goals – S L Hollister, author

event, News, promo, writing inspiration, Writing tips

Welcome Sweet September!

Posted on September 1, 2022August 31, 2022 by Sherri

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/hb90-bootcamp/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

Well, I have done it again. I have allowed myself to get so busy that I am running around chasing my tail. You would think after taking the HB 90 Bootcamp and following Sarra Cannon’s Heartbreathing YouTube channel that I would understand the perils of burning myself out, but I guess for me it seems to be feast or famine. For a few months I lollygag around taking my time doing everything by the book or procrastinating (which is probably closer to the truth). Then I decide I want to do this NOW! So, I leap in with both feet or way too often, headfirst and before you know it, I’m drowning in all the things I have to do. On top of that, I’m a control freak. I’m trying to be better about delegating. I know I don’t have to do everything myself. I have other people willing to do what I ask (if I’ll ask), and I just have to trust them to do their part.

As an indie author or small businessowner, many of you understand being hands on. When we are first starting out, we know we are the only ones who can do the jobs because we can’t afford to pay anyone else. So, we write the books and find the Beta readers, find the editors, design our covers or seek those who can design them for us, find proofreaders, publish to all the sites, keep up with sales, market the books, social media, and write more books. And all of those little things that crop up that we don’t expect or know about until they demand our attention.

As an indie author and the chairperson of the Pamlico Writers’ Group and VP of Communications for the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers I often feel like I’m juggling puppies. I can’t let one fall but maybe I just need someone to hold this one for a minute. This is where Sarra’s HB 90 Bootcamp has helped me the most. There are only 24 hours in a day, and only 7 days in a week. If I have goals that need to be met within each month, and overall goals for each quarter, I can divide them up into tasks. Breaking these goals into manageable tasks that can be completed to help me reach that bigger goal doesn’t seem as overwhelming as I’ve got to do THIS!

We can’t always plan for obstacles that derail our plans. Life happens. This month was supposed to be a very busy month but because my part-time helper and work-husband has to have surgery plans had to be changed. A little scrambling and we found a way to make most of what was on my schedule for September work and the rest just has to fall by the wayside. It cannot be helped.

I think one of the hardest things for an indie author or an entrepreneur who is still working a “real” job is we have to carve out time for our passion. We have to use our precious little time for everything from writing the stories (or crafting the beer or painting or whatever you’re doing) to publishing to marketing to making ourselves known on social media. All of this when all we really want to do is that thing that gives us joy, our passion. But to turn that passion into a dream of success and that dream into reality, we have to do the other work. Yuk. But we still only have 24 hours and 7 days. We still have to sleep, spend time with family and friends, take care of bills, run errands, go to the doctor, etc. and if we work 8 hours, how much time do we really have to pursue our dream? That is what Sarra’s HB 90 Bootcamp has helped me see. We have to take a realistic look at how much time we really have to work with and how to make the most of it.

Join us September 11^th through 17^th for this round of bootcamp. Sarra will have a live kick off on September 11^th at 3 pm via Facebook or YouTube. Enrollment will close at noon on September 11^th.

Sarra has broken the payment plan down into three choices: Pay in full (best deal) $199, a 3-month plan of $75 per month over 3 months, or a 6-month plan at $38 a month for 6 months.

As an alumnus, I get to take the course again for free. Pay once, and then take a refresher anytime she offers it, but you’ll also have your notebook and lessons you’ve learned to help you when, like me, you fall back into bad habits.

Learning to set goals and limits hasn’t been easy.

promo, Thoughts

Making Goals

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Sherri

Some weeks I can’t get out of my own way. I sabotage myself. One of my problems is taking on too much. I often struggle to get my writing done amid my other obligations such as two writing groups, a full-time job, and large family. I want to do it all and I want to do it yesterday.

While I’m not a planner by nature, after taking Sarra Cannon’s HB90 program I’ve learned to be more reasonable about my goals and try to plan accordingly. I still don’t always get it right. Things happen and derail a tightly scheduled plan but I’ve lived most of my life by the seat of my pants. I may have a plan but if that doesn’t work I have a plan B, C and D. Of course, D is duck and cover, but hey, it is a plan.

This past week due my failed attempt at being a stunt double (I flew over the dog’s lead and landed on the sidewalk) I was not up to my usual performance level. One good thing about not being completely mobile, is I managed to surpass three of my writing goals: 1) I wrote every day, 2) I wrote over 10,000 words, and 3) I reached 30,000 and even made it to 40,000 words in my work in progress.

I am close to the end of the first draft and I’m sending out the call for advanced readers. If anyone wishes to read Trent’s Melody before it is published just message me here or through social media. As an advanced reader I would appreciate being made aware of any grammar or story errors you find, your help promoting the book and your review when it is published.

I have been an advanced reader for several of my favorite authors most recently, Reese Ryan and Sabrina Jeffries. It can be fun being a part of the promo team especially if you are a fan of the books or author. I wish I had more time to be an advanced reader for authors I adore but that is one of the worst things about being an author, the lack of time to read except for research.

Last year and again this year, I have made a point of making time for pleasure reading. It’s not as easy amid the critiquing and classes, as well as research reading I need to do but I am determined to have a little fun with my old time favorite hobby, reading.

In case you missed the announcement, the winner of my name the renovation show contest is Pamlico County School teacher, Susan Long with Renovate-ology. Congratulations, Susan! Renovate-ology will be the name of the show in Trent’s Melody. Susan won a $5 Amazon gift card and will have a brief acknowledgement in the book. I felt the name was unique but still familiar, and would work if I decided to use it in another series. Thank you to all of you who sent in ideas. There were several really good ones. Two of the runner-ups were: Debbie’s Renovation Innovation and Barb’s Second Chance Renovation. There were some others who were memorable but just didn’t quite fit for future stories: Property Reboot, Sextacular Renovations, Form and Figure Fabrications, Bros who love M & M’s and many more.

Don’t forget to send in your poems or songs for Trent’s Melody. The contest ends April 24th. Already there have been some great submissions.

Thoughts, Uncategorized

Belated Happy New Year

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Sherri

It’s January 5th and I just realized I have not yet made my new year’s resolution or set a goal or plan for 2022. I’m not sure if I am prepared for 2022. I’m not sure I ever made it out of 1999,

but that’s a different story. For now I am just trying to plan what I hope to accomplish and what I promise not to do in this new year. Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them? Most of us don’t keep our resolutions after the first week. Why? Because it’s difficult, it’s not fun and too often it’s not realistic.

As I sit here wondering what changes I need to make in my life, I realize what my resolution should be. I should strive to be kind to me. It’s easy to be kind to strangers, friends and family members. We often put other’s needs before our own but what happens when we are depleted? We have nothing left to give.

My mom or others make comments about my sister-in-law or daughters-in-law taking off for a few days with friends because this is something they would never do. But after raising six sons and even now juggling work, family and writing responsibilities I hover on the edge of burn out. A long weekend or a few days away with friends could be the best thing for any relationship whether job, marriage or friendship. Sometimes we have to treat ourselves the way we treat others, show a little kindness and compassion. Give yourself a break. Renew your spirit so you can continue to juggle 20 jobs and a half dozen children!

While I might need to lose weight, lay off sugar and bread, exercise more, I also need to take time to visit friends and family, get my nails done, go out to eat with friends or just read a book.

My goal this year is to do a little something just for myself each week. What should I do this week? I’m thinking it’s time for a pedicure.

Wishing you all a belated happy new year.

Thoughts, writing inspiration

If Not Now, Then When

Posted on May 22, 2021May 22, 2021 by Sherri

A conversation with my mom, an inspirational quote and a memory on Facebook had me thinking of a new blog post I wanted to write.

How many of us have a dream we are afraid to pursue? I know I did. If not for the push of my best friend and my husband, I would not have made the first steps to being a writer. My writer friends, mentor and Beta readers have given me the tools, confidence and encouragement that have helped me become a published author. For years, fear of failure, of not believing I was good enough, kept me from even trying. It was only after my best friend read some of my work and liked it that I felt confident enough to start thinking seriously about pursuing the dream I’ve had since I was a young girl.

Pamlico Writers’ Conference with Jim Keen, author Katherine Ashe, myself and my friend Robina Norman

I believe fear cripples many dreamers. Fear and an unkind word or thoughtless criticism can shackle a budding creative. I was reading a Guide Post my mother gave me and the section on positive outlooks called “The Up Side” inspired me. One of the quote really struck home. “Stop telling yourself you need to be fearless. You don’t, You simply need to be courageous,” by author and motivational speaker, Valorie Burton in the May 2021 Guideposts.

How many of us feel we’ve waited too long to make our dreams come true? My mom had a box of stuff she was going to use “someday.” She talked about traveling, visiting friends and relatives, going to interesting places… someday. It was always someday. When she lost her home to flooding during Hurricane Irene, her box of special things was destroyed. Later that same year, Mom fell and broke her hip. Now with the onset of severe arthritis, she has difficulty walking and her hopes of traveling and visiting interesting places has become limited. Someday never comes. If you want to do something, then you have to make a plan and as Nike says, “Just Do It!”

Ann Peach award winner, thanks to my friend Robina pushing me to submit an entry.

“If Not Now, Then When?” is a slogan I’ve heard recently, it’s very à propos. Putting off our dreams until we have more money, we have more time, the kids are grown, whatever your excuse, the truth is, it is fear that binds us and keeps us from reaching for our dreams. But, we are not guaranteed tomorrow. If you are waiting for everything to be just right you will never even get started. If you truly want this dream to come true, you need to make it a goal. Make a plan. Set things into motion. Save up for that special trip. Start working on that novel. If you need a push, find a group that will support your plans. My best friend and local librarian talked me into sending a story to a writer’s competition in Carteret County. I attended their awards ceremony and met an author from a writer’s group closer to home. Afterwards I joined the Pamlico Writer’s Group.

I have been a member of the Pamlico Writer’s Group off and on for about twenty years. My son Jason even attended a meeting or two with me when he was a teenager. It took me a long time to find confidence in my talent. I’m not sure if I’ve yet discovered my true voice. Each book helps me to discover more about myself and my writing. I’m still learning. I waited a long time to get published and still feel I have a long way to go to reach those who have influenced my stories but I’m working towards my dream, my goal of being an award-winning author. What are you doing to make your dreams come true?

quarterly goals, Thoughts

My Pep Talk to Myself

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Sherri

The emotional ups and downs of being an author don’t always follow the pattern of our books’ success and failure. Too often, it is the low that comes after a super high, only to plummet back to reality.

As I look back at the month of August and what I’ve accomplished and haven’t accomplished, I find myself fighting melancholy. Why? A two-star review on Goodreads for Janie’s Secrets, not making the finals in Kindle Book Review Awards for Red Steel, feeling like I don’t have the time to do everything I need to do or want to do. I worked very hard to write a novella for the Heart of Carolina’s upcoming anthology only to realize I didn’t have time to finish it. Failure is crushing even when it is self-inflicted failure.

But I should be doing somersaults after all I have accomplished this month. Chrome Pink made it into the Amazon Top 100 Kindle Free Books. It finished #34 on Sunday, August 30th after a Free Booksy Ad. It also reached #3 in Romantic Suspense and #4 in Suspense. Over 2000 books were down loaded on Sunday and that doesn’t even count the books I sold or the ones down loaded on other sites. I should be sailing in the clouds but I allowed a bad review, not even a really bad review but a 2-star rating, crush me. Why? Because I’m human. I can tell you I’m tired, I put my heart into my stories, they’re like my children, I want people to like me/them. The truth is not everyone is going to like my stories. Not everyone is going to like me.

I’m not alone in my emotional roller coaster, many authors, especially indie authors feel the same way I do. Author Sarra Cannon, whom I follow on YouTube with her Heart Breathing Channel and whose courses, Publish and Thrive and her HB90 changed my life, speaks of mental health and well-being in her videos. We often put too much on our plates and expect to be able to perform well, but like the juggler with his chainsaws that last addition can be catastrophic.

In Sarra’s HB90 course she talks of planning quarterly, 90-day increments and even breaking those down into monthly expectations. Sitting down with a planner, thinking of what I have to do, want to do and need to do. How much time things will take and how much time I will actually have to devote to the tasks amid life, work and family. Allowing time to sleep, eat and maybe even cuddle with my husband.

I really have no reason to feel down. I know much of what I’m feeling stems from fear, exhaustion and coming off the high of other successes. For those of you who fear this might be a whining session and wish to tune out, it’s not, this is my pep talk to myself and to anyone else who is happy when they see one sale a day or are thrilled when their free book gets 100 downloads. I keep telling myself I’ve only been published three years. I have six books, seven if you count my trilogy of the first three books I just released, plus I have novellas in several anthologies. I’ve come a long way in a short time. Even though I’ve been writing for over forty years, I’ve only started writing to publish in the past fifteen years with a couple of years off after losing our house and my father. We had a couple of really rough years.

So, what do I have to whine about? Nothing. I should be celebrating. I have had over 300 new subscribers to my newsletter, that is both exciting and terrifying. I thought, how can I keep these people interested? What hoops will I have to jump through to keep them? But then I thought of the ones who have been with me all along the way. My steadfast friends who read everything I write good and bad, who offer opinions and assistance, and I realized, I just need to be real. I just need to be me. Yes, I’ll lose some people but that’s okay. Some will come for the free book, some will stay a while and go, others will be here for the duration. I just need to be the best me I can be for that is all I can be. That’s all any of us can be.

I know putting my books out into the world for other people to read means some won’t like it, but some will. Channeling Sarra Cannon again, I’m going to write from my place of joy. I’m going to write the books that I feel compelled to write and hope they will appeal to readers. It is time to get back to work on Roxy’s Secret.

For those of you who received my newsletter, I sent the first few pages of the novella I was writing for the Heart of Carolina anthology. I didn’t get to finish it and I’m starting to think it might be a full-length novel. I think I might try a stand-alone novel once Roxy is wrapped up. Maybe I can tie it into my other stories. I’ll have to think about it.

My goals for August: Promote Janie’s Secrets, I’m still working on it. Start Roxy’s Betrayal, I’ve started but I’ve not made the progress I’d hoped. Increase Newsletter subscriptions, okay this has tripled thanks to Bookfunnel. Janie is free in a Bookfunnel promo this month, https://books.bookfunnel.com/weloveromancegiveaway/ao2jdazxop.

Janie’s Secret is also in a Cover of the Month contest on All Author, https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/9385/ I’d appreciate your vote.

Janie’s Secrets is also in a Book Tour on Instagram and Facebook, through September 6th. I’d appreciate your support.

https://www.instagram.com/bed.and.books/

I still need to learn more about Publisher’s Rocket but I’m tackling it in small bites.

One other thing I accomplished this month I’ve been wanting to do for a while was to combine the first three books of the Leeward Files into one book. It’s only on sale for a little while longer.

I haven’t even planned what I’m going to try to accomplish in September but we’re going to do some great things: #1 write Roxy’s Betrayal. I’ll figure out the rest but that’s the most important.

I hope my whine, rant, pep talk has helped someone else. The truth is some days this is my dream job and other days it’s a nightmare. Sometimes it’s all on the same day.

inspiration, quarterly goals

Q2 and Covid-19

Posted on July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 by Sherri

Quarter Three Begins

As I plan my goals and tasks for Q3, I stop to look over what I have and have not accomplished in Quarter 2. For those of you who aren’t sure what I’m talking about, I took an online program with author Sarra Cannon called HB90. In her HB90, she teaches us to break our goals down into manageable pieces to be completed over a three-month or 90-day period.

Last quarter was my first full quarter since taking the course and Covid-19 derailed a lot of my plans. I know that sounds like an excuse and it is. Like any self-employed business owner, you have to find a way to work even when the world is turned on its head.

That being said, I am still proud of what I accomplished. Some of which wasn’t on my original plan but due to the virus I altered it after I made it to try to salvage as much as I could. So, I’ll take you through the original breakdown and then tell you how I compromised.

Goal #1: Learn KDP Rocket and Increase Sales, Promote Older Books financial goal of $200, $300 or $500 (name has changed to Publisher Rocket)

I tried to watch the training videos, but I needed to be at my computer in order to follow along. Not something I could do while at work. Excuse: too tired after selling booze all day to people who were staying home and drinking. Compromise: KDP YouTube Videos as well as D2D YouTube Videos and several other writing-business videos. I also joined All Author where I am promoting three of my books and I took out an ad with Bargain Booksy for Chrome Pink selling over 100 eBooks in one day.

My approximate sales for the quarter were $430, mostly in paperback sales locally. My Ebook sales were the best they have been: D2D: $14, Amazon: $50.

While I met my second goal and wasn’t far off of my highest goal, the virus kept me from having a book signing and really promoting Red Steel, the book that came out in February. I’m going to count this goal as a win, but I will be watching those videos this quarter!

Another part of this goal was learning about SEO (search engine optimization) and META data. I think I’m getting a little better at this, but I still can’t say I understand it. This is all about the words you choose to describe your work in order to get the most attention. People cannot read my books if they don’t know they exist. So, promoting my books and my blog are an important part of the marketing I’m trying to learn.

Goal #2 Finish, Publish & Promote New Book to Increase Sales $200, $500 and $1000

Well, I finally finished writing, editing re-editing, editing again and last night I uploaded the printed book… Janie’s Secrets to KDP and ordered proof. I haven’t yet formatted and uploaded the eBook. I’m only about a month off of my goal but Covid! I really allowed myself to get derailed for about a month. At first, I was a little freaked out over the news, plus I was extremely tired both physically and mentally. People were coming in the store buying a lot of liqueur so afraid they’d close us down. It has just now started slowing down some but it’s still not back to normal.

The name was changed several times during the writing process until I settled on Janie’s Secrets. I’ve already worked out the title for the next book and I’m playing around with the third. I’m a little bit ahead here as I’ve already started planning the next two books. I’d like to be able to put out four books a year but right now, I’ll settle for three.

Since I just finished the book, I’ve not made any money from it or even planned any ads. I have started the cover reveal. I have a few things planned but I’ll add those to my Q3 goals. Have you seen the cover? I am so proud of the cover. I’m so thankful to my daughter-in-law Katelynn Hollister for taking such an awesome photo and to her friend, Raven Rayann who is such a lovely young woman and a perfect candidate for my Janie.

Goal #3: Start a Newsletter, Get a following and Increase Blog following by 100, 200, or 500

Ha, ha! Yeah! Okay, I did the newsletter and I’m proud that I started with 14 and now have 48 in only three months. I call that a win. According to my website I have over three thousand followers but only 252 on WordPress.com, 14 have signed up to receive email notifications and nearly three thousand follow me on social media. Interesting and much more than I expected. I think they must include my followers on Facebook and Twitter.

Part of my goal was to have book signings and other appearances. Just before Covid restrictions I’d taken books around to different places hoping to get my name out and then everything shut down.

My author interviews for my website have increased this month with a free promo group I joined on Twitter, Shameless Self-Promo. I even had my own interview with Rebellion Lit. I submitted Red Steel to Kindle Review Reader’s Choice Award. If you get the chance, I’d appreciate your vote, I’ll post the link.

https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/2020-readers-choice-awards/

While I may not have accomplished all of my goals this past quarter, I feel that I have succeeded in accomplishing the bulk of them.

I’m working on this quarter’s goals and hope you will continue to be my inspiration and cheerleaders. My goals so far are to finish publishing Janie and start on her sister, Roxy’s story. I am determined to understand more about META data and SEO, and the business of writing and marketing. I’m hoping to build up my newsletter and social media following, and of course, sell more books!

Thank you all for you support. It means so much to me to have you on my team.

inspiration, Thoughts

Celebrating Small Accomplishments

Posted on April 26, 2020April 26, 2020 by Sherri

My First Quarter Goals

January 2020 started with a lot of promise and hope. I am still trying to hang onto that feeling. It is not easy during this time of Covid-19 to keep up that optimistic spirit. Like many of you, I am still working and though there are safety measures in place, I don’t have a lot of faith in them. It is nearly impossible to protect ourselves 100% from the virus if we are out in the public, but are we, or am I making myself crazy worrying about something that may never be a problem for me or won’t be that bad if it is. I am trying to be cautious and smart but I’m also just trying to live each day. I have allowed myself to get overwhelmed and overwrought, it is time to take back control. Today, I’m celebrating each new milestone I have made in my writerly journey. So, join with me and celebrate your journey too. Tell me what this quarter has brought you. What did you do? Big or small, it is important to celebrate each day and each accomplishment.

Ad came out just as everything was closing for quarantine!

One of the greatest things I did this quarter was take Sarra Cannon’s Publish and Thrive Course. I wish I had taken it sooner. This was an awesome program for indie authors. Even after publishing five books, there is still so much I needed to learn. After her Publish and Thrive Course, I decided to take her HB90 Bootcamp. Now this program isn’t just for authors, it is for anyone trying to get organized, but it does have a strong focus on authors because Sarra is an author too. She only offers these programs a couple of times a year but once you sign up for the program you can sit in whenever she is giving the course. She sends updates to her previous students and she gives free video lessons on YouTube or you can check out her website http://www.sarracannon.com. I know, I sound like an ad for Sarra Cannon and perhaps I am. Sarra is such an uplifting person, listening to her YouTube videos has been a great help to me during this pandemic scare. If you are looking for a great YA story, check out her The Witch’s Key videos, she has been doing live all month.

In Sarra’s Publish and Thrive Course she suggested authors have a newsletter to stay connected to their readers. As we have recently seen Facebook and Amazon do little to help us reach our readers and keep them informed. I started out with three people receiving my newsletter. My first official newsletter for April had 15 (two of those myself), and I have now increased it to 22 real followers. Nine of those in the last month. Thank you for supporting my efforts and I hope you like the new short story I wrote just for you.

While I have been struggling to write the new story (not because I don’t know what happens but because I am exhausted and just have no energy to write), I am happy to share some of Mike and Janie’s back story. It was fun to go back in time and write about how their romance started and tanked. I plan to use some of this in the novel but for those of you who signed up for the newsletter, you have all of the details.

writing Mike and Janie’s romance both past and present

Another part of the struggle is I have three stories planned and as a pantser I’m having to plan or plot my stories because it is too much to do in my head. I want to weave these three together and it feels like I am trying to unknot a necklace chain with low light. I know how to untangle it if I could just get a hold of it. I do have about 20K of this new novel written, that is probably a third of it. So, I am hopeful I can finish it this month. I just need to focus.

There is so much to learn when you are an indie author. After five books I still feel I do not know how to market or promote myself and my books well. I am constantly searching for ideas that will work and not cost a fortune. Those of you who repost my book promos and post reviews on my Facebook page, Amazon, Bookbubs or Goodreads, thank you. Your efforts do more to help me than anything I can pay for. I still believe that word-of-mouth advertising is the best advertising there is. Thank you for supporting my dream.

Many of you saw where I won The Heart of Carolina RWA’s Christine Hyatt Service Award. When I opened my box and read the letter, I cried. The award is for my work as moderator or as I call it, host of the Book in a Week challenge. This is a monthly writing challenge where participants set their own writing goals and we try to encourage each other to achieve it. We are mostly a group of women, with an occasional brave man joining us. We share our triumphs and our challenges. While I try to be cheerful and encouraging, I know there are times I drop the ball. When I do, there is someone else who takes up the slack. I couldn’t do this every month without the rest of the group. Some months there are only a few of us and others we fill the board, but many who aren’t even participating still take the time to cheer the rest onward. Being a part of this group has allowed me to reach my own writing goals.

Before I end this celebration, I want to thank the handsome firefighters and EMTs who recently bought my book, Red Steel. The book was a love story to the men and women who volunteer. I admire our local fire and rescue station. They were there for my family when we lost our home to fire and when my father died. They are true heroes. When one of the young firefighters sent me back a message that he loved the book and wanted to read the rest of the series, I felt I had accomplished my goals. I’m celebrating today, not a million sales. I may only have a hundred or so, but that’s okay, because I love writing the books and you like reading them, so I’m calling it a win.

Thank you all for celebrating with me as we close this quarter. I may not have reached all my goals but that’s okay, I still have plenty to be happy about. I hope you do too.

If you haven’t signed up for my newsletter please do, you do not want to miss Mike and Janie’s teen romance. If you have read my stories and you like them, please don’t forget to write a review, it makes a HUGE difference.

Newsletter button below!

https://mailchi.mp/25b327a3db97/httpssherrilhollistercom?fbclid=IwAR2hPuEhZq–scBNEXJjNgB2BNgqMjLa64yqq43LU2_yx-GO9nKPUo9Shpk

inspiration, Thoughts

My Reflections of NaNoWriMo

Posted on November 10, 2019 by Sherri

My first week of NaNoWriMo 2019

I’m not sure what I expected this week during the first week of NaNoWriMo. My only other experience with NaNo in 2015 was more harrowing. As an inexperienced writer who usually only made five-hundred words per day, trying to triple my output to make my NaNo goal wasn’t easy. I had to really push myself to write every day. It felt like a job, a burden and when I finished, just before Thanksgiving that year, I was too exhausted to even celebrate. This year is so much easier. As a more experienced writer who writes nearly every day and averaging about two-thousand words a day, the difference between this NaNo and the first are quite surprising.

I almost didn’t participate in NaNo this year. After the mental and physical exhaustion of my first experience, I wasn’t sure I wanted to put myself through that again. The first NaNo was to prove to myself I could write on a schedule and produce work. This NaNo I don’t feel I have to prove anything. It is just for fun and to get the rough draft of my next book done. I hope that through this NaNo, I can meet other writers, share stories, be a part of the community of writers. I hope to offer support and encouragement and learn new tricks and ideas about writing and publishing.

I have talked a lot about listening to YouTube videos, reading blogs and listening to webinars on writing. As a pantser, I have tried to find ways to prep my stories that don’t include the soul-sucking outlines and planning guides many of the plotters seem to enjoy. Truthfully, I thought I would enjoy that process as well and was surprised at how imprisoning it felt for me. BUT, but, I have learned that I can use plotting tools in my own way. A few years ago, I came to realize that my first draft was my outline. As a pantser, my process is different than a plotter’s, because I just sit down to write plotting and planning going back and adding necessary information and events to support my current idea as I draft. When I read back through my rough draft, I move things, delete, add, ask questions. Sometimes in the rough draft if I don’t know an answer, I might leave a question or suggestion and keep writing.

Before starting NaNo I tried writing an outline but in truth it was a quick draft of my story ideas, with a few questions, scene ideas and character notes. As I’m writing and I’m looking at the outline. I use about half of what I have, add a lot more, rearrange some and delete a few things. I am surprised at how much I did do in the outline.

So as I reflect on this first week of NaNoWriMo, I feel good about my progress. I don’t feel stressed, though I do have to push to find time to write daily. With writing as my second career, I still have to work my day job, take care of my husband, myself and the house. Thankfully my kids are grown, and my husband is fairly low maintenance. I have connected with other writers and hope to attend a write-in this week.

My advice to other NaNo participants. Do not make yourself crazy. Don’t let the fact that you only have 500, 5000, whatever your word count is, make you feel bad in anyway. This program isn’t designed to make you feel less than someone else or better than. It is not about killing yourself to get your wordcount. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to CELEBRATE our love of writing and to make it a priority. If you want to be a published author, you have to have dedication. NaNo can teach you that. If you are struggling to finish a project, NaNo can encourage you to finish. If you just want to prove to yourself that you can have a career as a writer, then NaNo is a great exercise for the real world. Make NaNo be the experience, the exercise (or exorcise) you need it to be.

Words of Encouragement: Let your words flow, tell the story that is inside of you, someone needs to read it. Believe that you can do it and you will. Don’t try to make it pretty, just write it, you can work on pretty later. You cannot fix a blank page, but you can edit a bad page. Half the writing is in the editing.

Wishing you all a Happy NaNoWriMo!

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