to trim 2 inches off your waist. You will need to write a manuscript in order to reach that goal of submitting 20.  Finally, your goal needs to be measurable. Notice that these three goals include a specific number. This helps you track your progress as the year progresses.

I had a writing friend who decided to set of goal of receiving 10 rejections in a year. She was working to fit writing into a busy life as a mother, wife, and office manager. She had heard me speak and a comment I made about taking the plunge and getting over the fear of submitting really struck her. She knew that manuscripts left in a drawer would never become books. Setting a goal to get rejected took away her fear of rejection. It is part of a writer’s life after all. Her goal was specific and measurable. She knew she had to send out a MS a month to reach that goal. That was achievable given her busy life.

When the first MS was returned, the sting of rejection wasn't so bad. She sent it out again. And again. She had nearly reached her goal of 10 rejections by summer when she received an acceptance. Then a second. Now she was forced to write new material in order to reach her goal. She did. But she also had credits to list when sending out those new MSS. By the next year, she was ready to “play it again, SAM” in setting new goals. No floundering in good intentions or vague resolutions. Just specific, achievable, and measurable goals with action steps toward reaching them.

Here’s wishing you all a happy and productive 2013. Happy Writing!

Weave in Story Details

Work on observing your surroundings using all five senses. What does the wind smell like? What does rain taste like? What does a wooded area sound like? Describe the bark of different trees. How is today’s rain storm different than yesterday’s? How is a hot day different than a hot night? Start now to really notice the world around you—listen, feel, taste, experience it.

Next, translate these sensations to your character. What does he or she smell or hear when he or she enters the dark woods behind the row of houses? Instinct tells the character not to take the path through the woods as a short cut, but he or she has no choice. So, allow the reader to experience this place through the sensations the character encounters. 

New writers often tell the reader what happens in the story rather than showing the story unfold. The rule of thumb is "show, don't tell" (SDT). Showing involves the reader. It makes him or her feel and see the details of the story. Telling, or summarizing, slows the story down. You then risk losing the reader to the action of television or computer games. Sensory detail helps you as the author ensure a connection is created and maintained between the character and the reader. In many stories, depending on point of view, the reader will momentarily become the main character. So, describing what the character smells, hears, touches, sees, thinks, etc. strengthens the reader’s connection to a story. Dialogue is another great way to sneak in story details because it draws the reader into the story—and it ensures that something is happening in the scene. 

So, practice noticing details around you and translate that to your characters. Remember to show the reader by weaving in these details in through the reaction of the viewpoint character and through dialogue. 

Happy writing!

Corralling Ideas

When I was a 100 percent “newbie” writer, I actually worried that I’d only have one idea to write about. I was actually reluctant to send out my first MS for fear that I wouldn’t know what to work on next. This very thought is ludicrous to me now; once I became aware of all the potential ideas surrounding me, I quickly filled up an 18-inch index card file box! 

The same will happen for you. If you’ve followed suggestions in previous posts, ideas should soon arrive fast and furious. When they threaten to trample you, corral ‘em up in a file or notebook. I often think of ideas while I'm working on deadline projects. Something about the pressure to complete one task temps me with others. Rather than allow new ideas to entice me away from the current project, I'll jot them down to pursue later.  If I'm on the computer, I switch to a new document and make bullet points or brief summaries along with notes on potential markets and research possibilities (if it's nonfiction). If I'm not at the computer I'll use my journal to record ideas (and often go into more detail) or jot the ideas on scrap paper or an index card to develop later.

Blending Details

These two exercises require you to use details from your journal and spring-board to a new idea. You'll blend the real and the imaginary to create a story.

Exercise 1:
Find a favorite magazine. Select an ad that inspires you. Find another ad or photo of a person.
Write about that person in the setting or situation from the first ad. What happens? Is there a problem? How is it resolved?

Exercise 2:
1)   Select three ads or photos from magazines that show both people and inspiring settings.
2)   Write down a focus point or question. For example, a decision you need to make, a problem you need to solve, a subject you're interested in learning more about, or a recent complaint.
3)   Select one of the magazine photos and write about your focus point from the viewpoint of the person in the photograph. Use appropriate language/vocabulary if this person is a child or teen.

Wanted: The ‘Perfect' Journal

Any notebook will do for your writer's journal. You can use a spiral notebook or composition book from the school supplies section a t your favorite store or visit the bookstore for a selection of blank books. The variety is impressive, from lined or unlined sheets to various sizes (and shapes). The important thing is that you feel comfortable with the book so you'll enjoy writing in it often.

You might even prefer to use your computer to journal. Many of my writing friends insist this is the best method because of the "search and find" features on most word processing programs. I prefer a portable, handwritten journal. If this is your choice, too, choose a writing instrument with as much care as the journal itself. Do you want to hear the scratching of a pencil or marker on the page or feel the glide of a gel-ink or fountain pen? I like the feel of smooth, thicker paper and the fast, flowing ink of a Roller Ball. But, I also prefer different colors to help me designate different days at a glance. The choice is yours.

Whichever method you choose, be sure to keep the first few pages blank. Record favorite writing exercises or prompts on those opening pages. You'll be able to quickly find writing prompts whenever you want to write during unexpected spare time. Each time you complete an exercise, you'll gain something more from it. Draw from these completed exercises, just as you'll glean from experiences in each journal entry in developing writing ideas.

Journaling: Writers Basic Training

Keeping a journal is the best way to harness thoughts, memories, ideas and dreams. Those penned experiences will provide plenty of details to add realism to your stories. Journaling also serves as "training," to help you find your writer's voice, among many other writing skills.

You don't need to write daily, and the entries you make could be one page or ten pages. They don't need to make sense as far as transitions or sequence either. I often use // in the margin of my journal to indicate a change in thought or when I've returned later in the day to record a new thought or idea. I put an asterisk next to ideas or dreams that I think have story or article potential. I usually reread entries monthly to add idea notes in the margins or highlight pieces I think may be useful in the near future. 

Sometimes entries during the course of several weeks or a month show an idea slowly developing and I'll start a new entry which comments on those previous ideas, reminding myself how the idea sparked and where I see it possibly leading. It is usually a lack of time that keeps me from outlining or drafting these ideas right away, so using the journal helps me document them for later development.

I also do writing exercises in my journals, practicing different story elements–dialogue, description, sensory details. I find it helpful to clear my mind by writing ideas down before bed-time. When I'm under deadline, journaling helps me clear my thoughts each morning so I'm able to focus on the project at hand. 

Tuning into Ideas

You've already begun recording ideas as you notice them. Another way to find ideas is to make some lists. It helps to open with questions. What topics interest you? Try to list two or three. What questions are triggered when you watch or read the news? List a few. Collect names for places and characters, too. Use the ideas you gather to fill in the following list. Try to collect ten items in the coming week.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Find and write down inspiring quotes, too. At the end of the week, review your list and write down article ideas or story plots based on merging the bits and pieces you've recorded.

Challenge yourself to expand the list each week, building to 12, 15, 18, or 20 items in the coming weeks.

Finding Ideas: Train Your Brain

New classes began this week for several venues in which I teach—college level writing skills, creative and nonfiction writing, and storytelling with my elementary students. No matter the age or level of the writer, before you can write, you need ideas.

Ideas are all around us, but many new writers need to train themselves to recognize ideas. Yes, being open to ideas from our experiences comes with time. This is also why journaling is beneficial. Before you decide to journal, though, spend some time answering questions.

What's on your mind? What do you wonder about? Record interesting bits of overheard conversation. Describe interesting people you meet or notice. As you write about what has happened in your life and record enjoyable experiences, it's easier to see potential ideas as they surface.

Another way to train your brain to notice ideas is to make a list every evening. What errands, events, incidents, people, activities, and places made up your day? Even if you only list two or three items each evening, by the end of the week you'll have a longer list to work with. Now, use three large index cards to categorize the list. Mark one card "characters," one "plot points," and the last card "details." Transfer items from your list to the appropriate card. For example, events and incidents go on "plot points" while sensory experiences and descriptors go on "details." Interesting people you've dealt with, from cashiers and bank tellers to rowdy kids, go on "characters." Jumbling items from all three cards will create prompts for story writing.

Continue organizing those ideas; the more ideas you collect, the easier it will be to translate them from experience to story idea.