With 2012 coming to a close, you've got a chance to start the new year
on a positive note. Enter 2013 with an increased craving for success.
It's going to take some determination and you have to start right away. It doesn't matter how tired or hung over you are after your New Year's Eve parties and it doesn’t matter how many "last minute" tasks you need to finish up before you return to work.
Whatever you've set out to do in this coming year is far too important to be put off another day. You owe it to yourself to get going and not waste this new year.
I know that philosophically, January 1 is nothing more than a man-made invention to keep track of time. I don't care. There is a tremendous psychological advantage to using New Year's Day as a method of starting and tracking your goals.
Open up your spreadsheet software. On the top row, type in the goal you have. Every day log your progress. I hate to make it a numbers game, but physically tracking your progress will help hold you accountable and keep you on track. For example, say you're hoping to lose 15 pounds this year. That's only 1.25 pounds per month. If you keep that on a daily spreadsheet, you can watch the downward slope on the graph. That right there is enough positive feedback to keep you working at it. The key is writing it down.
But that's not all. You'll also need to have some benchmarks set to track your progress. For example, one of my goals is to finish a new short story each month.
I break that up into weekly goals like so:
Week # 1 - Work on the basic plot summary and finish first rough draft.
Week # 2 - Clean up draft to where it's mostly presentable, then submit to a critique group. (I use Scribophile.com)
Week # 3 - Work on final revision, based on Scribophile feedback.
Week # 4 - Read it over a few more times for continuity and then format and submit to publisher.
This example will work because it includes weekly benchmarks (or deadlines, if you will) and the weekly goals aren't too difficult to reach.
So enjoy New Year's Eve tonight, party hard, and don't forget to write down some achievable goals for 2013.
December 31, 2012
December 23, 2012
Ten books to read in 2013
With 2012 coming to a close, I'd like to share ten books I read in the last two years that focus on personal or financial success. None of these are directly related to writing, but have a broader focus of achieving your goals and holding yourself accountable.
Do yourself a favor and pick these up in the next year. I promise you won't regret it.
Here's the list in no particular order, although I consider the first two the most important.
1. The Top Ten Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class by Keith Cameron Smith
2. QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John Miller
3. It's Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success is Your Own Damn Fault by Larry Winget
4. No Excuses: The Power of Self Discpline by Brian Tracy
5. Poke the Box by Seth Godin
6. Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
7. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
8. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
9. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
10. How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell
Do yourself a favor and pick these up in the next year. I promise you won't regret it.
Here's the list in no particular order, although I consider the first two the most important.
1. The Top Ten Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class by Keith Cameron Smith
2. QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John Miller
3. It's Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success is Your Own Damn Fault by Larry Winget
4. No Excuses: The Power of Self Discpline by Brian Tracy
5. Poke the Box by Seth Godin
6. Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
7. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
8. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
9. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
10. How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell
December 12, 2012
How to make your New Year's Resolution work
December is flying by and soon the year will be over. This is the time of year where people either start planning their New Year's Resolutions or complaining about failing the goals they set for the year.
This brings up two points:
1) New Year's Resolutions don't work.
2) See point # 1.
The reason why New Year's Resolutions don't work is quite simple. When the majority of people make one, they aren't resolving to do a single thing. What they're actually doing is making a birthday wish.
For example: "This year I will make more money" actually means "This year, I hope that circumstances beyond my control will change and as a result, I will have more money." So what's the solution? It's a cliché, but use empowering language instead. Push away the "I wish" mentality and instead come up with a goal, a deadline, and a plan. It's not "I will lose weight," but "Here's how I will lose weight."
For me, "This year, I will write more," doesn't do anything to help me reach my goals for 2013. But by writing down exactly what I'm going to do, and when I'm going to do it, I'll get there.
Here's my 2013 tentative plan:
1. Finish one new short story every month (except for July and November) and submit it first to scribophile for critique and then to a publisher.
2. Reread and resubmit every rejection in no less than three days, unless it needs a major overhaul.
3. Submit, at minimum, one new agent query for the novel every week.
4. Participate in (and finish) NaNoWriMo in November.
These goals are easily attainable and shouldn't even take an hour each day to keep up with. And that's the key. Keep it specific and simple. If your goals are too big and require too much, you'll become overwhelmed and give up. If your goals are too vague, you'll have no trouble putting things off, and eventually stopping.
So throughout the year, I'll tweet the occasional goal updates in order to help hold myself accountable and see some progress.
Let me know if you do the same.
This brings up two points:
1) New Year's Resolutions don't work.
2) See point # 1.
The reason why New Year's Resolutions don't work is quite simple. When the majority of people make one, they aren't resolving to do a single thing. What they're actually doing is making a birthday wish.
For example: "This year I will make more money" actually means "This year, I hope that circumstances beyond my control will change and as a result, I will have more money." So what's the solution? It's a cliché, but use empowering language instead. Push away the "I wish" mentality and instead come up with a goal, a deadline, and a plan. It's not "I will lose weight," but "Here's how I will lose weight."
For me, "This year, I will write more," doesn't do anything to help me reach my goals for 2013. But by writing down exactly what I'm going to do, and when I'm going to do it, I'll get there.
Here's my 2013 tentative plan:
1. Finish one new short story every month (except for July and November) and submit it first to scribophile for critique and then to a publisher.
2. Reread and resubmit every rejection in no less than three days, unless it needs a major overhaul.
3. Submit, at minimum, one new agent query for the novel every week.
4. Participate in (and finish) NaNoWriMo in November.
These goals are easily attainable and shouldn't even take an hour each day to keep up with. And that's the key. Keep it specific and simple. If your goals are too big and require too much, you'll become overwhelmed and give up. If your goals are too vague, you'll have no trouble putting things off, and eventually stopping.
So throughout the year, I'll tweet the occasional goal updates in order to help hold myself accountable and see some progress.
Let me know if you do the same.
December 7, 2012
Thoughts on Duotrope.com
Last week, small press and aspiring writers found out that their best publishing tool, duotrope.com, would no longer be a free site. I saw all sorts of comments on twitter ranging from "I can't believe they managed to be free as long as they did," to others accusing them of corporate greed (of all things.)
My initial response was: Crap!
But my second thought was not nearly as dramatic. I want Duotrope to stick around and I surely don't mind paying fifty bucks a year for their incredible service. I probably should have added this sooner, but for those unfamiliar with duotrope.com, it's a site containing a search engine and submission tracker for publishing markets.
There is only one other site I pay an annual subscription for (PWInsider.com if you're interested. It's 100% worth it, btw) and paying for Duotrope surely won't kill me.
I do however have a couple of concerns about Duotrope becoming a pay site.
For one thing, if only the paying users have access to the submission trackers, then the acceptance rates of market listings could potentially be skewed even higher than they are now. I'm assuming that writers paying for a service like Duotrope have a higher publishing rate than those who do not, so the Duotrope stats could make markets appear to accept a higher percentage than they actually do.
The other concern I have may be little more paranoid, but it's worth stating. Without getting political, I think it's safe to say that Americans like a handout. I truly hope that by becoming a pay site, Duotrope doesn't run the risk of chasing away too many of its users. I'd hate to see the site go. Even though there are other similar options out there, Duotrope is by far the best one I've seen.
With all of that out of the way, I just want to say that I think the owners of the site are making the right decision, and if they have to become a pay site in order to continue providing their excellent service to writers across the world, then it's worth every penny.
My initial response was: Crap!
But my second thought was not nearly as dramatic. I want Duotrope to stick around and I surely don't mind paying fifty bucks a year for their incredible service. I probably should have added this sooner, but for those unfamiliar with duotrope.com, it's a site containing a search engine and submission tracker for publishing markets.
There is only one other site I pay an annual subscription for (PWInsider.com if you're interested. It's 100% worth it, btw) and paying for Duotrope surely won't kill me.
I do however have a couple of concerns about Duotrope becoming a pay site.
For one thing, if only the paying users have access to the submission trackers, then the acceptance rates of market listings could potentially be skewed even higher than they are now. I'm assuming that writers paying for a service like Duotrope have a higher publishing rate than those who do not, so the Duotrope stats could make markets appear to accept a higher percentage than they actually do.
The other concern I have may be little more paranoid, but it's worth stating. Without getting political, I think it's safe to say that Americans like a handout. I truly hope that by becoming a pay site, Duotrope doesn't run the risk of chasing away too many of its users. I'd hate to see the site go. Even though there are other similar options out there, Duotrope is by far the best one I've seen.
With all of that out of the way, I just want to say that I think the owners of the site are making the right decision, and if they have to become a pay site in order to continue providing their excellent service to writers across the world, then it's worth every penny.
December 6, 2012
Blog update
Wow, did I drop the ball or what? I haven't written a new blog post since November 19.
Worry not, though; I wasn't just screwing around during the time off. In the last few weeks, I managed to get my novel finished to the point that it's ready to start sending out queries to agents. No takers yet, but as anyone who has ever tried publishing fiction will tell you, it's a marathon not a sprint.
I also figured it would be a good time to change things around a bit over here, starting with this fancy new design. What do you think? (Probably this: Eh? Still looks like a blog.)
Anyhow, in some ways, I’m still a reluctant computer nerd and have fun doing stuff like that every now and then.
I've also decided to make a few changes to the content of this site. While writing will remain the primary focus of the blog, I'll be expanding it to include a few other topics, especially in the area of success and goals. I might throw in the occasional book reviews or recommendations as well.
It should be fun, so check back every now and then and drop me a line if you like or hate anything I have to say.
And you can always follow me on twitter @jasonbougger if that's your thing.
Worry not, though; I wasn't just screwing around during the time off. In the last few weeks, I managed to get my novel finished to the point that it's ready to start sending out queries to agents. No takers yet, but as anyone who has ever tried publishing fiction will tell you, it's a marathon not a sprint.
I also figured it would be a good time to change things around a bit over here, starting with this fancy new design. What do you think? (Probably this: Eh? Still looks like a blog.)
Anyhow, in some ways, I’m still a reluctant computer nerd and have fun doing stuff like that every now and then.
I've also decided to make a few changes to the content of this site. While writing will remain the primary focus of the blog, I'll be expanding it to include a few other topics, especially in the area of success and goals. I might throw in the occasional book reviews or recommendations as well.
It should be fun, so check back every now and then and drop me a line if you like or hate anything I have to say.
And you can always follow me on twitter @jasonbougger if that's your thing.
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