Make A Living Writing Romance

With a realistic plan and all the tools and habits you need, you will succeed. Have no doubt. For extra motivation and a little celebration why not reward yourself too?

I used to reward myself with shoes, boots actually. But I’m a work at home professional so I ended up with a closet full of stacks of boxes full of boots.

So I stopped that habit, it was a bit expensive, and instead began to reward myself with something that is more valuable than anything else on the planet – time.

When I achieve my writing goals I take time off. Time off from writing, working, and household responsibilities. A week or a day, it depends on the size of the goal. Trust me that is a motivator and something you will enjoy.

If rewarding yourself with a day or a week of leisure time doesn’t sound exciting, what does? Make a list of things you might reward yourself with. You deserve to celebrate.

You now have everything you need to achieve the success you desire. You have a dream, a goal, and a plan of action. The rest is up to you. You can do it!

Happy Writing!

P.S. – You can access the first four steps of this process by clicking the links below:

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

Step Four

Any new goal is likely to require a few new habits. They say it takes three to four weeks of consistent effort to make something a habit. Give yourself time and don’t load too many habits at once.

For example, if you’re going to write 1000 words each day you might decide that you need to wake up early each day to write the first 500 and you need to eat lunch at your desk to write the second 500.

Focus on one of those new habits first. Once you’ve succeeded, you can then add the second new habit to your day. Document any new habits you’ll need to adopt to succeed. Once you’ve written them down, number them in order of the most important new habit to the least important new habit. Focus on the #1 habit first.

Once you’ve identified your goal and you have planned, in detail, how you’re going to achieve your goal it’s time for the third step in the 2012 Romance Writing Success Plan.

 What Tools and Resources do You Need to Achieve Success?

For example, if you’re submitting to a new agent or editor each week then you may need a system for tracking your submissions. Document any items you might need to help you stay on track and achieve your 2012 romance writing goal.

Here’s a List of Resources and Tools Available on MakeaLivingWritingRomance:

• Character Development Worksheet
• Romance Writing Contests and a Romance Writing Contest Worksheet to track your entries. Again, this is for 2011 but much of the information and links are still accurate.)
• Agent/Editor Checklist and Worksheet
• Romance Novel Revision Checklist
• Submissions Tracking Tools
• Digital Publisher List
• Romance Writing Home Study Course

Gather together everything you need to support you and help you achieve your goals for this year, whatever they may be.

Happy Writing!

2012 is a year filled with promise and potential. It’s a year with an extra day. It’s also, thanks to those Mayans, a year that may be filled with myth and mystery. I don’t know about you but I’m really looking forward to seeing what this year brings.

I’m also looking forward to making this year bigger and better than last year. I have big plans! I hope you do too. If those plans are still in the formulating stage or if they’re dreams right now and you haven’t begun to take action then this blog post series is for you.

(Note: If you subscribe to my newsletter then you received all five questions as free a downloadable worksheet. )

Sometimes it just takes a few hours of contemplation (I call it noodle-ing) to turn a dream into a goal. What’s the difference? A goal is a dream that you’ve written down. Goals have plans so you can take steps each day to make it a reality. Dreams are wonderful and as a writer I hope you embrace the concept of dreaming into your day and into your life.

However, you probably also want to achieve success with your writing. Maybe you want to publish with a mainstream publishing house. Maybe you want to self-publish. Maybe you want to earn enough to quit your day job or maybe you’re looking to finish a manuscript that you’re proud of.

The dream doesn’t matter as much as your desire to make it a reality. That’s what this worksheet is for. It’s a tool to help you take your dreams, get them down on paper, and start planning how you’re going to make them a reality.

Over the next few days I’ll post 5 simple questions. Answer the questions and the finished product will be your 2012 Romance Writing Plan.

Ready?

#1 What Do You Want To Achieve In 2012?

No, I’m not talking about resolutions. I’m talking about turning your dreams into goals. What do you dream about? What do you keep planning on doing but aren’t really focusing on?

For example, do you have a completed manuscript that you’re shopping around to agents and publishers? If so, your goal might be to get that wonderful manuscript sold.

Maybe you’re working on your first novel and your goal is to have it finished, polished, and ready to go by the time the clock strikes 12 on midnight December 31st 2012.

Write it down. Document your romance writing goal. Grab a lovely moleskin journal – or any notebook of your choice. If you have more than one dream then prioritize them. Start with the one that you feel is most important or the one that really gets your heart racing with the possibility of success. When you close your eyes and envision success, what goal will get you there?

The New Year is right around the corner. I love this time of year but not for the reasons you might think. I’m not a resolution maker. I believe that when you feel the need to make a change that’s the very moment change should begin. Why wait  until tomorrow or until January 1st?

However, I can understand the other big reason people love the New Year. It’s an opportunity to start fresh and hopefully not make the same mistakes made the year before. Most people look forward to wiping the slate clean and starting over and to be sure there is value in that, tremendous value.

Yet, I like this time of year because it always feels like an invitation to take a risk.

Like turning 30, or 40, 50 or 60, milestones are an opportunity to assess if you’re doing enough to achieve your dreams and of course taking steps to achieve your dreams involves risk.

Risk of failure, risk of rejection, risk of ridicule and laughter, and well I won’t go on because with risk comes reward and that’s more fun to talk about! It’s more fun to think about and it is way more fun to plan for. (Yes, you can plan for risk and you probably should.)

Why Take Risks?

Why not? When you take a risk you just might succeed. You might receive the acclaim you’ve worked so hard for. You might gain the acceptance, praise, and accolades you’ve dreamed of. You might publish that book, make money, and gasp…write another book and make more money! It is possible but it takes a willingness to accept and perhaps relish risk.

So as the New Year rings in and you take your first breath in 2012 ask yourself this one question, “What am I willing to risk to achieve my writing dreams?”