Dear Me

Dear Me,

It’s the beginning of 2012 so it’s time to determine your writing goals for the year.  It’s your third annual writing plan so you should be reasonably realistic about what you can achieve.  You’ve analysed your successes and obstacles from previous years.  This year, you’re confident of setting achievable targets.  However, while it’s encouraging to complete your goals, it’s even more important to make sure you don’t set your bar too low.  You must challenge yourself to reach for the writing career of your dreams.

In 2010, thanks to the Dear Me contest, you set targets for new writing and for word processing and editing older pieces of work.  You planned over a hundred reviews and a contest entry every month.  You managed well for the first few months but you hadn’t allowed flexibility and this was a year beset by mechanical problems and complications in your non-writing life.

In your 2011 plan, you factored in study days and school holidays and you included alternative strategies for times when technology failed or your children needed your computer.  You chose to prioritise a large task while still scheduling time for shorter creative projects.  You automated progress-tracking so you could easily see your achievements and you set targets for reading and analysing other media.
Looking back, there were too many tasks and not enough will to complete them.  You frequently procrastinated by tweaking your progress-tracking spreadsheet. You made time to work on two drawings and on a few days you actively avoided creative writing.
It was as if you were afraid of success but, even behaving destructively, you averaged over four hundred words a day, found a comfortable writing space and successfully prioritised writing above several less-enjoyable chores without neglecting your main family duties.  You learned lessons from reading and from analysing movies and broadcast shows.  You took part in October NaNoWriMo Prep Challenge and so learned how to profile characters, describe settings and improve outlines.  You wrote six poems and three articles, started two nonfiction books and managed almost thirty thousand new words on your November novel as well as word-processing twenty thousand from older work.  Even more importantly, you now feel comfortable telling acquaintances you’re writing a novel and you have other work in the planning stage.
In August, you started to reorganise the jumble of manuscripts which you had produced before you joined Writing Dot Com.  This was a time when you drifted along, writing when you felt the urge and keeping no records of success or failure.  Even though you tried distance learning and self-help books and enrolled in a writing class, there’s plenty of evidence of lack of direction and failure to persevere.  It was as if writing was no more than a hobby.  Even so, you produced some good work during those years and you were encouraged by workmates and by a little local success.  This unstructured pattern continued for your first three months on WDC but eventually you took writing more seriously, entered contests and almost completed your first novel (distinctly flawed but what an achievement).
In December you began to reorganise your word-processed files.  You accepted the NaNoWriMo definition of success as the number of words written and you acknowledged the merit of producing so much previously uncounted work.  Now you only need to word process your older manuscripts.

Your 2012 plan includes the lessons you’ve learned.  You need to set SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-limited) and measure your progress.  Like a child learning to crawl, you need to stretch yourself without becoming disheartened.  Therefore, you must choose targets which are only just out of reach so they never seem unattainable, and you must track your progress so your achievements encourage you to keep going.
This year’s main goal is more specific than those from previous years because your draft ‘Knitting for a Living’ has been viewed over 200 times, which indicates some interest in this craft.  Therefore you’ve decided to complete your knitting book and you hope to have it ready to publish by the end of the year.  As a result, 2012 has become your year for designing knitted projects and researching publishers.  Your target is 100K of design and new writing.
In addition, you intend to complete some of your work from previous years.  During Script Frenzy, you wish to re-plot the play you started in 2010.  Summer Writing Camp seems like the best time to rewrite your 2009 novel from scratch, and you hope to write a romance or mystery during NaNoWriMo.
On pure word-count, you wish to average a thousand words a day.  You realise this is around six poems or four hours of creative prose but pure word-processing from manuscript is at least twice as quick so this target is achievable and it will encourage you to write nearly every day.  Subtracting the count for the knitting book leaves 100K word processing on your science fiction series, 100K new writing on nonfiction and miscellaneous short pieces and 66K for the romance or mystery novel.

The second lesson you learned is that, while fixed deadlines theoretically would help you succeed, your goals need to be flexible because your life often seems like a roller coaster of high-activity crisis management and energy-sapping tedium.  Your plan allows for interruption and your writing tasks will lift your spirit without being rigidly scheduled so they can be postponed without notice.
Once again, you’ll take time off in August for the family holiday and in December, to recuperate from NaNoWriMo.  You’ll factor in slow-writing weeks to complement the time you’ll spend helping with application forms and the crises which will occur throughout your older son’s imminent study leave and transition to college.  You’ll have twelve ‘Mad Dash’ weeks to catch up from these, when you’ll be only too happy to immerse yourself in creative activity.
Throughout the year, you’ll work through the exercises from the Young Writers Program, Experimental Plot Challenge and last year’s October NaNoWriMo Prep Challenge.  This will form the preparation for the rewrites and the new novel.  You’ll research the unknown facts required for your nonfiction work.  You’ll reorganise your portfolio and add some of your new writing for other members to read and, in return, you’ll write as many helpful and encouraging reviews as you can.

Your third helpful hint is to announce your plans to someone.  That way, you’ll wish to inform them of your progress and that will help you push yourself harder during difficult times.  The people you inform might even remember to ask you how you’re doing and thereby encourage you.
For this purpose, you’ve sent an email to your most encouraging ex-employer, written a letter to your nephew, told a handful of your numerous acquaintances and committed to posting monthly goals and achievements on NaNoWriMo Plus forum as well as posting this letter in your portfolio.

Your reading project for 2011 helped you recover your ability to read whole books so, in 2012, you’ll read the three remaining autobiographies from last year’s list, twelve novels and twelve books on writing technique.  In addition, you’ll study at least one WdC newsletter every week and write a reflective passage to help you absorb what you read.
You’ll continue to improve your writing space and you’ll make a place for your art and craft materials.

Best wishes and good luck. This is your year. Use it wisely. And … don’t forget to enjoy it.

You

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