Got Goals Bloghop Pt 1: How I Did in 2017

Hey everyone! I would feel like I'm totally going the Got Goals? Bloghop wrong if I didn't sit down and do a check on how I did on my 2017 resolutions.

After all, Got Goals? is about goals, which means the New Year's goals I set every year fall nice and squarely into that wheelhouse.

By the way, if you want a bit of extra encouragement and accountability this year, you're welcome to join in the fun. The Got Goals? Bloghop is a bunch of us setting crazy or just crazy important goals, and then posting monthly updates (usually on the last Friday of every month) on how we did. This month we're doing it a bit different because of the time around New Years being so hectic, but you can click here for details.

One more thing... If you rather want to see this post on Wordpress, click here.

Looking at how I did...

To be honest, I probably couldn't have left this post later than I have. Why? Because it really feels like I didn't achieve that much in 2017. I think the worst thing about 2017 was that I spent most of it fighting to keep afloat while never being able to stand still to actually build much toward my career. 

The only exception is my freelance work, but the truth is that freelance work, while saving our backsides multiple times this year, isn't really my long-term plan. (That would be... you know... writing.) 

That said, I'm not one to look gift blessings in the mouth, so I'm going to leave the whining there for now. 

So let me get down to business and go through my 2017 goals one by one. Another slight annoyance because I did it as a vlog and never wrote them down. Which isn't all that good for my keeping track of them, huh? This is me, then, listening to the vlog and transcribing the goals, then commenting on them.

Goal 1: Make a Living as a Writer

Hahaha okay. So this actually went well, but it also involves how I define being a writer for the purposes of this goal. And that is, not only as someone who writes but as someone who knows how to write and publish. So making money from editing for someone counts. 

Which is a good thing, because I'm in "making a living" territory now. When I recorded this goal, I was happy to say that I was earning around minimum wage in my country (around $300) every month, which was impressive in that I had only started this goal in September 2016. 

But basically, after January, there seemed to be a shift in the income I made from freelancing, and the average moved up to $500 every month. And in the last three months, that average shifted to $667 per month, which was equal to the salary I used to take from the old business I left. And in December, I almost made $1,000. Which is was awesome, because this was an amount where I could actually feel the money making things easier for my family. 

That said, I suspect the wheels will come off with the rest of my goals. Let's see...

Goal 2: Publish Wo6C3. 

Not even close, thanks to me needing to redraft a 250k-word monster during very possibly the worst year of my life. 

Goal 3: Publish the sequel to Endless.

Hahahahahahaha *sob*

Goal 4: Read 25 Books

I read 5 for fun. If you count the ones I read for freelancing, though, the number is closer to 30. It was a good year for that. And the nice thing is that I had the privilege of working on some amazing works with people, and learning a lot because sometimes the subject matter was out of my comfort zone.

Goal 5: Spend More Time Doing Crafty Things

This is did, which is probably what kept me sane. First, I made some baby blankets. Then, I'm also working on a needlepoint tapestry that I've been working on for a while now. It has close to 260,000 stitches, so I'm never wondering about what I need to do in the year. 

Goal 6: Be More Social

I do think I was, but then, that was only because my benchmark was 2015, during which I saw very few people. I did sign up for more live stream chats and the like, putting myself out there more, which I also see as being in the spirit of what this goal is about. 

Goal 7: Get in the Habit of Writing Every Day

Not even close.

So Overall...

I actually did achieve more than I thought I did, although I managed very little in the way of writing, which upsets me. 

So I'm definitely going to have to pull my socks up in that regard. 

Come back tomorrow if you want to see what I want to do in 2016. 

But a New Year's Eve post isn't a New Year's Eve post without some nice thoughts, so here's a New Year's Poem I wrote. 

How did your 2017 go? Have you set goals for 2018? Don't forget to sign up for the Got Goals? Bloghop if you want to join in. 

Some Good News

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that the application has been approved and the license is being issued! Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Misha

A Glimmer

Hey all!

Once again I have news, which you can read by clicking here. Otherwise, I'm still seriously appreciating you guys' thoughts, prayers and messages of support.

Love,

Misha

Infinite Hiatus

Hi all,

I don't really have it in me to repost the whole thing here, but I very likely won't be online anymore past Friday. If you want to know why, you can read my post here.

Love you all.

Misha

NaNo Need-to-Knows: Tips for Week 1

Hey everyone, if you want to read my IWSG Post, you can find it here. If you would like to find the rest of the NaNo Need-to-Knows Series, just click here. :-)

Today is November 1st, so I shared my three best tips for NaNo Week 1. The script I used will follow the video, if you prefer to read.



Since you’re hopefully rearing to get to writing, I’m going to keep things as short and sweet as possible.

So tip number one is write something. Anything. 

A lot of writers get stage fright in the beginning of a writing project, because blank pages have a psychological impact on our creativity. So make sure your first page stops being blank as soon as you can. Even if you write something stupid like “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” or an entire scene about the character eating pancakes… whatever. Just write something down, because those first words will lead to more.

Tip number 2: Pace Yourself. 

Maybe you’re different to me, but I’ve always found that the first section of a book is the second easiest to write, following closely on the heels of the climax and resolution. So once you get past the first page jitters, the words will be flowing in something like a flood, and it’s easy to be tempted into writing thousands on thousands of words in a day.

But.

You need to avoid that temptation and cap that amount at slightly higher than your normal word count. If your NaNo word count target is already higher, cap it a the amount you need to write.

Why?

Because you’re not in this to sprint. NaNoWriMo is a marathon, and if you don’t pace yourself, you’re increasing the likelihood of burning out. I know writers who only draft in NaNo and take an entire way to recover because they burn themselves out. Don’t do that to yourself. It’s better to write 20k or 30k every month than 50k for NaNo and none in the rest of the year.

Tip number 3: Enjoy Yourself. 

With the high wordcount requirement and short time frame, it’s easy to get stuck on the challenge part and forget about the fact that writing is fun.

Don’t to that, because stress is so not good for your creativity. So yes, push yourself, but also remind yourself that no one will shoot your dog if you don’t win.

Best of luck! Are you excited to start or regretting your decision to join?

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Tired

It's the first Wednesday of November (which I still can't believe), which means it's time for me to join that famous bloghop for insecure writers everywhere, the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

So 1 November means it's time for NaNoWriMo, and not a year has passed since 2010 where I haven't taken part. Which means that yeah, I'm definitely doing that. 

(I'm also doing a blog and vlog series to help with NaNo, if you need an extra dose of help and encouragement. This week's vlog post will follow immediately after this one.) 

But in typical Misha style, it's 1 November and my month has already been screwed before it was even noon. 

So I don't know how I'm going to do NaNo this year. It's been hard enough to be creative this year so far, and now my life has dialed the intensity up to an 11. 

What about you? Doing NaNo? Feeling the pressure yet/already?

NaNo Need-to-Knows: How to Avoid Writer's Block When You're a Pantser

Hey everyone! Today's vlog post will be the last one I'll be posting on a Friday for a while, because each post for November will be about advice and/or encouragement for that specific week of NaNoWriMo.

If you're here for my monthly goal update post, click here.

If you would like to see links to all of the post in the NaNo Need-to-Knows Series, click here.

The script I used to record this vlog follows the video.



NaNoWriMo can be a dream and a nightmare for writers who fly by the seat of their pants as they write (henceforth referred to as pantsers, pantsing, etc.) On the plus side, NaNo seems almost designed for people who don’t want to plan, because we’re encouraged to just let go and write every step of the way.

On the negative side, if you paint yourself into a corner, it can be a disaster. In order to write 50,000 words in a month, you have to write an average of 1,667 words per single day. This might not seem too bad, but if you get stuck, the words needed to get back to par stack up really fast.

A lot of people try to prevent this by planning ahead and going into NaNoWriMo with something akin to a step-by-step guide to their book.

But we’re pantsers and that’s not what we do!

So what do we do?

We get stuck.

Often.

And this is frequently what we call writer’s block.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can “borrow” a few things from the plotters and adapt them to help us along.

The big thing I see as an advantage of plotting is that plotters know where they’re going with their book. Pantsers have this way of thinking that this is boring, but really, they’re just looking at it wrong.

See, just because we know where we’re headed doesn’t predetermine how we’re going to get there. And the getting there is really the fun part.

So it helps to go into NaNoWriMo with a few things settled in our mind. Knowing the main character(s), and their goal, conflict, and stakes is probably the best way to not get stuck.

However, if that smacks too much of plotting, you can get away with significantly less. How do I know? I’ve done (and won) NaNo by going into it knowing precisely one thing:

The climax of the story.

If I know what the big event or reveal will be at the end, I can use every scene before that point as a stepping stone to it. So if I get stuck in a scene, feeling like I don’t know where it’s going, I can then direct the scene towards progressing the in a way that brings me closer to the climactic point. And hopefully by then, I know enough about character, the goal, conflict and stakes to figure out how to make that progressive step forward. (But again, it does help to know all these before you start writing.)

Are you a plotter or a pantser? What do you have to know before starting? 

Update Day: Seriously How Is It Still So Cold?

Hey all! It's the last Friday of the month, which means it's time for another Update Day. For those of you who are wondering, JEN Garrett and I co-host this monthly bloghop, where we set some crazy or just crazy important goals, and then post regular updates on our progress. If you feel like you need some accountability, this is the hop for you. Just click here for more information and to join in.

How Did October Go? 

Honestly, I feel a bit frustrated this month. I got a lot done, but I spent most of the time feeling like I'm just not getting into a rhythm, which meant that the million small things I needed to do just kept multiplying while the things that are important to me fell by the wayside.

So these were my goals for this month: 

1) Start revising Book 3. 

Nope. Mainly what happened was that I got some major freelancing jobs this month that ate up a lot of my time. Also, my momentum got broken early in October, which meant I actually just... didn't have the mind frame needed to work on this. 

2) Finish the ebook cover for The Heir's Choice. 

This neither.

3) Finish the Eden's Son rewrite.

By the time IWSG had rolled around, I had called this book cursed because some more of its words had vanished yet again. That loss early in the month was what broke my speed, and I haven't touched it since. 

4) Market Spirits in the Water. 

I did some light marketing, but not what I had wanted to do.

5) Edit and submit a short story I had written in September.

This I managed before Eden's Son wiped the floor with me. 

6)  Write four more poems in October. 

Nope. 

Goals for November

1) Win NaNoWriMo. (My username is iceangel, if you want to buddy up.) 

2) Revise Book 3

3) Rewrite Eden's Son. 

4) Market Spirits in the Water. 

5) Write four more poems. 

6) Finish the baby shower gift I'm making for a friend before said baby shower happens at the end of November. 

7) Wrap up the two major freelance jobs I'm currently contracted to. 

8) Finish posting the NaNo Need-to-Knows series. 

That's it from me for this month. How did your October go? Looking forward to November? 

NaNo Need-to-Knows: Conflict and Stakes

We're rapidly heading for the end of October and I have a lot of ground to cover, thanks to a really ill-timed internet outage. So today, I would like to talk about conflict and stakes together. (Sorry if that makes my post run long.)

If you would like to check out the rest of the NaNo Need-to-Knows series, please click here. 

So why are the conflict and stakes of the story so important to me that I would focus on them for my final NaNoWriMo  preparation post? 

Simply put, they (along with compelling characters) are what keeps the reader interested in reading the story. If the goal is the story's entire point, the conflict is what makes the goal uncertain, and the stakes are what makes the reader care about the outcome. 

If one is 100% certain of a story's outcome, what's the point of reading? This is why we get bored so quickly if there's just not enough challenges (i.e. conflict) standing between a character and their goal. The easier it is to achieve the goal, the less interesting it becomes, because the book also becomes more predictable. 

But Misha, you might say, some books are predictable simply because they fall in a certain genre. Yes and no...

A book being a romance, for example, gives you about 99% of a chance that there will be a happy ending, but then the experience of reading is more about how that happy ending occurs despite everything that stands in the characters' way. If there's no conflict, the end just happens, and it's just not very satisfying to a reader. 

So what is conflict? People have this nasty tendency to believe that conflict=fighting and bickering, and you can tell who those people are by seeing whose characters seem to fight all the time about things that could have been solved if they spoke to each other like normal human beings. 

That's the thing. Conflict, in the sense used when creating a story, isn't about fighting. It's a counterweight to the story's goal. In other words, the antagonist and his minions is a source of conflict, but so is the main character's fear of water if they have to swim in order to achieve their goal. The former is called external conflict, in other words, a challenge that comes from outside the main character. Then there's also internal conflict, which comes from within the character, and usually takes the form of fear, anger, sadness, self-doubt, etc. 

Ideally, you want conflict to come from both sources, because then it's not just a rote color-by-numbers walk-through until the character meets the big bad for a boss fight. Letting at least some of the conflict come from a character's heart and soul gives it all meaning. Which makes the reader care. 

But neither the goal nor conflict matters if the reader doesn't have a reason to care about the outcome. This is where your characterization and the stakes come in. Obviously, if the reader cares about a character, they will care about whether the character achieves their goal. But if you want the reader to care the most they can care about the outcome, you also need to give the main character some high costs to failing in their goal. 

In other words, your story needs some stakes. 

Broadly speaking, there are two ways you can do this. First, you can make the character's failure affect a lot of people. This is usually in the form of "everyone dies if the character doesn't succeed." Which is good, but not quite the most effective way to join the stakes with your readers' care towards a character. 

No, for that, making the stakes personal is the best approach. It might sound silly, but something as relatively small as "If the character doesn't succeed, his best friend will die." often implies higher stakes (emotionally speaking) than "everyone dies." The main character doesn't know "everyone" and so the reader doesn't either. It's just a reason to care less. 

So mix up your external and internal conflicts, and try to make even the high stakes you have feel personal, and you'll be well on your way towards creating a kick-ass story. 

Do you plan your conflict and stakes ahead of starting to write, or do you make them up as you go along? 

Before you go, I just wanted to also let you know that Spirits in the Water is making its way around the bloggosphere, and we're giving away some awesome prizes. 

If you would like to see the blog tour stops, please click here.