What is it going to take for you to decide to Go Pro with your creative life? What event, what words, what epiphany, will need to happen for you to wake up and realize the only thing stopping you is yourself?
About 10 months ago I sat at home with my newborn, everything was new for both of us. I realized quickly that my life would never be totally mine again. All those little things I wanted to do instantly were pushed to the side. One evening, my husband lovingly sat me down and asked me if I was ever going to be serious about writing my book. I baulked. Do you know how hard it is to take care of a baby? To keep the house clean? To take a shower even?
I had legitimate excuses. Right? We all do.
After a good cry. I took an honest stock of where I was at with my book. I was writing on and off and was ecstatic to hit ten thousand words- in a year, but hey I was pregnant and working. Conclusion: I will never finish my book.
Here are the things that tipped the scale causing me to be serious about my writing.
Get a Group: There is something shocking about sitting with a group of people who have the same goals and dilemmas as yourself. You realize writing is hard, you aren’t alone, and people are generally encouraging.
Get Your Game On: I am competitive. Find a couple others who are as well. Nothing can spur you on more in those tiny moments than getting more done than your comrades.
Do the Math: Check the guides and see what the standard word count for your genre is. Decide what amount of words you can honestly get done every week day (250 words is one page double spaced). Then divide it out. Young Adult Fiction 60,000 word book divided by 750 words per day average equals 80 days.
Get Excited: I don’t know about you but the math blew my mind. I could be editing a finished manuscript in 16 weeks if I just sat down for 30 minutes a day and typed (weekends off). You’re kidding me right? I actually felt empowered to do it. No, I can’t write a whole book but I can write a few pages each day.
Punch the Clock: I like checklists. In fact, I make lists just to get the satisfaction of checking them off. So everyday I sit down to write at the beginning of my document I type out the date, how many words I finished in that day and the new total. As the days go on you can watch your progress. Now you have measurable results you can see. Here is a copy of my first weeks time sheet of Going Pro.
After I got serious it took me less than 3 months to have a first draft done. You can do this. One piece, one step, one bite, one whatever at a time. All it takes, is you deciding to find the time and putting in the effort.
How often do you write? Is it enough to obtain your goals? Are you ready to Go Pro?
Quest Type 