Today, we have a guest post by Janet K. Brown.  For Janet, writing is a second career which she took up after she retired from career number one in 2005.  Her first novel, Victoria and the Ghost, was just released by 4RV.  Here is her outline for writing success.

Goal-Setting for Writers

by Janet K. Brown

Alan Cohen said,  “When you want what you want more than you fear what you want, you will have it.

  #1   Decide if and what you will write by spring, 2013.

What do you want to achieve?

What is your one sentence mission statement for your writing?

What genre do you want to write? A second genre?

Do you have a specialty, a field that you know?

How much do you want to make financially from your writing?

Treat your writing like a business.

a. Set up a special place to work, preferably dedicated

b. Study the markets – learn about their distribution and

what kind of books they handle. Study their authors

c. Determine your marketing strategies.

d. Determine you submission strategies.

#2   Record your goals and from time to time, look back on them.

Be realistic when you write them. It doesn’t have to be so many words written but has to pertain to what you want to do.  Give yourself a deadline to send in a proposal or a query by a certain date. Commit to do it.

Where do you want to be year’s end?

What do you want to accomplish by this time next year?  Keep a visible reminder such as a calendar or note on your computer.

#3    Educate yourself.

How can you best spend your time and your money this year?

Local meeting

Regional workshops

Online loops

Online courses

Writer’s conferences

Writing magazines/books

Other people’s blogs

What can you do to improve by yourself?

Go to bed with a writing problem on your mind-wake up with the answer

Brainstorm while driving alone

Keep yourself healthy

Organize your writing area.

#4     Associate with positive people.

Don’t hang around ones who bring you down or tell you it can’t be done. Associate with people who can help you, encourage you, or ones who are enthusiastic. Helping others builds your self-confidence and motivation.

Should you get a mentor?   At writer’s conferences, most of us are anxious to visit with agents and editors, but in truth, it’s often other writers that help us to become published or help our readership grow by their word of mouth and believability.

Read positive attitude books such as:

The Magic of Thinking Big

Success Principles by Jack Canfield

Watch inspirational movies like Rocky

#5  Measure your success and your commitment.

Write down your main strength or weaknesses in writing.

Are you committed to your writing? Why or why not?

Remember to measure every year. Your commitment may increase or decrease. Same with your success. If you published this year, your success level has changed which might change your goals. If you contracted for 2 books this year, you might want to increase it or keep the same level this year.

Every week – measure what you’ve accomplished as far as:

1. pages written

2.  queries sent

3.  submissions made

4.  self-improvement helps

5.  writing education

6.  reading

7.  promotion

Be proactive in planning your writing career, not reactive.

 

You can find Janet at;

Website: http://www.janetkbrown.com
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Janet-K-Brown-Author/143915285641707
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/janetkbrowntx
E-mail:  Janet.hope@att.net

 

Victoria and the Ghost

 

At fifteen, Victoria, a city girl, loses her mother’s love and copes with country isolation, no friends and no one who cares, until she meets a ghost.

When her mother leaves the family to become a Dallas trophy wife,Victoria’s dad moves her and her sister to a North Texas farm to herd cattle and raise chickens. Refusing to believe this is more than a temporary set-back,Victoria tries to make new friends which isn’t an easy task. The first one stabs her in the back with gossip and a sharp tongue. Meanwhile, her new stepsister takesVictoria’s place in her mother’s heart. Rejection and anger stalk Victoria like a rattlesnake in the cemetery. Good thing she makes friends with a ghost and through him, a good-looking teenaged cowboy.