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Beth Ann Post Writes

~ This Writer's Life: Taming the Voices in My Head

Beth Ann Post Writes

Daily Archives: April 8, 2013

A to Z Challenge Day 7: G is for…

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by bethannpostwrites in A to Z Blog Challenge, Writing Tips

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A to Z 2013, Goals, Writing

G is for…

Goals.  Write down your goals, for your writing and your life, and post them somewhere you can see them every day. I post them on my mirror so they’re the first thing I see when I get up, by my chair in the living room, and by my desk. I want to always have them in front of me so I know where I want to be, not where I am. Give yourself incentives or treats, be it gold stars on the calendar, special coffee in the café or a glass of wine at the end of it all. I work better with bribes or incentives.  I’ve even started paying myself, putting money in a jar based on how much I write.  Then I’ll spend it on a writerly prize: a conference next year.

Goal

 

How do you manage your goals? What are your short-term incentives?

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A to Z Challenge Day 6:

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by bethannpostwrites in A to Z Blog Challenge, Writing Tips

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Tags

A to Z 2013, Finish, Writing

F is for…

Finish.

For me, this used to be the most difficult part of a writing project, to write through to “the end.” Right about the midpoint, a new story’s characters would start creeping out of the shadowed nooks and crannies of my mind. They would whisper at first and I could get away with writing down a phrase or page to quiet them and get back to the task at hand. Soon, they would be dancing and partying and having so much fun, that I would leave the WIP and stray, just for a while, to the new project.

And this would happen again and again until I had a drawer full of half finished, partially baked stories, withering and shriveling away. Sure, I had stories. Lots of them. But not one made it to the finish line before I got distracted by another idea, promising flowers and wine and good times until…

I found the best way for me to finish is to write fast and furiously (I’m sure you’ve heard of NaNoWriMo).  It’s too fast and chaotic to get distracted. There’s no time for tangents.  And for me, it got an entire project down on paper. Sure, it needs editing, tightening up some places and filling out others. But you can’t edit a blank page.

Finish your chapter. Finish your book. Finish your project. Just finish…

Finish

How do you get yourself to the finish line?

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