But first, let me start with a crazy fact. According to a University of Scranton study, only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s goals. For many people the new year begins with all the best intentions for making a change or doing something they’ve never done before, but within a week or two of having made them, most resolutions are broken or abandoned.

I’ve been there, too. What I’ve found is that, when I have made resolutions that actually stick, they have a few things in common. In today’s episode, I want to share with you what a good resolution is made of along with five tips to help you make writing resolutions that stick.

What makes a resolution work

• Choose a resolution that matters. There has to be something important at stake. Figure out what you’re passionate about and what you really want to accomplish. When a resolution is tied to a high-stakes goal, you’re more likely to see it through.
• Choose one small thing to change at a time. Ease yourself into the new habit you’re trying to create. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’ll be more likely to follow through if you feel like you can actually be successful. This concept is called building mastery and it’s super-important for keeping up your motivation.
• Don’t expect yourself to stick with the same resolution all year. Remember that you will change as a result of the resolutions you’re making. Be ready to add challenges if your resolution starts feeling too easy , or to scale back if you feel like you’re in over your head.

5 tips to make writing resolutions that stick

1. Celebrate and take stock of where you’ve been. Be proud of what you have already accomplished. Use your past successes to help plan your future ones.
2. Honor your present reality. It’s so important to recognize what your life requires right now and what you can handle. Don’t make a commitment to something that’s going to make you crazy before you can finish it. Know your limits and your needs and make sure you account for those things when you’re setting your goals.
3. Look ahead to your big dream. Write that big dream down and save it somewhere so you can refer to it when you need a dose of perspective or motivation to keep at it.
4. Make S.M.A.R.T. goals. This means setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-sensitive. See below for more details.
5. Evaluate and adjust your goals accordingly. Don’t get stuck in a pattern that’s not working. Figure out what does work and make changes that will keep you on track to achieving your dreams.

Setting SMART Goals:

• S: be SPECIFIC – What is it that you expect your resolution to help you accomplish? Are you going to write a novella? a book of short stories? a memoir?
• M: have MEASURABLE goals – How will you know you are accomplishing what you’ve set out to do? Are you writing a certain number of words per day? or for a certain amount of time?
• A: make ATTAINABLE goals – Make sure you can actually succeed. Break your goals down into manageable parts so you can check them off the list and see your progress.
• R: be RELEVANT – Whatever your resolutions are, make sure they are leading you toward your big dream (see number 3).
• T : set a TRIP-WIRE – Give yourself a deadline, a specific point at which you stop and take stock.

What’s your writing resolution for 2015?

Sharing our goals makes it all the more likely that we’ll actually reach them because we’ll have the support and encouragement of our fellow writers. So tweet your writing resolution using the #DIYMFA hash tag by clicking this link. Or, if your resolution doesn’t fit in a tweet, tell us in a comment below. Share your resolutions with your friends and family, too, and ask them to help keep you on track.

Link to Episode 23

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 23: Make Writing Resolutions That Stick appeared first on DIY MFA.

Not sold on the concept? Here’s how a writing challenge can help you write more, write better, and write smarter.

1) Write More

Most writing challenges focus first and foremost on making you write more words or pages. This is because writing more is the first step to getting that book published and in the hands of your readers. The only way to get there is to start putting words on the page. But wait, there’s more.

Writing is is like Newton’s 1st Law of Motion. The more you write, the easier it is to keep writing. Just as “objects in motion stay in motion and objects at rest stay at rest,” the more often you write, the more momentum you build up. Writing regularly also helps you build stamina and mastery. You’ll be more confident each time you sit down to write because you know you can do it. After all, you just did it the day before.

On the flip side, if you haven’t written in a while, it can be harder to get back on the bandwagon with each passing day. Here’s the good news: you can use a writing challenge to jumpstart your writing or get back in the groove after a long break. Just make sure you’re gentle with yourself, especially in the beginning. The last thing you want is to try leaping too far too soon. If you do that, you risk setting yourself up for failure, which in turn might make you feel miserable and maybe even give up.

2) Write Better

While many writing challenges might seem like they focus on quantity, they can also have an impact on the quality of your writing. The more words you write, the less precious each one will feel and that will make it easier for you to rewrite or cut things altogether. Writing is re-writing, and every true writer knows that the first draft supposed to be an ugly mess. The key is putting words on the page so you have something to work with later on. You can fix just about any problem in revision, but you can’t revise a blank page.

While you may not produce a polished piece during a challenge, that habit of writing regularly will improve your skills and techniques. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the later parts of a draft to require much less revision than the beginning. This is because when you first start a project it takes time to find your voice and figure out the direction of the story. After you get in the groove, though, the writing may flow more easily and become better overall.

The #1 way to increase your odds of getting published is to write the best book possible. There are many factors that play a part in getting you published: talent, luck and the quality of your writing. Unfortunately, you can’t control how much talent was handed to you at birth and luck is just… luck. Skill, on the other hand, now that’s something you can work with, it’s something you can control. The better you get at writing, the better your book will be. And if your book improves, so will your odds of seeing your name in print.

3) Write Smarter

One of the best ways to approach a writing challenge is to treat it as a testing ground for writing habits that you can continue after the challenge is over. After all, let’s be realistic. Unless you live in a cabin in the woods and do nothing but write, there are likely other things in your life that take time away from writing. A writing challenge forces you to find the time to write and make all these pieces of your life fit together.

It might be tempting to put real life on hold while doing a challenge, but I would caution against it. Instead, try to establish sustainable writing habits so that you can keep up that momentum for the long haul. Otherwise, you might find the challenge will give your writing a momentary boost, but it won’t have a lasting impact.

Also, make sure you have a before-during-and-after plan for your writing. The “before” piece is all about easing yourself into a challenge so you build mastery and avoid setting yourself up for failure. And the “during” component is also straightforward since most writing challenges have a structure to guide you through. The trick is figuring out what to do after the challenge is over. This is why you need a plan.

Whatever writing challenge you choose, make sure you sketch out a few milestones for the months after it’s over. This will give you a set of goals to work toward after the safety net and structure of the writing challenge is gone. I see many writers get stuck in that “serial first draft” rut where they keep jumping from challenge to challenge, producing new drafts but never following through and submitting the manuscript. Other writers query too soon and don’t take time for that all-important revision step after the challenge and wind up with a slew of rejection letters.

Instead, take time to map out your post-challenge goals before the challenge even starts. Just assume that you’ll finish the challenge and plan your next steps accordingly. Not only will this give you a roadmap to follow after the challenge is over, but these goals will motivate you even more to win the challenge in the first place.

Conquer the Craft in 29 Days!

Speaking of  challenges, check out Conquer the Craft in 29 Days (#CTC29).

It’s a prompt-a-day challenge designed to help you write more, write better, write smarter.
There’s still time to join, but it’s happening now so hurry and sign up. Click the link for more info.

The post How a Writing Challenge Can Help YOU appeared first on DIY MFA.

If you had to choose between quantity and quality, I’m guessing most of you would choose quality. So, you spend about a year writing, angsting and revising—and that’s all just on five chapters. And you’re still nowhere closer to publishing your book!

Of course you want quality to be your number one concern. I know a lot of writers who snub their noses at things like NaNoWriMo (or the summer version, Camp NaNoWriMo, coming up in July), thinking that because people are simply trying to get words on the page they’re not concerned with the final result. And yet, if you want to create a foundation for becoming an author, you have to pump out a huge volume of work as well as work that, you know, doesn’t suck. After all, you have to have a novel (quantity) before you can revise it (quality). Lots of words not only means more money (eventually), but it means more fans of your work and—possibly most important of all—practicing your craft until you’re a wordsmithery ninja!

Here are three time-tested steps that I use to pump up my word count.

1. Make a Plan

This is probably something you’ve heard so much here at DIY MFA that you’re pretty dang sick of it. I can just hear you screaming at the screen now: “Seriously, Becca? I’ve made a million plans to write, and they always fall through!”

Cool. What that tells me is that you’re terrible at making plans.

A word count goal of 2,000 words a day, while admirable, is not always possible, and can be detrimental to your creative process. While you’re distracted, your characters have been sitting in Rivendell shootin’ the $h!t for three enormous chapters, just so you can eke out your word count! (Was there a NaNoWriMo in Tolkien’s time? Sure would explain a lot.) That’s not fair to them, and not fair to you.

Try changing your goals. “Two chapters per weekend” sounds doable, doesn’t it? And see how it cleverly skirts the usual ‘quantity’ goals? Those chapters can be short, if they need to be short! Only you know which goals are going to work for you.

In other words, you need a plan for your novel, collection, or whatever the heck you’ve got going over there. Not knowing where you’re going, creatively, can really take the wind out of your sails. Which brings me to my next point…

2. Inspire Yourself NOW

Is your word-waterfall running dry because you’re lacking inspiration? While I’m always hesitant to point fingers at Writer’s Block, he does tend to break down your doors. Soon, writing can start to look like this.

I have a question for you. Are you excited about the work you’re doing? Do you even like writing at all? Or do you have to drag yourself, kicking and screaming, to the keyboard? If that’s the case, it might be time to give yourself a refresher course on why you started this crazy hobby in the first place. Take a (quick) break. Pick up one of your old favorite books. Read this article.

Here’s the SparkNotes version of how I inspire myself to write:

• Fast-drafting is my best friend. While I’m still excited about the story, I try to get as much done as possible in a short amount of time. I’ve personally found that if I wait too long to think things through, then I lose passion for the project.
• Before I go to sleep, I review some of my notes or my current Work In Progress. In the morning, after everything’s had a chance to percolate, you’d be amazed how much your subconscious can come up with. Better fuel than coffee!
• I make a list of scenes that need to be written, usually about one sentence each. That way, when I start a chapter, I already know what the characters have to accomplish.
• I turn on my favorite music every time I sit down to write. Pavlov’s Dog style.

Once you feel pumped up and ready to write, Eye-of-the-Tiger style, writing begins to look like this.

3. Accountability

Today, you’re going to write. Right after you have tea and crumpets for lunch. You’re going to write. After you kill some zombies online. You’re going to write. After your Netflix binge. After the holidays. Later, later, later.

We (yes, me included) all have the best of intentions when it comes to our writing. And yet life gets in the way. That’s why you’re here doing DIY MFA, isn’t it? To carve out time for your writing?

All the plans in the world won’t get you anywhere if you don’t stick to them. And how do you stick to them? Why, get some friends, of course!

I’ve found a wonderful critique group that meets every other week. We talk about each other’s work. We offer suggestions for improvement, and we call each other out when we don’t do them. So try this: Get some writing buddies. Tell them about the plans you’re making. And then have them punish you if you don’t do it (or just give you cookies if you succeed. Cookies always work).

I know it sounds counter-intuitive to *gasp* socialize when you should be putting butt-in-chair, humans are social creatures that, speaking of Pavlov’s Dog, love to mimic the behavior of those around them.

). One trick that always works for me? Try a writing sprint! Get together, in person or online, with a group of writers. Set a timer for fifteen minutes and see who can write the most in that set time limit. Watch your fingers fly across the keys!

If you’re ready to take it to the next step, consider investing in your writing career by hiring a freelance editor or getting a mentor. When I started working with Gabriela, it was so inspiring to have someone actively interested in where I was coming in my work—someone who had done all of this before and who I was excited to prepare pieces for. Now there’s the perfect marriage of Quality and Quantity!

Do you have tried-and-true tips for getting words on the page? I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Got a question? Tweet me @beccaquibbles with the hashtag #askbecca, email me at becca [at] DIYMFA [dot] com, or just leave a comment below! You could see your question answered right here at Ask Becca!

……………….

Rebecca Ann Jordan is a speculative fiction author and artist in San Diego. She recently won Reader’s Choice Best of 2013 for her short story “Promised Land” at Fiction Vortex and has published poetry and fiction in Flapperhouse, Yemassee Magazine, Bravura Literary Journal and more. Becca regularly columns for DIYMFA.com. See more from her at rebeccaannjordan.com.

The post Ask Becca: Three Ways To Pump Up Your Word Count appeared first on DIY MFA.