“YES!” My earworm of the morning, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, filled my brain as I rose in victory.

I AM THE CHAMPION!

Arms bobbed and toes bounced all the way to the shower. Fifteen minutes of writing complete! I was 102 words further along on my story!

And even as the shower washed me clean for the coming day, I wished for tomorrow’s 6:45 AM writing time to arrive so the work could start again.

Reinforcing that wonderful feeling of victory makes it sooooo much easier to get back to work. Think about it—when was the last time you did something that felt like a failure? Get right in there and plop yourself into that situation. Do you want to return to that process? No! Of course not!

Now, think about the last time you finished something with a triumphant feeling. Snuggle into that memory. Do you want to go back and do it again? Absolutely!

Just like composting turns to garden dirt that grows to healthy veggies which send their post-cooking detritus back out to the compost pile, celebrating your success continues a cycle that encourages you back into your work, a joyous miracle in your artistic life!

True Celebration

We think, “How hard can it be to celebrate? Throw the confetti! Pop the champagne! Dance with wild abandon!”

However, celebrating our achievements can be a minefield. I don’t know about you, but I will take any chance I can to sabotage my own victories. Truly taking the time to savor a celebratory moment is HARD.

If there was an Olympics for undermining myself, you’d see me on the highest platform, mugging for the cameras and biting my gold medal. Oh, did I write for my fifteen minutes this morning? That might have happened, but did I hit my secret word count? And even if the word count was the one that I thought I wanted, I REALLY wanted to hit a higher number.

Oh! Here’s a good one! I do my fifteen minutes, hit my word count, and say, YES! Time to dance! Halfway through the first steps, I realize, those words weren’t very good. I could have written better words! Bouncing dance moves of celebration turn to stomps of frustration.

Or, maybe I do my fifteen minutes, hit my word count, and actually accept that I’ve done well. Instead of dancing, I immediately begin to up my word count for tomorrow, and obsessively plow back into the work without any celebration at all!

I see. You thought you were the only one who did that? Come on in. We saved you a chair.

Let me ask you a question. What would it feel like to believe you were successful with your writing? Stop before you head into the next sentence, re-read that question, close your eyes, and find that feeling in your belly.

Got it? Good.

Do you think you could believe that you were just 5% successful?

Or maybe could you believe that you were successful for just fifteen seconds?

Again, stop. Pick one of those two options, or try both.

Now, here’s the hard one! Imagine you’re celebrating finishing your next small step. During that celebration, could you act like you believed you were successful? Just while you celebrate? Just that moment?

By practicing your celebration, you begin to open yourself up to that belief that you are successful, that you can have this writing practice, and that you can have fun while you do it.

And that keeps you coming back for more.

Do You Want A Prize for That?

Why not? Why shouldn’t our celebrations include prizes? They don’t have to be anything big. For me, the prize for spending fifteen minutes writing was a silly dance to a song in my head.

That little bit of rejoicing kept my spirits high, my heart happy, and my mind resilient enough to return day after day to my writing desk.

As we work on establishing our writing habits, our celebratory prizes can also be a physical bribe.

Is that cheating? All is fair in creating that habit! Having a tangible prize for achieving what we set out to do can be the last little push that gets us out of bed on a particularly cold morning, or to our writing space at the end of a difficult day.

When selecting a reward for daily practice, a significant milestone, or any type of celebration in between, make sure the prize reflects the effort.

For example, perhaps a new pen celebrates the completion of a chapter, a salted caramel truffle finishes a section, that pair of Danskos you’ve been eyeing slip on your feet when the novel sits complete in your hard drive.

However, just like me with my dance, the prize doesn’t have to be a physical thing. Maybe you can reward yourself with a walk to your favorite tree, spend some time doing yoga, or sign up for a class you’ve been dying to take.

The prize is the manifestation of your victory! Whatever you select, enjoy it with a clear heart and let the joy carry you into enthusiasm for your next day of work.

Celebrations anchor in that fabulous feeling of accomplishment, keeping you coming back to your writing space. It’s part of our process, just as important as getting up early and putting the words on the page. And, as with your writing, practice makes perfect and a good prize helps your plot move forward.

Let’s dance!

**This post uses Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Tools.

Tell us in the comments: What does your victory celebration look like?

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois empowers you to embrace JOY as you manifest your creative goals through her Creativity and Business Coaching. Battle resistance, procrastination, and overwhelm with her at your side, gently encouraging with humor and heart. Discover more at her website, labourgeois.biz

The post Victory Celebration Required appeared first on DIY MFA.

If you have been eyeing the literary “super genre” but something someone once said has been holding you back, let’s dive right in and debunk some common myths about speculative fiction. (On a side note, are you looking for psychological proven exercises to improve creativity? I have something for you in the end.)

Myth 1: Speculative Fiction revolves around Sci-Fi.

When we call it a “super genre,” we really mean it. Speculative fiction is sometimes confused for sci-fi or fantasy. Or sometimes a genre hanging between the two. My guess is this has something to do with the fact that Robert Heinlein was the first person to coin the term in 1947 and it has since been largely associated with sci-fi in the 20th century. After all, sci-fi is a popularly read genre and has speculative elements.

But speculative fiction goes beyond that. It includes sci-fi, sci-fi inspired by mythology, folklore, fairy tales, fantasy, supernatural fiction, utopia fiction, dystopia fiction, urban fantasy, superhero fiction, apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, magical realism, and alternate history fiction.

What I mean to say is, if it has any elements of speculation, or the story is supposed to be set in a world that is unlike ours, you’re aiming for speculative fiction. Do not let the scary myth that speculative fiction is only supposed to be sci-fi hold you back.

Myth 2: To write a good sci-fi (speculative fiction), a science degree is a must.

Stemming from the first of these myths about speculative fiction, this has to take the second spot. Although it is a myth more commonly heard for sci-fi, it is fluid in the sense that people sometimes assume in order to explain the new world and its functioning, a strong scientific backup is a necessity. And who but an individual with a science degree can provide better answers?

However, I think there is more to look at. Sure, a science degree can help through the technicalities, but the first step towards good world building is consistency. So long as there is consistency in your explanation about the workings of your world, the audience will enjoy your work. That also includes stretching the truth enough to make it seem plausible. After all, the audience knows to truly enjoy the genre of speculative fiction they must maintain a willing suspension of disbelief.

Myth 3: Pantsers can just wing it.

I will not lie, writing speculative fiction can be a little challenging, especially if you’re trying your hand at it for the first time. But mostly it is rewarding. The challenge generally lies in keeping the speculative elements consistent. There are so many details to take care of. This is why, if you’re a Pantser, it might not be the best idea to just go with the flow. You might overlook tiny details that might snowball into a plot hole later. In my opinion, keeping tabs on those details is going to make your life easier.

That does not mean you must automatically turn into a Plotter. Not to mention such a switch is extremely hard, if not downright impossible. If you’re wondering whether you’re a Pantser or Plotter, ask yourself one simple question: Do you enjoy outlining your story idea and do just that, or do you enjoy working without a set plan or outline? There is a middle ground too. It’s called Plantser and that just might be the solution you are looking for if this myth about speculative fiction plagues you.

Myth 4: World building is greater than storytelling.

Let’s just say one simple word: No. No amount of world building can replace storytelling. Think of the greatest novel, movie, or TV show you have read or watched that comes under speculative fiction. Chances are, the storytelling was just as powerful as world building, if not more. Now imagine a cool world where a lot of things are happening at once, but there is a lack of storytelling. Doesn’t sound very gripping, does it?

Because no matter how great the world building is, we only care about that world because of the story. Now, I am not saying world building is not important. It is, but only because of the characters we are going on a journey with in that world.

I will take two examples here. One of my most favorite book series: The Harry Potter Series. Yes, the wizarding world is the coolest thing ever and I am still waiting for my Hogwarts letter, but I only care about all of that because every character in that story is compelling. It has always been the characters that have drawn me in and attached me to the world, not the other way around.

For my other example, let’s think about Disney’s Finding Nemo. Talking sea creatures? Cute. A father on a mission to find his kidnapped son (might I add his only child)? Compelling.

Now, if you want to write a story that leaves an impression on your readers and you want them to remember it even years after putting your novel down, you know where to focus. If that isn’t your goal, you can continue believing in this myth about speculative fiction.

An Exercise

If any of these myths about speculative fiction have been holding you back, I hope you are now ready to pull out your notes and memos that kept your exclusive world hidden until now. Remember, writing is for everyone, regardless of the genre. If you take one step forward, it would be a step closer to your wonderful world of speculative elements.

However, if it is a lack of creative boost holding you in its clutches. Let’s try to free you from that as well. I am going to employee my degree in psychology here and give you a little exercise that can help improve creative thinking:

The constrained creativity.

Often, people who find themselves constrained in some way come up with the most creative ideas. I know it might sound counterintuitive, but putting limitations pushes your brain to focus on creating novel ideas and solutions. Let’s try it together.

Tell me or write for yourself a short story about the weather outside your window right now. But your constraint is the story must have an unusual sentient being saying it all in under 100 words. I will be waiting to read your stories!

Next time we meet let’s take the 7 Deadly Sins of Speculative Fiction by the horn and be rid of those monsters for once and for all. Together we’ll see the beauty of Speculative Fiction in all its glory. Until then!

Disha Walia is a lifelong storyteller and an enthusiastic writer and editor in love with the idea of exploring the creative world of words. While making her space in the world of non-fiction and fiction alike, Disha loves to spend even her free time daydreaming about what next to write. Connect with her on www.quillinary.com. You can also follow her on Instagram (@quillinary) and Twitter (@quillinary).

The post Welcome to Worldly Wise: Debunking Myths about Speculative Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

We begin the month obsessed with our “shoulds.” I should lose weight. I should write my book. I should clean my house more.

Maybe that last one is just me? It can’t be!

Encouraged by the world, we take all of our “shoulds” and turn them into resolutions. I will lose weight. I will write my book. I will clean my house more.

After throwing ourselves at them for a few days, those resolutions dissipate back into their original form, but with an added bonus of guilt from the unrealistic expectations we piled on ourselves!

And the guilt makes the “should” show up even more often.

“Should” Pressures Us

When we say “I should,” we state what we insist we must do. Actions we believe that someone else or our community or the world demands of us. Expectations that have not been met. Each time you say “I should,” an unfulfilled assumption unfurls from your tongue, and guilt breaks through the dam surrounding your soul, flooding it with disgust.

Guilt around these “I shoulds” helps no one. Guilt fills up your brain with static, refusing to allow anything else entry. 

Where is the room for your writing? Gone because you’re feeling guilty about not writing! 

Where is the room to make a beautiful home? Gone because you’re feeling guilty that you haven’t cleaned the house! 

Where is the space for your family? Gone because you’re feeling guilty that you didn’t take the time to play with your kids!

It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s one inflicted on us by ourselves.

Luckily, one radical practice frees you from this cycle.

Stop using the word “should.”

That’s it. Excise “should” from your vocabulary. Does it sound easy? Because it is not. That “should” is trained into us by our family, our schools, our community, our society. Shaking it loose takes time and effort. This is why it’s a practice—not a quick fix!  

The first step? Stopping your mouth from forming the word.

And the real trick to stop the cycle and avoid the guilt trip from yourself?

Define the expectation. 

When you stop your “should,” replace that word with another one. What’s the first word that comes to mind to replace it? Why that word? What does that word tell you about this expectation you hold?

Inquire why you must do this thing that you “should” do. 

What goal is achieved by doing it? Can the goal be met by taking different actions?

The rote “I should ” now becomes an “I can.” Or maybe, the “I should” becomes an “I don’t need to” or an  “I want to.”

And that’s ok.

This transformation of the “should” redirects your energy from wallowing in guilt into practical action. It encourages you to work on your real goals infused with your meaning rather than the goals that you imagine everyone expects.

And that is what I am asking you to do by releasing “should” from your vocabulary. 

Let’s give it a try.

One of my not-so-favorites is “I should work on my novel.”

First, I eliminate the word and substitute it with another. My first thought is to use “will” in its place. Immediately, “will” sends up a flare of alarm. That word sets up a new way to add pressure. Bye-bye, “will!”

However, “I can work on my novel” tells me that I think working on my novel is possible.

Now I ask why.

Why can I work on my novel?

Because I can physically work on my novel. I can sit down at the computer and type words into the document and write my novel. It’s a possibility.

Why am I not working on the novel?

Because I work hard all day and I’m tired at night. And on the weekend, I have to do my chores and recover from the week. And I’m at a place in the novel that is hard to write.

Now I have some good information! Instead of just feeling guilty, I can start to delve into the reasons behind my excuses. And I can find solutions to the problems.

• Maybe I can ask my wife to help with the chores and free up a little time for me to write on the weekend.
• Maybe I can rise early in the morning to write before work since I’m tired at night.
• Maybe I can let myself off the writing hook for a couple of weeks until this super-stressful deadline at work has passed.
• Maybe I can begin writing that difficult section by committing to write just one sentence a day. Or every day-ish.

Options exist. A potential solution reveals itself.

And the “should” no longer controls my thoughts.

The practice of stopping your “should” cycle is one that you will find needs constant attention, especially for the first few weeks. Once you start noticing your “shoulds,” they will surprise you with their frequency. Over time, their presence will slow to a trickle, but never quite disappear. 

Perfection in this practice may not be possible (I certainly haven’t found it yet!), but committing to the practice of inquiring into your “shoulds” can empower you to make progress toward your dreams.

“Should” happens. Inquiring into each “should” reveals the reasoning behind the expectation. Facing the actualities of each “should” reveals a list of barriers that you can overcome to achieve your real goals. Delving into the options each “should” reveals empowers you to take action.

One final thing—sometimes what the “should” reveals is that you don’t really want to pursue that goal. It’s just a goal that other people expect you to achieve which doesn’t align with your heart. 

Or it’s a thing or action that someone has told you that you need to get to your goal but the action or thing doesn’t ring true for your journey. If the answer you discover in your inquiry is “That feels wrong to me,” respect the voice of your soul and find another way.

So, for this new year, resolve only to inquire into your “shoulds.” Begin where you are. Define the expectation. Ask “why.” Try not to judge yourself for falling into the “should” trap of expectations.

We all do it.

And the lessons we learn from those “shoulds” empower us to make real change and achieve the goals of our hearts.

***This piece applies Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Tools. Tell us in the comments: What are you going to use instead of that word?

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois empowers you to embrace JOY as you manifest your creative goals through her Creativity and Business Coaching. Battle resistance, procrastination, and overwhelm with her at your side, gently encouraging with humor and heart. Discover more at her website, labourgeois.biz. You can follow LA on Facebook or Instagram.

The post Why You Should Stop Using the Word “Should” appeared first on DIY MFA.

So, if you have ever put off a meaningful task and instead done something less important only to end up talking yourself into believing you’re lazy, put that self-depreciation talk away. 

Also, keep in mind, procrastination is not relaxing. When being “booked and busy” is the trend, the unhealthy mindset often makes people feel guilty if they take time off. I know this because I am guilty as charged. Simply put—relaxing recharges us and procrastination drains us.

If you have trouble persuading yourself to do things you would like to or should do, welcome to the club of procrastinators. 

I want to help you get rid of this habit of putting things off intentionally or habitually, so I present these six psychologically proven tricks to end procrastination:

Trick 1: Reward Yourself

One of the leading causes of procrastination is lack of discipline. While pursuing my bachelor’s degree in psychology, the best thing I ever learned was the types of motivation: 

• Extrinsic motivation (behaviors motivated by external rewards)
• Goal-based motivation
• Intrinsic motivation (behaviors with no obvious external rewards). 

Our aim should always be for intrinsic motivation. But when we are already suffering from a lack of discipline, getting on the intrinsic motivation bandwagon can be hard. It’s not a horrible idea to start with extrinsic motivation to develop intrinsic motivation. 

For example: If you have a hard time putting your phone away, try telling yourself how you’ll reward yourself with binge-watching your favourite Netflix TV Series or YouTube Cat Videos after you’ve finished the task at hand. Reward yourself until you develop the habit of getting motivated from the inside (intrinsic motivation).

Trick 2: 2 Minute Pieces

Regardless of why you’re trying to get rid of procrastination, this habit is going to save your life. Ask yourself, can you do a task at hand in under 2 minutes? If the answer is yes, do it right away.

Putting off a tiny task that literally takes 2 minutes can snowball into hours and before you know it, that one task has ruined your entire schedule. 

Here’s a classic example: doing the dishes. We often leave that one bowl and spoon to clean up “later,” then in the blink of an eye, the sink is full of dishes and you’re regretting life. 

But if you would have washed that first spoon and bowl that would literally take less than 2 minutes, you would have avoided the mess you find yourself cleaning hours (or days) later.

Trick 3: Sharing Goals

Now, this might not be a trick for everyone out there. But this is the thing about tricks—it’s all about trial and error. Do whatever works for you and leave the rest. For some people, sharing goals with others motivates them to work harder. 

Sharing a goal often makes people feel accountable. They have someone waiting for them to finish that goal. It works as motivation, especially if you share that goal with someone you hold in high regard. We always want the people we hold in high regard to think well of us. Sharing goals motivate us to finish our task because we care what this person thinks of us. 

There are studies that claim that sharing your goals can be disastrous. It can be in certain situations, like if you feel pressured. But this trick, like trick 1, is for those who have trouble in getting into the habit of intrinsic motivation.

And here’s a little insider tip: Always keep your big goals a secret. It’s okay to share the little ones.

Trick 4: Start Fresh

We have a habit of working in the same space. Naturally, we develop a habit of procrastinating in the same space as well. The idea is to break the cycle. If you sit in one spot every day, only to end up procrastinating, switch your spot. 

Really, we just need to trick our brains into thinking we are starting fresh. Take a walk, a shower, listen to new music, anything that would trick your brain into thinking you’re starting fresh. It refreshes us and when we get back to the task, more often than not, we end up being more productive. Remember, this trick is all about breaking the cycle. 

Trick 5: The Seinfeld Method

While the previous trick to end procrastination was about breaking cycles, this one is about making one. The Seinfeld method is so simple that you might be skeptical, but you’ll be shocked to learn of its powers. 

The Seinfeld method is a powerful tool to develop habits and stay consistent with your goals. We often start something with great gusto, but as life gets in the way, end up abandoning it. 

This method is named after comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who once gave away the secret to his success: “consistency.” He knew he needed a system to keep him motivated and accountable, even when things got hard. 

All you need to do is track your progress in a simple and concrete way. Set up a goal, break it down into a daily routine, set up a calendar on which you can tick off your daily progress. The calendar should be visually right in front of you. This keeps you accountable, gives you motivation, and is easy to use. 

Any writer who has ever taken part in NaNoWriMo knows how this works. Except a lot of writers cannot get through NaNoWriMo because it is present digitally. Remember to keep this calendar in front of you in physical form.

Trick 6: Daily To-Do List

If you’re one of those people who love striking things off your to-do list, this tip is for you. Make a daily to-do list instead of making a longer one. 

Seeing a long to-do list can be overwhelming and give rise to procrastination. 

A daily to-do list can help prioritize tasks, limit new tasks, and stay focused on urgent tasks. Managing one day at a time is less stressful and less tiring.

That’s it! The 6 simple but effective psychologically proven tricks to end procrastination for once and for all. 

The P-word might look like a huge fire-breathing monster with fangs that have gulped down the elixir of immortality. But don’t forget, all of us are the protagonists of our stories. And what does a protagonist never do? Give up.

Tell us in the comments: How are you going to end procrastination in 2022?

Disha Walia is a lifelong storyteller and an enthusiastic writer and editor in love with the idea of exploring the creative world of words. While making her space in the world of non-fiction and fiction alike, Disha loves to spend even her free time daydreaming about what next to write. Connect with her on www.quillinary.com. You can also follow her on Instagram (@quillinary) and Twitter (@quillinary).

The post Six Psychologically-Proven Tricks to End Procrastination appeared first on DIY MFA.

This means:

• How much money are you trying to make? 
• Is that number sustainable for you and yours to survive? 
• Can you factor in days off for vacation and sick days with that number? 
• What about a surprise pregnancy? 
• What about shopping during the holiday season? 
• And emergency expenses like a new car transmission?

The money matters. I’m passionate about this because when I started my indie author journey, nobody stressed the coin to me. And because no one stressed the importance of the coin, I lost a lot of it.

Now, I make sure I plan how to get to the bag and build a successful authorial business.

I need you to do the same. Take off your hobbyist hat. Even take off your author hat. Now put on your entrepreneurial hat. It’s time to think like an entrepreneur. It’s easier than you think to set up your next authorial calendar year for success.

To start the journey, you’ve got to plan your money.

Plan Your Money

Do you know how much money you want to earn in your business by the end of next year? I’m sure you have a lotfy idea of what number you’d hope to reach every month. Perhaps you even know what you’d like to make every week.

But what about the amount you’d be proud to bring home from your books at the end of the year after taxes?

This is important to note because your financial target will determine the activity you execute to reach your goals. 

I hope you caught that: The number you are working to earn by year’s end will determine what you do every month, week, day, and hour to hit that goal. 

It’s important for you to know where you’re headed so you can identify which paths will take you there. Once you know how to get there, you’ll then be able to see what’s the quickest way of reaching the goal.

Then you can publish with purpose.

Identify your numeric goal posts

The first step to plan your money is simple: identify your goal for the following year.

Really. Just pick a number.

Whether you want to make $100K. $250K. Or even $50K – $75K. The number is up to you. Whatever you’re comfortable making that will provide a nice cushion for you and your family, go with that.

Once you identify the number, you need to break it down. Saying you want to make $100,000 in 365 days might be terrifying. 

So work backwards:

To reach $100K in 12 months, you need to bring home $8,333.33 each month. This may still seem terrifying, yeah? No worries. Let’s break this number down.

To earn $8,333.33 every 30 days, each week your books have to earn $2,083.33. Some of you make more than this at your day job. So this doesn’t seem too much, right?

If you’re reading this and you’re still huffing and puffing—let’s break it down even more. To earn $2,083.33 every 7 days, your books need to earn $297.62 (rounding up) every single day.

This amounts to you needing to sell 12 to 13 books every single hour.

Note: This doesn’t factor in taxes, tithes, etc.

So if you sell 12 to 13 books every hour for 12 months, you’ll hit your income goal of $100,000 by the end of next year. Knowing this number will make it crystal clear on what you’re reaching for, so you can then identify how to reach it.

Identify how you’ll achieve the numeric goal posts

Knowing how you’ll reach those numeric goals is also pretty simple.

It boils down to IPAs. Income Producing Assets. As an author, you need to get clear on what your money makers are. Do you have one standalone? Two completed trilogies? 30+ books published in different series? Multiple series in multiple genres?

Sit down and identify in writing what all of your IPAs are. List out how much each costs. If you’re still writing, this is the perfect time for you to know what numeric goal you’ll be shooting for so you can determine how many books you’ll need to reach the goal.

Note: Not all IPAs have to be books. Candles, mugs, stickers, character art, pins, and all forms of book swag count as IPAs. You might have one novel, but you can package it up with a mug, candle, some art, and a journal in a box that ships for $57.00 to your readers at home and abroad. 

This is part of how you’ll achieve your income goals. Take some time to list out all the ways you can take one product (the novel) and stretch it to different income streams. Crunch numbers and make it plain what activities you need to do, and how often they need to be done, so you can hit your goals by the end of the following year.

Put a system in place to reach your numeric goals

Systems were something I stuck my nose up at until burnout knocked on my door and made a permanent home. Not only that, I lost a crap ton of money because I didn’t have solid systems in place to keep coin flowing.

Have you ever considered that each aspect of publishing requires systems? Systems aren’t only important for marketing your business to access high levels of exposure. They are also important for the writing through the publication phase.

Consider the following:

• How long does it take you to write a scene? Or 3K words?
• When are you most productive?
• What environment do you need to establish to access your writing flow?
• What tool do you use to write?
• What are you using to track your progress?

Knowing the answers to these questions is a system. How you get your work done as an author is a system. Because when it’s time to start the next book, you’ll go through this exact process all over again. 

Once you’ve finished writing a book, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you do your own developmental edits?
• Are betas involved?
• How many drafts will you do before submitting the manuscript to an editor?
• How about line editing? 
• When do you factor in time to just re-read?
• How long does this process take?

Every minute, day, week, or month different parts of the publication wheel take you to finish takes up time on the timeline of reaching your numeric goal by the year’s end.

You need a system for writing. You need a system for editing. You need a system for publishing. You need a system for marketing. You need a system for growing. You need a system for scaling.

At what point of this process can you start monetizing? What do you need to do to monetize? Are you emailing your subscribers every week? Are you texting them? Will you do reels on Instagram? Will you post creative Tik Toks? Will you go Live on Facebook? Are you going to start threads on Twitter?

What activities can you do that require the least amount of effort but produce the most amount of results? How can you write fewer books and still sell to more readers so you can reach your goal faster?

You won’t hit your goal through the sheer will of your determination and efforts. Your goals will end up submitting to the default of your systems. If you’re all over the place as an author, you can tell that monetary goal sayonara.

But if you plan your money, if you sit down and write what you’re shooting for, how to get there, and what systems to establish to get it, you’ll be tap dancing into the following year.

Make the commitment to plan your money for next year before this one ends. Planning makes you purposeful. Being purposeful makes you profitable. You can’t earn what you don’t expect. Schedule a time on your calendar with yourself, that no one can interrupt (*ahem* not your kids, not your spouse, nobody), to strategize and plan what your author career will look like in the next 365 days. 

Then, get to work.

Stephanie BwaBwa is a Christian Fantasy Novelist. She’s the creator of the universe: Elledelle – about angels in magical worlds with impressive power that mirror the human condition.

She’s the author of the YA fantasy series: The Seraphim Resistance Prequels and The Transcendents Serial, as well as the writing guide, Fantasy Fundamentals for Christian fantasy writers. You can usually catch her going for a walk through a park, or simply binging Disney+ with too many snacks. Get in contact with Stephanie directly at: stephaniebwabwa.com.

The post Plan Your Money: Setting up Your Authorial Calendar for Success appeared first on DIY MFA.

A Writer’s Holiday Survival Guide by Bess (Cozby) McAllister

This two-part guide is all about being able to celebrate the holidays without “losing your writing muscles, your friends, or your life.” This advice still holds up today! There is so much going on in late December, so many people to see, things to wrap up, and so on that sometimes it’s easy to skip out on your writing time. This guide has advice on scaling back, carving out a little bit of time, and writing on the go—whatever works for you. Part 1 is linked above and here is part 2.

Flash Fiction as Holiday Therapy by Alicia Audrey

Whether you spend time this season with family or friends, the holidays are ripe for awkward situations and interesting drama. Use it! The great benefit of flash fiction is that it is manageable to write in a single sitting. This post helps you turn situations into stories. Even better? Alicia includes an example of a piece written from her own awkward holiday gathering.

#5onFri: Five of Winter’s Gifts to Every Writer by Stephanie Lucas Basile

Sometimes winter gets a bad rap. And I say this as a person who doesn’t do cold and who gets extremely anxious about it getting dark at 4:30 every afternoon for months on end. The point is we CAN find some good things about winter that can help us get to writing. This #5onFri elaborates on some of the “gifts” of the season and how they can translate into inspiration for our writing.

Why You Should Review Your Writing Year by Gabriela Pereira

While writing isn’t bound by a single calendar year, the calendar year makes a neat container for goals and marking progress. Thus, the end of the year makes a great time to stop and reflect on the goals you’ve set for yourself, how they went well, and what could have gone better, so that you can set new (and better) goals for the next year. In this post, Gabriela poses some reflection questions about where your writing journey has taken you and what you’ve learned and offers some guidelines for setting new goals in the future.

Episode 22: Five Lessons About Writing and Life (From Santa Claus)

This is a throwback to an early, early episode of the podcast. Gabriela does a solo show here where she talks about the Santa Claus story, why he is the master of creative motivation, and what we can learn from him about the creative process. She shares five lessons about creativity, writing, and life and a couple of important things to remember if you wind up getting coal. Don’t have time to listen to the full podcast? You can check out this post that shares (and expands upon) the same lessons.

Episode 285: Character-Driven Holiday Romance — Interview with Sarah Morgan

In this episode of DIY MFA Radio, Gabriela interviews Sarah Morgan, bestselling author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. It highlights her 2019 release, A Wedding in December. In the interview, Gabriela and Sarah discuss what makes holiday romances so popular, how to navigate stories where a HEA (happily ever after) ending is guaranteed, developing an authentic setting, and so much more.

Cozy Mysteries and the Holidays by Stacy Woodson

There’s just something about the height of winter that makes you want to curl up under a blanket with a book and a hot drink and get cozy (this is literally the only benefit to the cold and darkness, in my opinion). This post is a great introduction to cozy mysteries as a genre, including common elements within the genre, where to find cozy mysteries, and why they are so perfect to read during the holiday season.

Seven Cozy Poems of Winter by Angela Yeh

Continuing our theme of getting cozy, poetry reading columnist and Community Welcome Dragon Angela Yeh wrote this post with the best snow-themed poems. In it, she talks about the magic of winter and getting cozy to help you prepare for the experience of reading about the beauty and stillness of a snow-covered world.

However you use this holiday-themed round-up, we hope you have a happy holiday season!

Lori Walker is the Operations Maven at DIY MFA. Though she’s fallen off the wagon as a writer, she’s hoping to return to writing essays (perhaps even a novel!) through her involvement with DIY MFA. She is also Launch Manager, Web Editor, and Podcast Producer for DIY MFA and a Book Coach. She resides in Smalltown, Oklahoma, with her husband and their cat, Joan Didion. You can follow her on Instagram at @LoriTheWriter.

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They’re both ambitious undertakings that require consistent, focused effort over a longer period of time. They both require a special kind of dedication and optimism. And neither once comes without its setbacks. But that’s why we take on these challenges: to prove ourselves. To accomplish something. Oh, and to maybe achieve fame and fortune if we’re good.

If you want to be one of the rare few that writes a novel, you can learn a lot from the process of running a marathon to improve your writing. 

1.   It’s more of a mental challenge than you think

Obviously, writing a novel is a cerebral pursuit, much more so than running. But both activities challenge you mentally, especially if you have to find a way to keep going when all reason tells you to stop. In fact, the hardest part of running a marathon, in my experience, was convincing myself the entire time not to stop just because it was hard. 

The very same internal struggle happens for many writers. Maybe you worry that everything you write is trash. Maybe your brain tries to convince you to go do something easier. But you must develop the mental strength to overcome those self-defeating thoughts. You must get started anyway. A common piece of running advice is to just commit to ten minutes. At that point, you’re warmed up, and you’re more likely to keep going. The same holds true for writing. Even if you don’t feel like starting, just sit down to type for ten minutes. You’ll likely find your groove and move past the negative thoughts. 

2.   Planning and preparation will increase your chances of success

Just like there are pantsers who sit down and write a whole novel “by the seat of their pants,” there are also a handful of people who do a marathon with very little training. In the case of the former, many let their messy, pantsed drafts sit for years because they’re too difficult to fix. As for the latter—you can’t walk for two weeks after the race. 

Of course, there are outliers in both cases, but you’re likely to get a better outcome in writing and running if you prepare. Learning how to write a novel, coupled with researching your subject, developing your characters and world, and creating an outline will make writing your first draft a smoother process. Similarly, building up your mileage slowly, following a training plan, and learning about proper nutrition, will help you get across the finish line in better shape and with a time you can be proud of. 

3.   There are no shortcuts

A marathon is 26.2 miles—no more no less. A book is tens of thousands of words. As much as we’d like to make both easier, they are simply not. And there’s no way to shortcut the distance or the process. Preparation makes you better equipped to handle the difficulties, but if you want to achieve either goal, you’re signing up for a long process. 

However, throughout that long process, you’ll learn a lot. You’ll tweak your running form to become more efficient, or you’ll establish a writing routine that helps you get into a state of flow. You’ll try different things and determine what works and what doesn’t. You’ll get faster or you’ll dial in your writing voice. Despite the challenges and frustrations, you’ll come to appreciate going the long way. You will come out a much better writer or runner because of it. 

4.   The last stretch is the hardest part 

Once you get through the first 20 miles of a marathon, the last 6.2 feel like, well, another marathon. Even if you haven’t hit the wall, your body and mind are depleted at this point. You’re close to the end, but not close enough. This is the hardest part. The same goes for editing your novel. This is where the real work begins. There are a number of loose threads that feel like they may never come together. You’ve spent so much time with your idea that you begin to worry that it’s boring—at least you’re getting a little bored with it. And you still have to fix your character arc. This is the point where you must decide if you will continue. 

When you hit this stretch, either in running or writing, it’s time to “dig deep.” Runners often talk about “remembering your why,” the reason why you decided to run a marathon. This is equally important in novel writing. To commit to such a lofty goal, you must have a reason driving you. Do you have an important message to share with the world? Or a story that you just can’t let go? Tap into your why to keep you going. 

5.   Completing it is a rare and special accomplishment

So many people say they want to run a marathon or write a novel; so few actually achieve either. If you’ve completed a manuscript or gone the distance, you are exceptional! Even if it’s a bad experience, it’s still a cause for celebration. You’ve achieved a rare feat. 

Finishing my first marathon and my first novel made me want to cry happy, relieved, exhausted tears. At the same time, I wasn’t fully satisfied with my performance in either. 

That’s the thing: many people will be happy to cross the accomplishment off the bucket list—one and done. Then there are those of us for whom one is not enough. We finish and say, “I’m proud that I covered the miles or wrote that many pages, but I bet I can do it better. Let’s try it again.” 

I believe that’s the key to success in both marathoning and novel-writing. The insatiable desire to see how well you can do, and the determination to stick with the pursuit until you become better. Despite all the obstacles that may come up in your journey, if you master your mindset, prepare, resist shortcuts, remember your why, and you don’t settle, you can achieve your dreams. 

Heather Campbell is a book coach and editor helping writers cut through self-doubt and confusion to finally complete the novel they always dreamed of writing. When she’s not immersed in fiction, she’s running in the fresh mountain air of Colorado or snuggling with her rescue dog, Chase. Find out more at www.thewriterremedy.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

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What does “wide” mean here? What is “Select”?

“Select” means KDP Select, Amazon’s program that restricts electronic distribution of your ebook to Amazon in exchange for certain royalty and promotional perks. Choosing select means your ebook will be included in Kindle Unlimited (KU), so KU subscribers can read your book in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) for free, but you get paid for the pages they read. “Wide” means foregoing those perks to publish your ebook on a variety of platforms and storefronts. Both Joanna Penn and the Alliance of Independent Authors offer valuable primers on the pros and cons of wide vs. select.   

What’s your career objective?

The choice to publish wide vs. select represents a key strategic decision for the author-publisher. Reflect on your long-term business plan and your author goals, and consider which tactic will be more likely to get you where you wish to go. Although authors can switch back and forth between the two channels at will, the audiences are different. Cycling between the two may result in wasting time serving an audience that won’t support your goals in the long run, or failing to gain traction in your chosen sector.

Here are a few factors to consider:

• How many books do you have? Some authors, including prominent indies like Joanna Penn, recommend going with KU until you have at least two books, as it’s easier to learn a single platform first and then broaden your marketing. 
• What genre or genres do you write in? KU readers favor romance, followed by fantasy and mystery. If you write outside these genres, you may find other platforms friendlier places to build readership. 
• How diversified are your product offerings? Do you offer your books in ebook format only, or do you have print and audio options as well? If you offer products in multiple formats, you can choose to offer your ebooks in KU and offer your print and audio books in wider distribution. 
• What’s your product release strategy? If your business model is to write constantly and publish frequently, Amazon exclusivity may benefit you, as you can learn to time releases and promotional days to make Amazon’s recommendation algorithms work in your favor. If you take longer to write your books, it may make sense to go wide, so you can take advantage of the different platforms’ opportunities to market your existing works while you bring the next one out.
• How comfortable are you with risk? Amazon offers a lot of benefits, but using a single retailer means assuming a great deal of business risk. Amazon can change their royalty structure or the KU business model at any time. Antitrust litigation could conceivably impact the way Amazon treats independent authors. The decision is akin to placing all your retirement funds in a single stock (even if it is Amazon stock), or a balanced portfolio of mutual funds. If you’re comfortable with that level of risk, the payoff from Amazon can be great. If you prefer to diversify your risk, wide makes sense. 

Depending on the number of books you have and the formats you have them in, you can enjoy benefits of both markets. For example, you can offer a few ebooks in KU–a first book in a series, or a complete short series–and have your other ebooks (plus your print and audio versions) wide. Offering a few ebooks in KU lowers the risk to the reader, who doesn’t have to pay anything extra to try your book out. After reading your series, that reader may be willing to venture outside of KU to continue to support your career.

• What kind of audience do you want to build? Authors constantly work to build their platforms, or their readerships. With whom do you want to be in conversation? Although I love it anytime someone signs up to my mailing list, as a US-based author, I get a special thrill when I see an email address with a country extension on the top-level domain. If you desire to build a global audience, it’s hard to argue against choosing wide, because Amazon is not the dominant vendor in most countries. Even if you publish only in English, you can gain a global readership quickly.

This map shows my English-language international sales through Kobo, a Canada-based vendor with a major global presence. This kind of reach simply would not be possible by keeping my books in KDP Select. Aggregators such as Draft2Digital and PublishDrive maintain international networks of smaller vendors that can expand your reach and even help you with translations of your books. 

• What’s your timeline? By publishing through KDP Select, even if you publish in a less-popular genre, you can achieve visibility quickly and easily (keeping it is another matter). Publishing wide demands patience. However, as vendors like Kobo and Apple and aggregators like Draft2Digital and PublishDrive offer more opportunities to market and promote your books, the gap will close.

There’s no right or wrong answer to the question whether to publish wide or select. The only thing that matters is what makes sense for your goals. With independent publishing, the tools are available for you to realize almost any goal you can envision, and you have the power to make all the decisions.

Helen J. Darling writes contemporary women’s fiction. Her latest novel, Terms and Conditions, was self-published in November 2019. You can connect with her at itshelendarling.com.

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That makes sense. We all have a story to tell – and really, more than one story. Which can make it super hard to narrow the focus of a book, and make it a manageable project.

Writing a book is no small feat, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Narrowing the focus of your book is the first step in making it possible to complete the manuscript. Remember that writing one page each day leads to a pretty hefty book in a year’s time, which makes the project seem doable – if you have a clear focus of what you’re writing about.

But how to narrow your focus? Consider these tips for focusing on a book project you can’t wait to dive into.

1. Free-write all that you could write about.

You may have great ideas for a lot of books, but how do you get them written and into the world with everything else you have going on?

Just because you have ideas doesn’t mean they will all make it into book form. 

Sit in a place where you won’t be distracted and write (by hand!) freely about the topics you’d like to write about. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write without judgment and without reviewing what comes out. Just write.

• What could you write about?
• What stories do you have to tell?
• What incidents have you endured?
• What obstacles have you overcome?
• What lessons can you share with others?
• What inspiration can you offer?

Be as specific as you can and see where the brainstorming takes you. Right now, you’re just cultivating ideas and capturing possibilities.

2. Review your notes and highlight finite options.

After the brain dump, use a highlighter to identify topics that are specific enough to tackle in one book. Periods of time or individual incidents.

You likely generated enough ideas for more than one book! Now that they’re on paper, you can always go back to them for the next book. That frees you from trying to cram everything into one manuscript.

The more narrowly you focus your topic, the more detailed you can get, and the more time you can spend on particular events that move the narrative along. You can pay attention to dialogue, establishing setting, building depth in your characters. All of these components make a book come alive.

3. Choose one focus.

Consider which topic you want to tackle in THIS book. On a new sheet of paper, write this topic at the top and jot down specific events, a timeline, or key turning points.

In the margins of each event, day, or point, write 3-5 specifics: 

• Where were you? 
• Who was there? 
• What was the weather like? 
• What emotions did you feel? 
• What is important to move the story along?

These details will be pivotal for your writing. When you have a starting point, it serves as a prompt to generate compelling writing. The more specific a scene can be, the more universally relatable it becomes.

4. Create an outline of chapters.

When I write a book, I outline the topics for each chapter, then write one chapter a time. When you narrow down your book’s overarching topic, you can narrow it even further by outlining chapters and writing in steps. That makes the project incredibly manageable.

Think about what has to happen from beginning to end of your story to take the reader on a journey. 

• Where do they start? 
• Where do you want them to end up? 
• What outcomes or revelations should they have by the end of the journey? 
• What pivotal points will help get them there?

As you outline your chapters, consider examples, anecdotes, or case studies to include throughout the book. Small stories to illustrate a larger point help connect the author to the audience at every step of the journey.

5. Set weekly goals.

Now that you have a road map for writing, build a structure toward success! Set weekly goals for when you will write, where you will do your writing, and how much you want to churn out in a week’s time.

Perhaps you start with time of day and location. If you can, choose a writing place away from where you do your normal work. It should be a space that sparks creativity and that, in time, when you sit down there, your creative juices will just start flowing!

It can help to adorn your writing space with little items that encourage creativity. Perhaps you light a candle to signify the start of your writing time. Or, when you achieve the number of pages you set out to write that week, you buy yourself a bouquet of flowers to display on the desk next to your laptop.

Designate a set goal for your writing. A chapter by the end of the week, or 10 new pages, or whatever feels reasonable. 

Remember, a page a day leads to a book in a year. One page is approximately 300 words – that’s not hard to do. And, most writers, once they get going, produce more than a page. 

You can do this!!

Lynne Golodner is the author of 8 books, with her ninth due out in February 2021. A former journalist, she is the host of the Make Meaning Podcast (www.makemeaning.org), a book coach, and a marketing/PR professional (www.yourppl.com). Lynne lives in Huntington Woods, Mich., with her husband and four teenagers.

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Personally, social distancing totally took my March book launch hostage. And though I started the year in a very comfortable position to meet my goal of eight in-person events this year, most of those have been canceled now, and the rest postponed. 

2020 is just not the year we all thought we were going to have, and it’s changed everything—including how we need to connect with readers. 

Checking in with yourself halfway through the year to see if you’re on track to reach your platforming goals is always a best practice. But this year, even more than most, all of us are probably overdue for a total reassessment. 

Ready? 

Assessing Your Goals

Dust off that planner you started in January for the life you meant to live at the start of 2020.  Take a deep breath and open it. What plans and ambitions did that sweet summer child of six months ago dream of accomplishing this year? 

It’s surreal to look back at pre-pandemic plans, but the only way you’re going to get back on track for author platforming progress this year is to revisit these goals. Ask yourself…

• What did I set out to accomplish this year? 
• What have I already accomplished?
• Have the unexpected twists of 2020 changed what’s possible for me to accomplish? 

Pivoting for Progress

Once you have revisited your original goals for the year (I didn’t even remember writing some of mine, it’s been that much of a year), and identified the ways in which they’ve been derailed, it’s time to think about how you can pivot. 

Sure, you probably won’t make it to that writing conference you were planning on, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find another way to network. How about a Twitter chat? Or perhaps you can find a Facebook group of like-minded authors to join. 

Get creative if you have to, but don’t give up! 

It’s Not Too Late for Progress in 2020

You might not be able to do everything for your author platform you hoped in exactly the way you planned this year. But readers are still out there; the publishing industry is still out there. Sure, the opportunities look way different than any of us could have predicted, but they’re still out there. 

Which means there’s still good reason for you to reset your plan and get out there, too. You can still accomplish tangible goals for your author platform this year! It’ll just take some reassessment and adaptability. 

By day, E. J. Wenstrom is a digital strategy pro with over 10 years at communications firms. By early-early morning, she’s an award-winning sci-fi and fantasy author of the Chronicles of the Third Realm War novels, starting with Mud. She believes in complicated characters, terrifying monsters, and purple hair dye.

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