Are You Achieving Your Writing Goals?Written by Mridu Khullar
At start of this new year, like at start of every other new year, I came across dozens of articles about importance of setting achievable goals, challenging myself to do new things and fixing measurable standards and working towards them. But what happens when you mess up goals from last year? Where’s real advice about missed deadlines and lost goals that all but kill inspiration to come up with new ones? I didn’t achieve three out of ten goals I had set for myself last year, even though I was obsessive-compulsive about looking at them each day and measuring my performance regularly. I’m tempted to say that life got in way or blame shift in priorities that happened mid-year. But these are things that can and will happen each year. Instead of putting your life on hold year when strains and stresses get too much, plan your goals accordingly right at beginning. If you didn’t meet some of your goals last year, here are some questions that you need to answer honestly, so that you do this time around. Are you actively pursuing your targets? It doesn’t work just to look at your goals each morning and then do nothing about them. Sure, that’s a good start and it means you’re conscious of where you are in your career, but if you want to move further, you need to create an action plan. Instead of just making yearly goals, make monthly, weekly, even daily ones and then try and meet them. Also important is to work towards what you want to achieve step by step. One of my goals last year was to get published in Reader’s Digest. Guess how many query letters I sent them? Two. You’re laughing, aren’t you? I’m cringing. That’s because I know that two queries just doesn’t hack it if you’re targeting such a high-level publication. Two queries wasn’t even enough to get into my local newspaper; how’s it going to land me a national assignment? If I had been serious about getting into RD, I would have read every issue, sent a query each month and built a personal relationship with editor. Yet, I did none of those things. Not surprisingly, my goal remained unfinished at end of year. Are you being honest with yourself? In my first year of freelancing, I earned over a 100 published credits. That’s because my aim was to reach this number, without caring about money that came in. That meant that I wrote for low-paying publications, publications that paid in kind instead of cash, and on topics that I had absolutely no interest in. The next year, I shifted my focus to cracking nationals and making a decent income from my work. But here’s where I went wrong: I assumed that since I had already proven that I could write a 100 articles in a year, I’d be able to do a repeat performance. But national magazines require much more research, very specialized queries, and a great deal of more effort per article. So while my goals of getting into national magazines and increasing my income were met, my goal of getting another 100 credits wasn’t. Are goals really yours? I think almost all of us get sucked into aping tactics of someone we admire at one point or other. The thought process then works something like this: If she could write two children’s books, pen twenty greeting cards, author three non-fiction titles and syndicate a humor column in her third year of freelancing, why can’t I? Never mind that I’m not really that into children’s writing and I haven’t said anything remotely funny since I was 10. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been guilty of doing above. It’s easy to look at goals of other writers and think, “She’s got so many goals for year and I’ve got only five. Let me increase mine, too.” But “she” doesn’t have your life, and you don’t have hers. So set goals that are appropriate for your career and your ambitions, not hers. What’s your life like? If you’re a new mom, don’t expect to be able to work 80-hour weeks like you did before you gave birth. If you have a full-time job, don’t try to take on same-day deadline assignments. You need to set goals that are suitable to your life, your speed and your talent, no matter what anyone else may do or say.
| | Keeping a Love JournalWritten by Catherine Franz
Do you love someone very deeply? A spouse, son, daughter, or maybe a group of people. February 14 is Valentine’s Day. This unofficial holiday is a day card companies started to increase their business and has evolved into more over years. It is a day of reflection, a day to show someone else you care, a day to see love we have for ourselves as well.A separate journal devoted strictly to people, places and things, that you love, may seem like a waste of space at first. Why not just toss it in our regular journal. You might be thinking, "How can I fill up a whole book?" I shared this sentiment for years. After making choice, one pre-Valentine day ten years ago in a bookstore, it became easy. A richer life began emerging because of it over time. As all things, it begins by purchasing a journal for that specific purpose. This is perfect time of year to buy that such journal. Book and gift stores provide a stack of choices this time of year. When I sat down and opened my new love journal, cover, with its typical red cover and hearts, changed my voice but pages were still stark white. For days, I sat staring at those blank pages every evening and occasionally a few mornings. This was a strange sensation since it’s harder for me to end than to begin. My original thought, why I purchased this teenage-like journal, was to honor my mother’s memories. She passed, at time ten years earlier, and our memories were waning. Many times it took pictures to see her face again. Here are some ways that I learned over years to fill my love journals. What once started with a cautionary purchase turned into a regular yearly purchase. Of course, this time of year because of wide selection in stores. Let Me Count Ways Lists are a great way to begin when sentences or thought seems vague. Lists suggest expansiveness and release pressure of saying it just right. Focus on one person and make a list of a particular moment. It doesn't matter whether it is recent or somewhere in past. Memory triggering is a trained skill and takes practice. Love Letters "Love letters fulfill a need to confide, to testify and to articulate what is ordinarily left unspoken," says Cathy Davidson in, "The Book of Love: Writers and Their Love Letters." Expressing your love, whether shared or not, fulfills an internal need, a desire of a deep connection. Whether love is only one way, a fantasy, or just a dream. Memorable writing, whether it is a list, letter, poem, story or essay, comes deeply from soul of writer. It is their way of having their say. Writing a love letter doesn't always need to be to or about someone else. When we are working on our self-esteem and self-worth, it is important to write love letters to us. This may seem selfish or uncomfortable at start but experience blossoms into a deeper learning about who we are, what we want, what we need, and what we can give. For those of us who have difficulty knowing our own needs or putting our health first, writing love letters can be a valuable bridge that expands into a deeper understanding and knowledge about us or about our path.
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