Smooth Sailing or Stormy Seas? How to Get Back on Course.

Can you believe we're at the end of January already? For the most part, it has been a busy, productive month for me--how about you? Are you enjoying smooth sailing in accomplishing your goals and maintaining a positive attitude? Are storms battering your boat, making it difficult to make any headway? Is your boat at a standstill, caught in the doldrums, waiting for something to get you moving again? Have you been blown off course by unexpected things popping up and taking up your time? Hopefully, you haven't been shipwrecked altogether!

If you recall, I had broken my goals down into doable steps for each month, week, and day. So, let's see where things stand with only one day left in the month:

1. begin revisions on my WIP (work in progress) -- began on January 4, but have not made much progress (will talk about this later);
2. declutter one day a week--started on January 7 and, in spite of some inner resistance one day, have kept at it every Thursday and am making good progress;
3. join two off-line writers' groups--just sent in my registration for one today online (it's an offline group with an online presence, too); will be mailing a check and membership form to the other on Monday;
4. mail package off to brother and sister-in-law--working on that this weekend, plan to mail it on Monday.

So, overall, I'm feeling pretty good about how January has gone. If you're making progress, congratulations. Be sure to celebrate your success by doing something special for yourself.

If you're struggling or feel like giving up, step back to take a look at what's going on. What's working? Why is it working? In other words, what are you doing that is keeping you motivated and positive? What's not working? What is keeping you from moving forward and succeeding? What do you need to do in order to get back on course?

As I sat down to evaluate my own progress, I discovered that what's working for me is having my daily tasks assigned to certain days of the week, writing them on a To Do List so that I can check them off at the end of the day, and keeping the list short. Anything that doesn't get done, gets added to the next day's list; but if it doesn't get done that day either, it waits until its scheduled day the following week. It might seem odd to put something off almost a week rather than continuing to carry it over, but there is a good reason for this. If I continue to carry an undone task over, day after day, it will be a constant reminder that I'm not meeting that goal and my To Do List will grow out of control and be overwhelming. I will perceive it as a daily failure, which will breed negative feelings, which will make me resistant to tackling the task as it looms larger and larger in my mind. Instead, if I reschedule it to the following week's assigned day for that task, I can progress through the rest of the week's tasks unencumbered. When it comes up again the following week, I will have had five days of success behind me before tackling this task again, so will be able to approach it in a more positive frame of mind. Then, I can make that my first task for that day to make sure it does, in fact, get done. Each success is positive reinforcement for believing that the next task can also be accomplished.

So, what happened with my book revisions? I started off strong, then hit a snag. Maybe I hadn't let the book simmer on the back burner quite long enough and was still too close to it, or maybe it's because I prefer making corrections with pen and ink instead of on the computer (though I prefer the computer when doing the writing), or maybe it's because I hadn't yet set up a schedule with my writing buddy for mutual encouragement and accountability. Perhaps I was a little overambitious given my health issues, doctor appointments, the change in our family constellation (we adopted a new cat toward the end of the month and are helping her adjust to her new home, humans, and animal "siblings" and find her place), and the day-to-day responsibilities attendant to running a home.

Instead of beating myself up over it, I looked instead at what I'd accomplished. In addition to the things listed specifically in my goals for the month, I'd also taken positive action regarding my health and given an abandoned cat a forever home. So, what about the book revisions? They'll be number one on my goals for February when I sit down tomorrow to see what I want to accomplish during the second month of this year. Another, will be to talk with my writing buddy to set up how we want to hold each other accountable.

What were your successes in January? What caused you problems? What lessons did you learn, and what action are you taking as a result? Share your comments, gratitude list, and questions in the comment section. Let's encourage one another as we head into February.

For help on specific topics, you might like to take a look at change expert Mary Jane Ryan's blog at http://maryjaneryan.wordpress.com/. In addition to current articles, scroll down to the menu on the right with articles archived by topics including weight loss, tips for achieving goals, gratitude, growth, how to create lasting change, and much more.

Day Eighteen: Interview with a NaNoer, Part 2

Today I'm continuing my interview with Deni Hansen-Gray Weber, as she shares her experiences as a first-time NaNoWriMo participant. If you missed part 1, you'll find it below today's post.

Donna: Coming up with a title, knowing how to begin the story, or knowing how to end it--what has been the hardest thing for you?

Deni: I pretty much knew how I wanted the novel to end. The novel starts with the main character looking back in time as she is leaving to return to her hometown in what appears to be disgrace, and wondering how it all happened to her. Fairly quickly, I knew how I wanted it all to start--I soon knew how I wanted it to end. Somewhere around 25,000 words, I realized I needed a lot more "plot" than I had, and I was worried I'd not be able to make a cohesive whole that was 50,000+ words.

Donna: What do you hope to take away from this experience, what have you learned from it, and how has it impacted your life?

Deni: This kind of relates to the previous answer! I had to create a number of challenges for my heroine to face--just to fill up space--but I realized she grew through them. Much like myself, she'd look at God and ask, "Why me? Why now?" I soon realized how similar to life this is. It was like I finally figured out that life really is a series of challenges to be met. Yet, time after time, with God's help, she overcame them. She learned she needed to be reliant on God--just as I am learning that complete reliance is necessary for our family with the continuing challenges we are facing.

Donna: Would you encourage others to try doing NaNoWriMo next year?

Deni: Oh boy, would I! I'd encourage anyone who likes to write, or wonders if they have a book hidden inside of them, to try this. The NaNoWriMo site has so many encouraging forums and you can pick writing buddies to support you on your journey. My words? "Go for it!" Doesn't matter if it gets published or tucked away somewhere on a thumb drive, there is such a sense of accomplishment that "I did it!" It was helpful for me to learn that only a small percentage of those who undertake the challenge win, and it's okay not to pass the 50,000 mark. It's a goal.

Donna: Any final thoughts you'd like to share?

Deni: Final thoughts? I don't think it matters if you "win" the challenges or not. There is always next year, and I think it is more a matter of putting yourself out there and trying. To me, everyone who makes the effort is a winner. It reminds me of my favorite saying, "Success is getting up one more time than you fall down." If you continue to write, that's success! Or, maybe you find out writing is not for you--and that's fine, too. I think it's a win-win thing. It is tremendously challenging, but I'd not have missed it for the world!

Donna: One last question, Deni, do you plan to pursue publication of your NaNo novel?

Deni: I think participating in NaNoWriMo has given me the incentive to do further work on the novel. As I had stated before, December is going to be editing and proofreading month in our homeschool curriculum, so I will be going at least that far. I do think that doing these things along with the kids provides a modeling role for them that is often missing from both public and homeschool settings.

Would I like it to be published? I can answer that with a resounding "Yes!" Will I pursue it? That depends on God opening doors for me as I know nothing about the publishing end of writing.

Maybe that will be an addition to our homeschool curriculum at some point--"How to publish a book." I'm sure it would be interesting for both the children and me.

I'd love to see something I have written in print! Yet, I think the most successful part of this for me has been in seeing the creation of something that was once floating around in my head, solidly written (at least I hope so!) and in a tangible form. I am anxious to get past the edit/proof stage and print it out and see how it looks "on paper."

Donna: Deni, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your thoughts and experiences with our readers. Good luck with your novel.

Deni: Thanks for asking me to participate in your blog interview!

Note to my readers: Thank you for joining us today. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help me in making this blog relevant for you. I welcome your comments and questions, and encourage you to use the comment form. I also welcome your suggestions for future discussion topics. -- Donna