Preparing for Greatness
October 2024 Newsletter
Shalom fellow authors!
As the leaves turn vibrant colors (or brown and fall here in West Central Texas), and October unfolds, I have found myself reflecting on my yearly goals and how I want to end this year as an author. I usually don’t have issues with meeting my yearly goals, but this year has been especially challenging, being a newlywed, starting Kadesh Ink Author Services, and now the painstaking process of rebuilding our lives financially after my husband’s serious car accident over the summer.
Let’s face it - life happens! Sometimes even the best laid plans are side-tracked or need to be adjusted when challenges both in our daily and creative lives come knocking. However, if we can find ways to set ourselves up for success, the need to pause, adjust, or pivot can ensure that we don’t lose our momentum when the unexpected happens.
Whether you are like me, seeking to end the year strong so you can hit 2025 running strong, or if you’re gearing up for a writing challenge, here are my favorite ways to stay motivated and productive!
Set a clear main goal, break it down into mini-goals, and reward yourself when you reach each milestone! Be sure to set goals that will challenge you, but not overwhelm you to the point of giving up!
Create an outline of your story and character descriptions so you can keep yourself on track when you don’t feel motivated to write or get called on a “side quest” that may or may not be kept in your final story!
Join a writing group online or in person and motivate yourself and others - participate in word sprints, write-ins, challenges, and other fun activities once you start writing your new project. Having extra support from a community that understands your passion for writing can be a game changer!
Join my Facebook group: Iron Scribes: Authors Set Apart to Yahweh/Yeshua!
Create a writing playlist of songs that match scenes in your story, or help you focus on your project.
Embrace the fact that even “bad” scenes are scenes that can be edited later. There is no such thing as perfection in your first draft! Tell yourself the story, no matter how “terrible” it may seem. Editing will come later - for now, just enjoy the process!
Eliminate distractions during your writing time. Turn off your phone, the WIFI, or whatever else you need to do to give yourself some quality writing time - even if it is only 15 minutes a day - all those words add up and you will have a completed piece before you know it!
Be comfy while you’re writing! Burn a candle, wear your favorite outfit, write in your preferred way (on paper, with certain pens, on your laptop), write in your favorite place! I love writing outside in the morning with a cup of cappuccino, or in the evenings in my hammock! Write in a way that is joyful and doesn’t feel like a chore.
You have amazing stories to tell ~ whatever you do, don’t get in your own way!
For those of you who are preparing for Yom Kippur and Sukkot, I pray you have an easy fast, and that the countdown to the feast is peaceful and easy!
Shalom!
ON MY DESK
The Tale-Bearer - Memoir - Drafting
Children of Keshet - Space Opera - Second Draft
East of Eeden 2: The Rapha - Messianic Fantasy - Plotting