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Making Plans for the Writing Year Ahead

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I’m thinking a lot about rivers – this one is in the Languedoc

The turn of the year is a great time to make writing plans. I’m aware, of course, that plans made at this time, especially with a glass or two in hand, will not always come to fruition, some may never get off the ground, some will be de-railed, others replaced by newer plans that could not have been anticipated. Opportunities and inspirations are unpredictable but anticipating what may come is not only fun but it’s what shapes our ideas, our new projects and goals.
Here are some questions of the kind I like to ask myself when thinking of the writing year ahead. You might like to use them as prompts for your own plans. I’m a great believer in making plans, it’s how the work gets done. Without plans and goals we are a ship becalmed, we are going nowhere…
What will you do that is…
1. Different
2. Fun
3. Collaborative
4. Gives something back
5. Truly reflects who you are?

If you could write anything (which of course you can) what would it be? Be daring, free yourself up to think outside your own box – e.g. erotic poetry, a novel about being 80, sci-fi, a novel set in Russia 1920, a series of stories about artists…..

What can you learn and where or how can you learn it – workshops, groups, buddies etc – so often these kinds of events or meetings can lead us in a new direction?

What plans will be carried over and how can you make the most of these? Have you made targets for finish dates?

What’s your priority?

How can you measure success other than in publications or competitions?

How can you celebrate your writing life? Start a blog? Plan away days, self- publish, go to open mikes, buy brilliant and beautiful notebooks, attend festivals, make an inventory of all you’ve done in the past year…

How can you share with and support other writers? Writing can be a lonely occupation…

Where can you find inspiration: the theatre, music, exhibitions, walks, gardens? Make a list.

What will you read? Writers need reading every bit as much as writing…

Good luck with your plans – and lots of writing fun in 2016

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  1. Just riffing off ‘consign the lot to the bin’. Around Christmas I’d had it with the first draft of a novel I’d written and took great joy in removing every trace of it from my world. A friend, the only friend who knows how much I write said ‘you don’t seem your depressed self’ ? And in truth I was actually very happy. And then suddenly, came a bloody great slap across my face. ‘You’ve deleted it you shit, haven’t you’? lol. Oh yes I did, and it gave me the greatest satisfaction to do so he he he !!!

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