Hi all,
Here are a few last tips for you to have the most successful NaNoWriMo ever! To have a successful NaNoWriMo, you have to be a successful writer. So, in the tips below, I show you how to accomplish this.
In this week's lesson, I assume that most of you are working writers. If you are not, all the more power to you. But most of us still have time constraints and difficulties 'fitting in' writing into our life schedule. So, instead of working writers, you could substitute stay-at-home mother or retired writer, or any other label you wish.
Please print off the lesson and then answer the questions after the lesson and post your answers under this week's thread.
Take care, and let's move into NaNoWriMo on Friday with renewed energy and perspicacity!
~ Irene S. Roth
Compartmentalization is a defense mechanism or coping strategy when your minds are dealing with conflicting internal viewpoints simultaneously. Working writers must wear a lot of different hats in their lives. They work, maintain a home and family, and take their kids to extracurricular activities. Further, they have to devote a certain amount of time each week to write. For this reason, it is important to compartmentalize.
Here are a few examples of life’s compartments.
Here are a few tips to achieve this:
It can be hard to balance your compartments at first. However, it is a skill like any other that can be learned through patience and trial and error. By turning inward and reorganizing your life into compartments every week, keeping the most important things in the foreground and moving all the ancillary things into the background, you be a successful working writer.
To be successful, you must set goals that you can achieve, given your time constraints. You all have lavish ideas of what you would like to achieve in your writing career. But is it realistic? In other words, given all your time restrictions, is it realistic to plan to write four novels within a year? Probably not. However, you can probably achieve one or two depending on how many other obligations you have outside of work.
Unrealistic goals seem much easier to set. They are usually goals that you would like to achieve and that you say you can achieve without assessment. In order to be most successful, you must set SMART goals. This is an acronym for setting super smart goals.
Here are the steps and what they mean.
S stands for Specific.
Don’t try to set vague goals. People often say that they want to lose weight, but what does that mean? At what point do you need to complete your goal? The same holds with a goal such as I want to write every day. How many minutes do you plan to write every day? What do you want to complete within a week, month, or quarter? Therefore, you need to narrow down your goal and make it more specific by asking yourself “W” questions such as: Who, what, which, why, where and when.
M stands for Measurable.
If your goal cannot be measured, it cannot be done. To achieve your goals, you need to establish metrics that make sense to you such as that you will average two hours of writing on Saturday and Sunday. Therefore, to set a measurable goal, ask yourself “How many or how much?” “How will I know when I’ve completed the goal?” “What metrics should I use?”
A stands for Attainable.
If you set a goal that requires a mammoth effort to achieve from the start, then failure is assured. For instance, you could say, “I will write for an hour every evening for a month.” That is not an attainable goal unless you have been writing for a long time and writing has become a habit for you. Begin instead by setting attainable goals such as “I will write for 30 minutes, 3 to 4 days a week. Then as you complete this goal, work to improve on it.
R stands for Realistic.
Set goals that you feel passionately about and that will hold your focus and attention for the duration. For example, if you struggle with time management, it’s unrealistic to set a goal to write every day. When setting realistic goals, do some soul-searching and don’t be afraid to relinquish goals that aren’t relevant to your interests and where you want to go.
T stands for Time-Bound.
Make sure that there is a time-oriented focus to your goals. Do not set a goal that has no set time frame for accomplishment. Your time frames must make sense and be realistic. Most people underestimate how long it will take them to complete a task. Give yourself a little more time than you think you’ll need to be sure you will complete your goal.
By setting realistic goals, you will be most likely successful in completing your goals. This is an important tool for a working writer.
Questions:
1. What are your compartments in life? What do you have to do every day? Do you work full time? Part time? Do you have older parents? Do you have children at home? List all your challenges and then add the times that you can fit in your writing. Please make sure that your writing is not the last thing you think of.
2. As you assess your goals for NaNoWriMo 2019, what are your realistic goals? What would you like to complete? In other words, given your time constraints and current life situation, what do you plan to accomplish? Please list your realistic goals and post them here in this forum.
Here are a few last tips for you to have the most successful NaNoWriMo ever! To have a successful NaNoWriMo, you have to be a successful writer. So, in the tips below, I show you how to accomplish this.
In this week's lesson, I assume that most of you are working writers. If you are not, all the more power to you. But most of us still have time constraints and difficulties 'fitting in' writing into our life schedule. So, instead of working writers, you could substitute stay-at-home mother or retired writer, or any other label you wish.
Please print off the lesson and then answer the questions after the lesson and post your answers under this week's thread.
Take care, and let's move into NaNoWriMo on Friday with renewed energy and perspicacity!
~ Irene S. Roth
Compartmentalize Your Life
Compartmentalization is a defense mechanism or coping strategy when your minds are dealing with conflicting internal viewpoints simultaneously. Working writers must wear a lot of different hats in their lives. They work, maintain a home and family, and take their kids to extracurricular activities. Further, they have to devote a certain amount of time each week to write. For this reason, it is important to compartmentalize.
Here are a few examples of life’s compartments.
- Day time job. This is paid time and not your time.
- Family life and obligations, such as doctor and dental appointments.
- Social outings, and spiritual and religious engagements.
- Self-care so that you don’t burn out.
- Writing. This should never be our last compartment. But for a working writer it is sadly. This is why it is so important for writers to schedule time to write.
Here are a few tips to achieve this:
- Compartmentalize your life into a similar scheme to the one laid out above.
- Prioritize all your compartments and schedule them during different parts of the week. For instance, you will probably work three to five days a week, have appointments one or two other evenings. Your writing should be scheduled three to five days as well.
- Ensure that your compartments are prioritized according to how important they are for your long-range goals. If you don’t prioritize, you probably won’t get any writing done. This is because its far easier to rest and do nothing every evening than write.
- Keep your compartments as balanced as possible. This is one of the hardest things to do because you must not only determine what is your most important thing during your free time, but you must then schedule the time to do it. However, you must balance you compartments to get some writing done. For instance, you don’t want your family life to bleed into your writing time.
It can be hard to balance your compartments at first. However, it is a skill like any other that can be learned through patience and trial and error. By turning inward and reorganizing your life into compartments every week, keeping the most important things in the foreground and moving all the ancillary things into the background, you be a successful working writer.
Set Realistic Goals
To be successful, you must set goals that you can achieve, given your time constraints. You all have lavish ideas of what you would like to achieve in your writing career. But is it realistic? In other words, given all your time restrictions, is it realistic to plan to write four novels within a year? Probably not. However, you can probably achieve one or two depending on how many other obligations you have outside of work.
Unrealistic goals seem much easier to set. They are usually goals that you would like to achieve and that you say you can achieve without assessment. In order to be most successful, you must set SMART goals. This is an acronym for setting super smart goals.
Here are the steps and what they mean.
S stands for Specific.
Don’t try to set vague goals. People often say that they want to lose weight, but what does that mean? At what point do you need to complete your goal? The same holds with a goal such as I want to write every day. How many minutes do you plan to write every day? What do you want to complete within a week, month, or quarter? Therefore, you need to narrow down your goal and make it more specific by asking yourself “W” questions such as: Who, what, which, why, where and when.
M stands for Measurable.
If your goal cannot be measured, it cannot be done. To achieve your goals, you need to establish metrics that make sense to you such as that you will average two hours of writing on Saturday and Sunday. Therefore, to set a measurable goal, ask yourself “How many or how much?” “How will I know when I’ve completed the goal?” “What metrics should I use?”
A stands for Attainable.
If you set a goal that requires a mammoth effort to achieve from the start, then failure is assured. For instance, you could say, “I will write for an hour every evening for a month.” That is not an attainable goal unless you have been writing for a long time and writing has become a habit for you. Begin instead by setting attainable goals such as “I will write for 30 minutes, 3 to 4 days a week. Then as you complete this goal, work to improve on it.
R stands for Realistic.
Set goals that you feel passionately about and that will hold your focus and attention for the duration. For example, if you struggle with time management, it’s unrealistic to set a goal to write every day. When setting realistic goals, do some soul-searching and don’t be afraid to relinquish goals that aren’t relevant to your interests and where you want to go.
T stands for Time-Bound.
Make sure that there is a time-oriented focus to your goals. Do not set a goal that has no set time frame for accomplishment. Your time frames must make sense and be realistic. Most people underestimate how long it will take them to complete a task. Give yourself a little more time than you think you’ll need to be sure you will complete your goal.
By setting realistic goals, you will be most likely successful in completing your goals. This is an important tool for a working writer.
Questions:
1. What are your compartments in life? What do you have to do every day? Do you work full time? Part time? Do you have older parents? Do you have children at home? List all your challenges and then add the times that you can fit in your writing. Please make sure that your writing is not the last thing you think of.
2. As you assess your goals for NaNoWriMo 2019, what are your realistic goals? What would you like to complete? In other words, given your time constraints and current life situation, what do you plan to accomplish? Please list your realistic goals and post them here in this forum.
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