New Year, New Beginnings

Christmas is finally over, my mother has been and gone and now it’s time to concentrate on writing once again.  January is always a trying month – with the children on school holidays I usually find it difficult to write, which is never a good start to a new year.

For the first day of 2011, I took time out to reflect upon my goals and plans for the year ahead.  In order for me to make any progress with my writing career, I came up with a couple of things and listed them below:-

• Allow yourself to be reflective. Take the time to be alone with your thoughts, be it once a day or once a week.  Exercising or going for a walk helps clear the mind and helps to keep you focused upon your writing goals.
• Keep away from negative people. Unfortunately you will get these people in your life.  My mother has always been negative in my choice of career, but with these negative people you need to remember that it is your choice and your life.  Negative people do nothing for your self-confidence and keep you away from your writing goals.
• Write every day. During my mother’s visit over Christmas, I couldn’t get any writing done, so that when she left I found it difficult to get writing again.  Writing every day keeps you into the writing habit.  It’s much better to write something daily, rather than wait for the inspiration to turn up.
• Focus on your goals. When you’re not focused on which direction you are heading with your writing, you tend to go off into different directions.  I had been doing that for a couple of days – working out which genre I write in.  A lecturer once told me that the best essays are those written on a subject you feel passionate about, and I found that to be true.  So focus on writing what you want to write about; things like genre will come later.
• Use your time wisely. Good old time management skills come in handy here.  Have everything organised well in advance; plan your days the night before.  Make sure you get some writing done every day, no matter how small.  Before you know it, months may have gone by with very little progress being made and you begin to feel despondent and question your own abilities.

I know it is early days yet, but how are your writing plans going so far this year?  I hope you have all begun on a positive note and I look forward to hearing about your progress.  I wish you all a happy, productive and successful writing new year.