I have to admit I am struggling a little today. I'm really tired after a very stressful day at work. I didn't get a chance to write as much as I would have liked this morning either. I did manage to redecorate my blog a little over the weekend. It's still not exactly what I would like but it's a little closer.
Moving on to Jeff's challenge today...Prepare
He tells us that there is a difference between putting things off and preparing. Preparation is good; procrastination is not. That makes sense, does it?
Jeff tells us that we know we’re preparing when:
We’re getting better every day.
People keep asking us, “When are you going to publish X?”
We’re building measurable momentum.
We’re getting better every day.
People keep asking us, “When are you going to publish X?”
We’re building measurable momentum.
His advice is to:
-Ship something. Anything. It doesn’t matter how bad it is, just put it out there.
-Get feedback. If this is an eBook or article idea, even a book proposal, one way you can do this is ask readers, friends, or fans to proofread something you’re working on. Send it to them, give them a deadline, and ask for brutally honest critiques.
-Make it better. Trust your heart and intuition, but also apply some of the feedback you received.
*Repeat until the project is ready to launch.
-Get feedback. If this is an eBook or article idea, even a book proposal, one way you can do this is ask readers, friends, or fans to proofread something you’re working on. Send it to them, give them a deadline, and ask for brutally honest critiques.
-Make it better. Trust your heart and intuition, but also apply some of the feedback you received.
*Repeat until the project is ready to launch.
Ship and tweak, ship and tweak, ship and tweak.
The challenge
Ship it. Put something out there, anything. Don’t wait; move something forward.
If all you’re doing is stalling, what are you really preparing for? Exactly. Nothing.
For me, I think I need true preparation. I came out with guns blazing last week. I just wrote. No outline, no character development, nothing. Now, I am at a point where I know where I want to go but I don't know how to get there. And in the meantime, I'm going to need to add more to some areas to make it work and probably take away from other areas. My preparation is going to be cleaning up and organizing what I have so far. Then, I will be able to move forward, or have someone read it :0
I've also been thinking about different venues to submit work to but I haven't come across any place in particular yet. I will keep looking.
Are you preparing or procrastinating?
I'm preparing. I have a novella with my critique partner and then I'm getting ready to self-publish, to put myself out there. It's a bit scary. Okay. It's very frightening! Yet I know it's a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI am (now) 100% committed to preparing. I used to be what I called an 'organic' writing. I let the story flow. Problem was I didn't have enough experience to do that and all the characters pushed me into a corner and said, 'What are you going to do with us now?' We are all much happier when I prepare. My next step is realizing when I've prepared enough. (Sigh) There is always more learning to be done.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you Jenn! You can do this, and so can I!
DeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteFor sure, preparation and research are vital elements to what you wish to accomplish.
Sometimes procrastination may be a sign to let you know you are not ready and that undue pressure on yourself is not conducive to your ongoing writing endeavours.
As for me, I was thinking of writing a posting. Then again, maybe tomorrow :)
You take care and relax.
In kindness, Gary
Your redecorating looks very nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThat's great advice. Plan, check, adjust...incremental improvement. A lot of times I don't feel like I'm doing that, until I look at something I wrote quite a while ago and surprise myself...I think I am getting better. I love the motivation! :)
ReplyDelete