Mine was… mixed. On the plus side I did slightly more writing than I did last year. On the minus side, I only did slightly more writing than last year. And I can’t say that I properly finished anything. Boo!

Of course, I know this because of my stats that I’ve been keeping every week. I’ve only just got round to reviewing them (is it a bit late? It is, isn’t it), and in doing so, I’ve also reviewed the list of goals I keep down the side of my numbers.

Yes, I went for the obvious, cheesy image. Not the first time, won't be the last. Image from Swen-Peter Ekkebus.

In doing so, I realised something. I am one unobservant SOB. Okay, I knew that already, but this is really bad – I put number into that stat sheet nearly every day, and this is the first time in months that I’ve even glanced at my goals for the year!

So, what did I discover about my writing success? Some of my goals had shifted over the year, leaving a number of the targets on my sheet irrelevant. About half the information on that list is useless then. But out of the remaining goals, I had actually completed a few of them – go me! But, this is both good and bad.

I had actually completed some early on in the year – good! Had I reviewed this much earlier I could have set some new goals and reached further, but I didn’t – bad!

Also, I came very close to one of my goals, but it looks like I fell at the last hurdle. Again, a review of my targets could have seen me reach that little bit more and put another cross in a box.

The end result of all this? Missed opportunities. Obviously I don’t want this to happen again, so the first change I’ve made to my spreadsheet this year is to have an extra tickbox at the end of every month (I say “month”, but what I mean is four-week period, not calendar months). This is for my regular goal review, and it’s sitting neatly under every four-week block. It should serve as a reminder to check on my targets every month.

Plus, it’s another thing to tick off. We have to take every bit of gratification we can get!

And as a quick checklist, my review will ask the following questions:

• Have I completed any of my goals?
• Am I close to completing any more?
• Have any goals become irrelevant?
• What new goals have become relevant to my writing?

Okay, so that’s a good start anyway, if a little overdue. I might have said this at the end of my last post, but here’s to a good writing year! Stay focussed, peeps!

I’ve spoken about one or two ways before on this site. These basically revolve around keeping track of your progress at regular intervals. But that is not always enough. I want to talk about a website I recently rediscovered on the train.

Who can hold you to account?

"Follow me! I can help you achieve your goals! Yippee!" Ahem, image courtesy of Cyn74

One of the best ways of getting someone to stick to their goals is to have someone else hold them to account. At school our teachers make sure we complete our homework, at work our bosses and supervisors help us to hit targets. Writers often have agents or publishers asking for completion dates. But what if you don’t have this (or don’t want it)?

The obvious answer is friends and family, bit it’s not a very good one. Sure, you can agree your deadlines with a friend or five, or with your spouse or parents, and they can remind you of it from time to time, and that may even be enough for some people.

But how much can they do, really? Often this approach amounts to little more than nagging, and you can’t quite convince yourself that failing is having an effect on them. In other words, you know the only person you’re letting down is yourself. And you obviously have some tolerance for that, or you wouldn’t need a second party to nag you in the first place.

Put it in Structure, Put it in Public

Enter stickk.com. I had heard about this site a while back, but had completely forgotten about it until I saw an article in The Daily Telegraph (I’ve checked, and the artcile is not actually on the website, but nevermind). The piece itself was about dieting (which is not dissimilar to writing, honest), and opened with some details about stickk.com.

The site asks you to make “Commitment Contracts”, which work on the following principals:

1. Setting clear, defined goals helps you achieve them
2. If there is a risk of losing money, you are less likely to fail
3. Having someone to hold you to account helps
4. Having people to cheer you on helps

That basically lays out the steps needed to set up your contract. But let’s take a look at some of these points and why they might work.

"Do it! DO IT, or I'll whoop ya!" Cool walking stick image from Andrei Niemimäki

I’ll start with number three, as this is what we’ve been talking about. Again, this is likely to be someone you know, but there are a couple of things that make this different from the nagging relative described above. For a start, making them part of a contract with you makes the whole thing much more official. Second, their role is framed as a “referee”. It is not therefore their job to get you to do it, merely to judge if you are telling the truth and meeting your goals. The responsibility is still with you.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the contract though, is the money. You can set the stakes, detailing how much money you will lose if you fail. stickk.com takes your credit/debit card details, and each time you fail one of your goals, they bill your card and send the money to the person you nominate. That you can choose the recipient makes it even more powerful. From the Telegraph article:

Ian Ayres, a lawyer and economist at Yale, [...] author of Carrots and Sticks
[...] suggests naming an “anti-charity” – one that you wouldn’t ever think of supporting – as the beneficiary of your broken promise.

Anjana Ahuja, How Can You Stop Her Eating The Cake? The Daily Telegraph, Feb 8th 2011

Ouch. Of course, another suggestion is to give the money to your referee, ensuring that you have a strict arbiter.

There is another, unspoken principle hidden in that list. This is a website after all, and every achievement or failure is public. This, as I can testify, has a big effect. The fact that any number of unnamed referees may be out there, viewing your updates, certainly does get you to write. It was part of the reasoning behind me starting getmewriting.com, and continues to ensure that there are new posts here every week (even if I don’t write them all – thanks Craig).

That’s my Goal

So after my confident assertions that such a site should work, you’re probably wondering whether I’ve put my money where my mouth is. Erm… no. Another good thing about having a stake involved though, is it makes you think extra hard about the targets you set. I have a goal in mind, but when I look at it in this context, well… I wouldn’t put money on it. Which means there’s a problem with my goal.

So I’m going to have to have to give this some more thought. But I love the idea, and I want to do it. Craig, how do fancy earning a few quid?

How to diet

First off – I have been fairly skinny all my life (my wrists are still skeletal, but if you threw a tennis ball at my belly it would now bounce off, rather than fall straight to the floor. True story (it isn’t)), so I have never been on a diet. However, I base the following on the current medical consensus, and stuff that I have heard. Which makes me right. And it’s my website, so there.

A salad. Salads depict dieting. Although this salad does look rather lovely. Image courtesy of stu_spivack over on Flickr.

Diets do not work. Or rather, diets are okay, but the vast majority of people find it impossible to take the diet they are on and make it part of an ongoing healthy lifestyle. Instead a diet is abandoned once it’s deemed a failure, or even a “success”. The dieter then returns to old habits, puts the weight back on and then takes up dieting again. This cycle persists.

So, what to do? And what has this got to do with writing? Don’t be so impatient.

I was listening to an episode of The Skeptics Guide To The Universe recently, as I regularly do. They will often talk about dieting in the context of the information available to the public, and how to approach that information(skeptically is usually the answer, as you may have guessed. But if you’ll allow me a little elaboration, the idea is to approach things with an open, yet thorough mind. Don’t take things at face value). On this particular occasion, they were talking with Jeff Ainslee about his project Fat 2 Fit Radio.

His advice matched what I have heard doctors saying to friends and family. Eat little but often – five small meals a day rather than three large ones. And eat food that is good for you, obviously. That way you’re getting the good stuff, but don’t get hungry (and therefore snacky), because you’re eating more frequently.

But here’s the interesting part (and well done for sticking with it thus far), he also said that dieters generally have their priorities all wrong. Don’t try to lose weight. No, that’s not the aim. Instead, try to live a healthy lifestyle, and the weight will take care of itself. Here’s an interesting quote:

… you look at your goal weight, and you look at that person, you figure out how that person eats and exercises, and then you start eating that right now, and then eventually you become that person [...] You start to live the lifestyle of that thinner person, and you will become that person.

Jeff Ainslee on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, Feb 9 2011 episode

See. Interesting.

Wait, I thought this was a writing website

Right, so here’s the connection. Have you ever binge-written? Throughout my writing career (and I use the term as loosely as a term can be used here), I have had periods of must-write, must-write, must-write (usually when I’ve had a new idea), followed by periods of stopping altogether, for months at a time. Doesn’t that rather sound like the dieter – bouts of dieting, followed by bouts of, er, not-dieting, followed by dissatisfaction, followed by dieting?

Now, this might not be a problem for some people. They may finish a writing project, and be happy to leave writing for a few months or a year, until they really feel the need again. But I’m willing to bet that for most people, that writing sprint does not produce a finished project, but half a project. I would also bet that the reason behind frequent binge-writing is because deep down, that person wants to be a writer. They become dissatisfied with not being a writer, do a stint of writing to make themselves feel better, don’t sustain it, and start the cycle again when dissatisfaction returns.

Become the writer

So the solution might be similar to the dieting one. Instead of worrying about how many books you haven’t published, change your lifestyle. Picture the author you want to become (the equivalent of the healthy person above). How often does that author write? How much time do they spend on it a week? How many words do they write each day? Go further – how do they fit their writing routine around their day job (many writers have them)? If they don’t have a day job, what might they do instead (book-signings, public speaking events, teaching)? How do they fit their writing around their family?

Now, I’m not going to suggest becoming that person now. I think for a lot of us, that’s a bit of a stretch. But do visualise it, write it down if it helps (it does, so do). Then you can think about gradually becoming that writer. Set yourself some goals. By the end of the year, how many words/pages do you want to be writing per day? Work this out for a few of the aspects of the writer you have imagined. Think about what you have to do to achieve those goals. By the end of the year, you will be a lot closer to becoming that writer.

See – just like dieting. I wasn’t lying was I? Please discuss away in the comments. If anyone has any tips on achieving these things, please do share, as we all need inspiration!

So, it’s a hot topic in the writing blogosphere. Do a check. The next time you read a writing blog, search on it for a post on finding time to write. It will be there (if the blog even has a search, which I found to be a curious rarity). It was one of the first entries that made it on to this fine blog as a matter of fact. And chances are that most if them will say pretty much the same thing.

So given the wealth of information, where should you go for the best advice? Well, I’ve subscribed to a lot of blogs, and I’ve done that very search on all of them, plus searched in Google for good measure, and I’ve made a list of five that are not only good, but hopefully offer something a little different as well. I know, I know, but there’s no need to thank me. It’ll only make my head swell.

Behold, five great blog posts on finding time to write!

In no particular order…

1. Chip on Your Shoulder – Time is on Our Side: Write to the Beat of Your Circadian Rhythms
   This post by Chip Scanlan actually doesn’t talk about circadian rhythms at all, oddly enough. But it does collect a few anecdotes about how published authors found time to write, and offers some sound advice to boot.
2. Writing World – Time and the Writer
   Here’s an idea, keep a diary of exactly where you spend your time, great if you’re really struggling.
3. Write to Done – How To Find Time To Write While Traveling
   A little different this. What about if you’re travelling about – on holiday for example?
4. essortment – Finding Time to Write
   For a more rigorous approach, read this article. Get a new hairstyle? Yes, really.
5. We The ’Bistro – Finding Time to Write
   Seven tips included in this one. This represents the typical advice you’ll find across the internet, but it’s good advice all the same. Although, I’m not so sure about the writing class, but whatever helps.

And if all else fails, you could always get someone else to write it for you!

Please let us know how you find the time to write – we need all the help we can get!

‘How did we ever get this far? I don’t know.’

The Godfather

Many people have asked me how I came about to get this far with the writing. I love when people ask me that as if I’m polishing my Pulitzer Prize for Literature already. The fact is, I know that this is going to be a long arduous journey. I know that I won’t be published with the next month or even six months. Hell, it could be a year before I see any results, but what I have now is:

• Step One
• And light at the end of the tunnel.

I shall explain why.

Writers are often stuck in a limbo when it comes to actual writing. We have an idea, we think it’s great and so we think, “you know what, I’ll draw up a treatment, write the first few chapters or pages and then shoot it off”…

BUT…

What if they love it? What if they say, “this is great, we want the rest in six weeks!”

So instead you think, “I’ll write the book. I’ll go from page one to page two-hundred and one and get this done. Then I’ll shoot it off”…

BUT

What if they hate it? Then I’ve wasted all that time for nothing!!!

Then comes our own personal Catch-22:To get published, you must have an agent. To get an agent, you must have been published.

Does your head hurt reading that? I know mine does.

The only thing I can suggest for those who are wanting to write is this:

DO EVERYTHING!

When you approach an agent you must have EVERYTHING that they want, from a synopsis to a character breakdown, to chapter analysis to who your target demographic is. If you are able to, post sections of it online (as I am doing now) get some feedback on what people like or don’t like. Find your audience and use that knowledge to your advantage. You are not selling a book, you are selling a product and so you must approach it like you are marketing a chocolate bar or a mobile phone.

• What makes what you have written special?
• Who will buy it?
• How many do you think you will sell?
• Is there an International market?

And the most important thing you should know:

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT

Those of you who think your first draft is perfect, take your head out of your ass and get someone else to look at it. Fresh, critical eyes, who can say ‘man this needs some work’. There is nothing worse than thinking you have a best seller on your hands, only to find it is riddled with plot holes and half of the time makes no sense! And don’t be afraid of criticism. It only makes us better writers. If you can’t take it, then maybe you should let go of the idea of publishing and maybe just write for yourself.

And of course to quote Yoda, “patience you must learn”.

Don’t think the first agent you contact will want you… or the second or third… I sent this book to twenty-six agents before I was accepted and even then who’s to know whether they can deliver on their promises and I end up being screwed over. (Touches wood!) But if you are determined and you want to keep going then do just that, don’t get disheartened by rejection, just see it as someone who missed an opportunity… add it to the pile of people you will laugh it when you do pick up your Pulitzer or like JK Rowling laughing at publishers like Penguin and Harper Collins who couldn’t see potential in a little book about a wizard at school. (400 million copies sold across the series and counting!)

And above all else:

Believe in yourself… there’s a fine line between confidence and smugness, which is where the editing and the criticism comes in… if you can ride that wave you will come out stronger and more able to take anything the world can throw at you.

• How it’s going to be distributed?
• How you’re going to get the word out?
• Where the story fits in with your other work?

The reason this is on my mind is of course that I have recently finished a story. I’ve been dwelling on the whole process of getting the story out between writing stints and the picture of what I wanted to do grew gradually.

I’ll put the plan out there as an example. The story is about 9,500 words at the moment. This puts it in a kind of long-short story category I suppose (you know what I mean). I decided a while ago that I would write a series of science fiction stories around a quite specific theme and so decided that this one would work as an opener.

It is also my “practice” story; the first thing I’ve written from beginning to end since starting this website (how did it take so long?) and the launch of my newfound dedication to writing. By practice I just mean that my primary goal with this story was to get into a routine (to just write, dammit). I chose it because it was something I’d had in my head for a while, and was pretty well mapped out. I thought it would be an easy one to start with (I was wrong).

So, that’s where it fits. The immediate plan is to put it to one side for a couple of months and work on something brand new. Then I’ll come back to it and edit away from a fresher perspective. Then comes the point where I have to show it to people. I’ve got a small selection of friends and relatives I’ll share it with (I’m basically following Stephen King‘s door shut/door open recommendations for these stages). In addition I may also bandy it around some writing community sites as well.

Then, after another round of editing I’ll show it to everyone! It will be a free download on this very site, so people get to see it and see what my writing’s like.

As far as the bigger picture goes, I will carry on with the other stories, and when they’re pretty much all ready to go, I’ll offer another free one out of the collection (again, getting the word out- everyone loves a free sample).

By that time I should have enough material and enough impetus to be able to sell the collection. Fingers crossed.

I’m under no delusions about how long this will take (at least I don’t think I am, but then if I was deluded, how would I know?). I intend to write other things as well, plus I’m writing at a snail’s pace at the moment! I’ll have to step it up a gear and still don’t expect this scheme to come to fruition for about three years(!)

Still, I always said I was playing a long game.

Such adjustments are a natural consequence of discovering how much you can do each month, and maybe trying to improve on that as well. But it could pay to take a closer look, and examine why exactly things went awry, or  why they went particularly well. As an example, I’ve just been planning my March tasks. I’m a little behind, which is disappointing considering how conservative I’d been with my goals, but I definitely feel like I can improve. The general feeling I’ve had is one of a lack of focus, and there will be small things I can do about it. I set out my tasks under several headings – write novel, write blog entries, write short story, yadda yadda, and so on. So, I’m on the train home, I take out the laptop, I look at my task list. I tended to pick the tasks I felt like doing at the time, regardless of what heading they were under.

As well as showing a distinct lack of priority for my most valued tasks, this leads to a bit of um-ing and ah-ing before I actually get started. But perhaps the worst effect is a lack of focus over the week. There’s is more of an effort made in getting into it (whatever ‘it’ I have chosen) each time. All of these things waste time, and likely produce poorer results. Time, as I may have mentioned, is precious for me, and I simply cannot afford to waste it on procrastination and a woolly-headed approach.

So, Each week, I pick one of my headed projects, and will concentrate on those tasks for the whole week. This should ensure I can get straight on with it, and that I am more likely to be in the right ‘headspace’. Simple? Yes. Am I stupid for not realising this sooner? Probably. Should I be embarrassed at my idiot mistake? I refuse! That won’t do anyone any good! No one should be afraid of admitting to even the slightest of mistakes and learning from them.

And with that in mind, I’d like to open up the floor to anyone else who has learnt something from having a plan and looking at how they have worked towards it. From reviewing, in other words.

Right!

And what does a plan need? Goals. It’s often said that people grossly under estimate what they can achieve in five years, but grossly over estimate what they can achieve in, say, a week. So let’s pick something simple – a year. It’s the beginning of the year still (well, just), so what would you like to achieve by the end of 2009 (I don’t know when you’re reading this, obviously, but if you’re half-way through a year, or even three quarters or whatever, don’t let that put you off. Still put some goals down for the end of the year).

If you’re struggling, you might like to work backwards from a longer time-frame. What would you like to have achieved after five years have passed? What would you have had to have done in the next three years to achieve that? Two years? One year? There’s your goals.

Now, let’s do a quick check. Are your goals:
1) specific enough. If you want to be well on the way to completing your novel, what does ‘well on the way’ mean? A certain percentage? 20 chapters?
2) realistic and achievable in that timeframe? Be honest. If in the back of your mind you know you can’t possibly come from nothing to be a worldwide bestselling novelist in a year, don’t write it down! Don’t give yourself the excuse you need to quit before you’ve even started!

Now, break it down (MC Hammer style). You know how many months you have to get this done. So what will you have to achieve each month to meet each goal? Do whatever is easiest in order to break the year down. Maybe you don’t know what you would have to do each month, but looking at any goal for the year, you should be able to decide where you want to be half way through the year. Then break it down further from there.

Got it? Good. So you’ve got goals, and you know whereabouts you should be at the end of each month on each of those goals. So let’s focus on the remaining weeks of the month. What are you going to do each week to make sure that you achieve your goals for this month? Can you see a pattern?

Now don’t worry if your first set of tasks looks a little flimsy – better that than they are simply unachievable, and you can reasonably expect that the first month might be filled with preparation for the months to follow (planning, sketching out ideas, research).

Of course, this might seem a bit OTT for some people. I’ve met a few people this comes naturally to, and they can even do it in their heads. Coupled with an ambitious drive, these are the people who seem well ahead of the rest of us, and get further, quicker. I am not one of those people – I have to write things down. This does several things for me:
- forces me to think about my goals in a logical matter of fact manner
- gets stuff out of my head that would otherwise be cluttering it up
- gives me a much needed framework.

I find that by the time I’ve finished writing something down, it already feels much more real to me – like it could actually happen.

This is not the whole story of course, but it is a start. And if you’ve never done it before, you may find this simple act to be more progress than you made last year!

Has this helped you? Do you plan already, and if so, do you have a different way of doing it? Let everyone know below.