making goals & a game plan |
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INSIDE: What is my word of the year? What's Author Mentor Match? How did I make my goals & game plan for 2020? January Reads Instagram/#AuthorGoalsChallenge |
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My word of the year Last year in 2019, my word was Focus. I wanted to focus on getting my book done and ready to query, which I did. Yay! :) This year my word is Faith. I want (and need) to have faith in myself more. Faith in my writing and ability to succeed in getting an agent and my book published soon. I also like going by two mantras. |
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1. Progress not perfection - Trying to be perfect isn't healthy. Focusing on progress can set you on the path of success. Make a done list instead of a to-do list, and you'll see how much you've actually accomplished in a day or week. Striving for progress not perfection could help your stress level. Give it a try starting today. :) 2. Fail Faster - Don't be afraid of failing. Failure can help and teach you more about yourself and your craft. We put too much stress on ourselves to be perfect. |
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We need to take everything a step at a time and not worry about what others are doing or where they are in their journeys. Focus on you and making progress with your goals. Don't worry about anyone else because we all have different paths to take to success. Share your struggles or success with me on Instagram. I'd love to connect and chat with you. :) |
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What is Author Mentor Match? In February, I plan to enter my YA Contemporary Fantasy, Rhythm of the Stars in Author Mentor Match, which is a mentorship program for writers. For more specific info go to http://authormentormatch.com To see my #AMMConnect post (which shares why I am entering #AMM), click on the button below. And you're entering #AMM let me know so we can cheer each other on. :) | | |
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How did I make my goals for 2020? If you follow me on Instagram (If you’re not… what are you waiting for? :) LOL), you’ll know that I used Author Brittany Wang's Goals Workbook to help me set my goals for 2020. If you're interested in her workbook, check out Author Brittany Wang on Patreon. So first, I split my goals up into three main categories. I then made a main goal for each of those categories that I want to accomplish this year. My categories and goals are as follows. |
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Publishing – Secure an agent and get Rhythm of the Stars published. Platform – To remain consistent on social media, and to continue to grow and improve. Income – To figure out a side hustle to help earn some extra income for our family. After that, I broke down those goals by asking myself what I needed to do to accomplish them. Doing this helped me make quarterly and monthly goals. Each week I make weekly and daily goals according to what I've accomplished and still need to do. I always put my weekly and daily goals and tasks in my bullet journal to help me remember. I also made a spreadsheet to help me stay on track with my goals throughout the year. Author Brittany Wang gave me the idea in her goals workbook, but I added a little bit to it. :) This quarter (January – March), my goals are to 1. Enter Author Mentor Match (see more info above). 2. Write the first draft of a new project. |
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On Instagram, I shared that I’m stepping away from my YA Fantasy Project Mages for a little bit because I’m feeling frustrated with it. Instead, I’m working on a mystery. I’ve outlined and started to write it. I’m enjoying the characters and story. I hope to do a round of beta readers for it in late spring or early summer and enter it into Pitch Wars. Doing the goals spreadsheet has helped me stay focused and accomplish some goals already. So now, I want to help you make more attainable goals and to keep track of them easier, so I'm sharing a FREE template of my goals spreadsheet with you! :) If you use it, please tag me on Instagram or Twitter to let me know about your goals and if the template is helpful to you. :) |
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Instagram - #AuthorGoalsChallenge |
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In January, I co-hosted a fun challenge on Instagram with some of my wonderful writing friends Amanda Creek, Bridie Blake, Brittany Wang, Meghan Wiley, and Sondae Stevens. We had a lot of fun sharing our goals and connecting with several more writer friends. If you missed it, don’t worry, we plan to do other challenges throughout the year. For now, feel free to check out the hashtag to see our posts. Connect with me on Instagram, so you don't miss out on any of our NEW challenges in 2020. |
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January Bookshelf In January, I started to read The Five which is a non-fiction book about the lives of the victims of Jack the Ripper and how what we were told about them isn’t quite true. It’s a little dry, so it may take me a while to read, but I will finish it! I also started to read Dreadful Young Ladies. It’s a collection of short stories. This also may take me a while to read, but I plan to finish it soon. The books that I have read this month are: Truly Devious, The Woman in Black, The Afterlife of Holly Chase, The Wicked Deep, and Winterwood. I enjoyed The Wicked Deep so much I immediately picked up Winterwood by the same author, Shea Ernshaw. I gave them both five stars. And just so you know, it takes a very well written book to get five stars from me. If you like light fantasy with a little bit of magic, I highly recommend them to you. Shea Ernshaw's writing is inspiring to me. Her writing is beautiful, but not too flowery. To see my other reads, you can go to my Goodreads by clicking on the button below. | | |
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Until next time... Keep reading...writing... and dreaming. :) Always, J.J. |
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