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Accountability: It Works!

Published on by Kristi Holl

Back in January many of you joined me in the “31 Minutes for 31 Days Challenge.” That jump started many of us for the new year.

In February I did my first 28-Day Challenge with two writing friends, and March began our second 28-day Challenge. (The Challenge has been to write at least 30 minutes daily.)

Strength in Numbers

Several of you have mentioned that you’d like to try an accountability challenge, and I’m going to start two of them on April 1st. They will each run for 30 days as we work together to become writers who write daily.

Today I’ll talk about the “why” behind daily writing practice. This coming Friday I will describe one of the challenges. Next Tuesday I will describe the second challenge–and the reasons for it. On Friday of next week, I’ll tell you how to sign up for one or both challenges.

“Many who want to be writers–who are in their hearts, writers–have followed the same beaten path that doesn’t come to a dead end so much as it peters out,” says Judy Reeves in one of my favorite writing books, A Writer’s Book of Days. “Even though their spirit longs for it, they have never made writing a priority in their lives; that is, they have never set aside a special, specific time for their writing. They don’t practice their craft.”

What’s So Special About Accountability?

I want to do these writing challenges with you because I’ve seen the huge difference this year that regular writing practice has made in my life. It isn’t just getting more writing done–although that is certainly true. Even nicer, I feel more like a writer. And when you feel like a writer, your confidence goes up INDEPENDENTLY of the market (whether you sell anything.)

And one thing is true: your writing really does get better.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Writers are artists. We paint with words. And we need to practice our craft daily like other artists who are working on their craft.

No one expects a pianist to go from Chop Sticks to Cargenie Hall. No one expects a painter to go from paint-by-number pictures to a one man New York showing. Dancers, actors, singers, athletes, artists: we only get good at our craft by daily doing the drills.

Writing practice is simply making an appointment with yourself to write–and then showing up. You treat that commitment to write, even if it’s only for fifteen minutes, as sacred. Only true emergencies keep you from that appointment. (True emergencies–yours or other people’s–usually involve lots of blood or lots of smoke. If the interruption doesn’t fit that description, chances are good that it can wait until after you write.)

“Writing practice is showing up at the page,” says Judy Reeves. “One of the best things about writing practice is that it IS practice. It’s not supposed to be perfect. You’re free to make mistakes, fool around, take risks.”

As I said, I will be starting two writing challenges for the month of April. They will involve two types of writing, equally important to your career, I believe.

Why Daily Accountability?

Is a daily writing practice really that important? You won’t know until you try it for several weeks, at least. But according to Judy Reeves, it has great benefits.

“A daily routine that includes writing will have more benefits than you can imagine, but just for starters (a) the writing will come easier, (b) you’ll write more, (c) your writing will improve, and (d) you’ll realize that you are, after all, a writer.”

I don’t know about you, but all four of those reasons sound wonderful to me!

What has been your own experience with accountability?

Direction, not Intention

Published on by Kristi Holl

directionAll of our actions have results, or consequences. That’s not news to anyone. And yet, do we act like we believe that?

Not all that often.

Good Intentions

Too many writers (myself included sometimes) believe that if we work our hardest and try our best and keep a good attitude, we’ll end up successfully published. Why? Because we have good intentions. But it’s “direction–not intention–that determines our destination,” says Andy Stanley in his book The Principle of the Path.

Here’s a simple illustration. You may intend to be a great archer. However, if you work hard, shoot arrow after arrow, and lift weights to have stronger biceps–but don’t pay attention to direction–shooting arrows is a waste of your time. Oh, you might luck out and hit your target once in a blue moon, but that’s about it.

Sadly, many writers approach their careers like this.

Lacking Direction

In every part of your life (health, relationships, writing career) you’re moving in some direction toward a specific destination. We don’t end up at that destination out of luck or sheer hard work or good intentions or because “it all worked out somehow.”

Destination is the end result of the choices you made yesterday, added to the ones you make today, added to the ones you will make tomorrow. Actually, it’s the end result of years of daily choices, compounded with interest.

There are paths we choose that lead us to destinations we never intended, and there are paths we’re on right now that are leading us away from–not toward–our dreams and goals. If we’re headed in the wrong direction, no matter how good our intentions or how hard we work, we won’t reach our goal.

Please NOTE: you may honestly think you’re moving in the right direction, when you’re not. Don’t assume that because you’re working hard, you’re headed in the right direction.

Personally Speaking

It’s the decisions you make on a daily basis that determine your path and your destination. For example, for many reasons I want to be super healthy the older I get. I want it more than most other things because it affects all areas of my life.

I know a lot about nutrition and exercise and weight loss and what my body needs to run its best. A healthy body is my intention and has been for years.

BUT the daily decisions I made last year to eat candy instead of the hated vegetables, to watch a movie instead of go walking, and skip the weightswrong-direction work-outs have NOT led me to optimum health. My path led in 2012 to higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure, much less stamina, and more headaches.

It only took small changes–but changes incorporated at least six days per week–to turn that around. BP is now normal, cholesterol checked this week is finally down to normal, headaches are gone, and stamina is increasing.

Writerly Direction Needed Too

With that principle in mind, I am now making myself accountable for some small DAILY changes in my reading, writing, and Internet schedule. I didn’t like my destination at the end of 2012, so a change of direction was in order.

I see writers doing the same things I was doing. They’ve got their goals written down, they’ve set deadlines for themselves, they intend to finish that novel and submit it, and ultimately they want to be published. They knock themselves out to create websites, network on Facebook and GoodReads and Twitter, write newsletters and blogs–but they never have time to actually do much writing. They spend so little time actually writing that they don’t improve. [I’m not pointing the finger at any of you. I only know this is true because it was my own problem.]

Despite my great intentions, my daily choices last year did not take me in the direction I truly wanted to go.

“I know it’s tempting to believe that our good intentions, aspirations and dreams somehow have the ability to do an end run around the decisions we make on a daily basis,” says Andy. “But at the end of the day, the principle of the path determines the outcome. Simply put, you and I will win or lose in life by the paths we choose.”

Take a look at your DAILY writing habits, those writerly activities you do day after day, week after week, year after year. What direction are you really headed?

Every day, it’s a choice. What path will you choose today? [And if you have trouble deciding which daily habits would move you in the right direction, scroll back up to the top-right, give me your email address, and I’ll send you my free e-book on Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time.]

Hatch or Go Rotten!

Published on by Kristi Holl

Sometimes we just need to get moving toward our writing dreams.

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird; it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” ~~C.S. Lewis

Sometimes (in our writing lives) we want to go directly from being an egg to flying like an eagle. We can’t.

Time to Break Out

You’ve incubated your writing dream long enough. It’s time now to hatch, to wiggle your wings, to dry your feathers, to walk, run, eat good food–and then fly.

Don’t stay inside your egg too long. As C.S. Lewis says, at some point you will go bad. And by default, the writing dreams will die.

Don’t let that happen to you!

Finding Energy to Pursue Goals

Published on by Kristi Holl

We hear a lot about setting writing goals.  Do any of you have secret thoughts like these?

Setting goals is great, but I don’t have the energy to pursue them or I’m already so exhausted that I can’t add one more thing to my life—even something I love.

Is that you? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Plug the Drains

Years ago I had a car that guzzled oil. I added a quart every Monday, but by Saturday the oil light was back on. It did no good to add oil without fixing the leak.

The same holds true for your energy level. You can set goals, shore up your willpower, and grit your teeth, but you won’t have any more get-up-and-go until you plug your energy leaks.

Identify the Source of the Problem

We usually lose energy in two ways: (1) enduring annoying or toxic behaviors in other people, and (2) tolerating conduct in ourselves that is harmful (overeating, no exercise, over-due bills, or keeping a cluttered office.)

One essential skill is learning how to set boundaries on yourself, such as: no sugar or caffeine before 5 p.m., bedtime by 10 p.m., straighten your desk when you quit work for the day, or pay bills the day they arrive. (For more specific help, get my free e-book in the upper right hand corner on managing your writing space and writing time.)

You can also set and enforce boundaries with people who steal your energy. Limit your availability, for instance. If you have a cell phone, give the number only to those who really must have it. Your cell phone is to serve you—not the rest of the world. Other people can also drain us with their foul moods, irritating habits, and constant “crises” demanding our attention.

Learn to set boundaries in these situations; keep your energy inside (where it is useful) instead of spilling out on other people. Believe it or not, family members and friends can be expected to “fix” their own bad moods and self-created crises. (Memorize this: Lack of planning on their part does not constitute an emergency on my part.) If you need help with this essential relationship skill, read Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

Remember: the goal is to find more energy for your writing. You must plug the unnecessary energy drains first. Then you’ll be ready to recover your ability to function with ease.

Get in Shape

You’ll be tempted to skip this step, but I hope you won’t. It’s far more important than most writers realize. Just like you need to maintain your car (oil, spark plugs, belts, brakes) if you expect it to run smoothly, you need to maintain a healthy body if you expect to write in flow, enjoy your work, and be productive.

Are you health conscious? “I watch what I put into my body—no alcohol, drugs, caffeine,” says Sophy Burnham in For Writers Only. “I have become so sensitive to my body’s claims that now I actually often eat when hungry (imagine!), stop and lie down when tired. It has taken me years to learn to listen for those two simple demands, knowing that I write better when the machinery’s warmed up, oiled, clean.”

We all write better in that state. I encourage you to take a “health inventory” right now—and do whatever is necessary to turn you into a lean, clean writing machine.

Create Energy!

After you’ve plugged the leaks and kicked your health up a notch, it’s time to actually create energy instead of wasting it. If you have set (and enforced) boundaries on yourself and others, you’re no longer tied to energy-draining habits, people, and situations. This should have freed up some time for you. Use that time wisely now—to create more energy in your life.

Nurturing activities create energy. So, what nourishes your soul and spirit? List activities (ten-minute activities, two-hour activities, half-a-day activities) that give you a real boost. This list will be very individual.

For example, my list of energizers includes hot chocolate in my porch swing, photos of castles in England, Jane Austen movies, and journaling. Your energizing activities might be more social (going to the beach with your family) or more physical (running or snorkeling.) Whatever things energize you, incorporate them into your daily life.

Is All This Really Necessary?

Why the emphasis on making more energy? Without sufficient energy (both physical and mental/emotional) we won’t be very creative writers. We’ll sound tired and bored, and writing will be an uphill struggle.

The discipline of plugging the energy leaks (and creating more energy instead) can put the joy back into your writing.

So…your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is:

  1. Identify your energy drains.
  2. Set boundaries with self and others, where necessary.
  3. Make physical health an ongoing commitment, at least during the work week.
  4. Incorporate energizing fun activities into your daily life.

Then be ready for untapped sources of energy to bubble up! [Just curious: which of these four things are the most challenging for you? Leave a comment, please!]

Self-Care Secrets to Creating More Time

Published on by Kristi Holl

Do you feel as if you’re forever running to catch up and keep up? Is finding any time at all to write a challenge for you?

Over my thirty years of writing, that has been an ongoing challenge. Often the problem was my lack of boundaries in many areas of my life. (The problem is so prevalent that, right now, I’m working on an e-book called “Boundaries for Writers” because I think we need our own set of instructions!)

Maybe you’ve been told you need to simplify your life—choose what really matters—and slow your pace. Great advice!

But HOW?

Reflective Thinking Brings Answers

With all the noise of modern life and the frantic running around, we have little chance to hear the inner whispers and feel the nudges that try to warn us. “Hold on—this isn’t right” or “You really don’t want to do this” or (with me quite often) “Don’t say that!”

Sometimes life gives you the gift of stopping you in your tracks. That has happened to me several times over the years. Once I was surgically wired shut for weeks. A few years ago I ran a fever for eight days and ended up with many sleepless nights to think.

I took stock of my rat-race, anything-but-serene lifestyle, and I was appalled at how I had let “stuff” creep back in and take over my life. I asked myself some hard questions.

Your Personal Answers

If you also want to get off the merry-go-round, take a note pad and jot the answers to these questions pertaining to your own life.

  • Why is my life as busy as it is?
  • Why have I chosen to commit to so many things?
  • What are the costs to me right now of living like this? What are the future costs?
  • What tasks/meetings/jobs are no longer necessary? (Only one out of my four cancelled appointments that week needed to be rescheduled. The others, it turned out, weren’t that important.)
  • Which activities are things other people thought I should do?
  • Which volunteer positions do I no longer enjoy?
  • Which professional organizations no longer meet my needs and can be dropped?

That time of reflection was so very profitable. It enabled me to spot three big changes I could make, immediately freeing up about fifteen hours per month.

Should I? Shouldn’t I?

Is your life run according to shoulds (your own or other people’s?) When asked to run a concession stand at your child’s school or attend a make-up or clothing party, do you agree because you feel you should, rather than because you have a real desire to do it? Do you even take time to make a thoughtful decision, or does the should rule?

In a sermon entitled “The Unhurried Life,” my pastor reminded us that “NO is a complete sentence.” In other words, sometimes you can just say no. Or “I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Period. Don’t let people guilt you into doing things you just don’t want to do. They don’t know your schedule, your physical challenges, or that you are already maxed out.

Self-Care, not Selfish

Reassess the value of your time. Is it really more important that you do the volunteer newsletter for your neighborhood association—or that you put that time toward your writing dream? None of us likes to have people mad at us. On the other hand, it may be a price worth paying in order to have a fighting chance to realize your writing dreams.

It might sound like I’m advocating a selfish lifestyle. I’m really not. I volunteer a lot in my church, community, and with my grandkids. BUT I am advocating a sane and sensible lifestyle. You have your time and energy limits, determined by many personal factors. Know what your limits are–and find a way to stick within them.

If you have a favorite boundary-setting idea you’d like to share–especially one that works for you–please do leave a comment.

How to Recover Your Writing Energy–All Day Long!

Published on by Kristi Holl

You don’t want to be a sprinter in the writing life. You want to be a marathon writer.

To do so requires “ebb and flow” throughout your day. The tide goes out all day (energy spent writing and doing writing-related activities), but the tide must come back in (energy renewal).

How Much Is Enough?

I don’t mean energy renewal after six months of working on goals until you collapse. I don’t mean energy renewal on Sunday, as a treat for making it through the week. I don’t even mean renewal at the end of your work day. [I have tried all three, and all three will fail you.]

If you truly want to be a marathon writer–one who makes it through the long haul–you must learn something crucial. Just as energy goes out all day long (or however many hours you have to work), it also needs to periodically flow back in.

Be an Effective Energy Manager

A quote from the book The Power of Full Engagement says this:

To be an effective energy manager, you need to spend nearly all of your time fully engaged in the high positive energy quadrant [energy going out writing] or recovering your energy by spending time doing things in the low positive energy quadrant [energy renewal].

Because of time pressures (writing, marketing, families, day jobs) we tend to believe that we just don’t have time for renewal. That’s what I always thought–and the kind of thinking I fight daily.

But the truth is, we don’t have time not to be renewed. In the end, not taking the time will make us sick, either sick in body or sick in spirit or sick of our manuscript! Without renewal, I tend to experience all three.

Let’s define terms first, and at the end I’ll share with you some of my own renewal practices I use throughout the day. (They are short, mostly ten minutes or less.) But it makes the difference between a day that wipes me out and a day that leaves me tired, but also energized.

Producing = High Positive Energy

The high positive energy is expended when you are producing as a writer.

These activities include (but are not limited to) writing, outlining, researching, drafting, revisions, social networking, updating websites, school visits, answering work-related email, speaking, mentoring, blogging, writing-related teaching and critiquing, and studying a book on the writing craft.

Renewal = Low Positive Energy

The low positive energy quadrant consists of doing activities that leave you relaxed, mellow, peaceful, tranquil and serene. For me, that means (among many things) reading a good book or watching a good movie or spending time with certain people with whom I’m on the same sympathetic wavelength.

For you, such positive-energy producing activities may include fishing, golf, sitting in your porch swing, listening to music, going for a bike ride or stroll, or any number of things.

Finding Your Writing Energy Balance

Is renewal periodically throughout the day really that important?

Yes, and here’s why. If you spend all day writing furiously on your novel, zipping along in your high energy positive quadrant, you’ll produce an amazing amount of work. That day, anyway. Maybe even two days in a row, but that will be it.

But unless you spend sufficient short periods throughout your day in intermittent recovery, you’ll burn out and experience a host of other unpleasant symptoms.

By relentlessly spending mental energy without recovery, you’ll be tired, anxious, irritable–and self-doubt will inevitably set in. In a tired state, our stories stink, our ideas sound hackneyed, and our prose deadly dull. At that point, we end up taking off more time from the writing than we would have if we’d made ourselves take those intermittent breaks throughout the writing day.

The Pay-Off

What’s the result of taking those short “low positive energy” recovery breaks throughout the day? You’ll come back to your work more energized, less ache-y in the neck and back, and more emotionally upbeat.

The emotional component is just as important as your physical energy level! Defusing the bombs of self-doubt and anxiety will help your writing as much as feeling re-energized. And in the end, you’ll write more, not less, by taking the short breaks throughout the day.

Examples From My Own List

I suggest you make a renewal list of your own. Mine is long, printed out and also in a file on both of my computers. Remember, this is very individual. My list may sound very lame to you, but your idea of renewal might make me shudder. It is very individual, depending on your personality, your likes and dislikes.

My list has forty items, and I add to it when I find something I enjoy. Here are some items on my “mini-pleasures list” that should help you get started on your own list. Many take just ten minutes; others are longer “end of day” pleasures. [NOTE: at the end are some **spiritual items that renew me that may or may not apply to you.]

Ahhh…Renewal

  • read mystery for ten minutes
  • read in Villages of England book
  • relax with soft music, sit on porch swing, sit in sun
  • journal thoughts and feelings for ten minutes
  • call or email good friend
  • watch sunset
  • lie down for ten minutes and light a cinnamon candle
  • weed flower bed
  • take a short walk on trail by our house
  • listen to book on tape for ten minutes
  • read an uplifting book for writers

**spiritual activities

  • pray–and listen
  • read a devotional book
  • focus on being thankful for the blessings in my life

Try this idea of “ebb and flow” energy for a week and see. I think you’ll be amazed. And if you have a favorite way already of renewing yourself during the day, please leave a comment.

How to Take Charge of Your Writing Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

Welcome! I’m glad to see that you found me at my new “home.”

As promised, starting today I’m giving away a free e-book for frustrated writers.

Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time is short, but it contains solid advice for three of a writer’s biggest problems:

1. following through on our goals
2. organization of our writing space
3. lack of good writing habits

While the e-book is only thirteen pages long, I can guarantee you more success in your writing life if you follow the advice.

After You Download the E-Book…

Please update this new URL address (http://kristiholl.net/writers-blog/) in any location you have the current blog address.

  • your RSS feed (wherever you read blogs…I read mine through my Gmail Reader)
  • your Favorites folder
  • your blog (if you have Writer’s First Aid listed in your links)
  • any other places you may have linked to my blog

Posting Schedule

I still plan to post on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Jan Fields will still give you the “What’s New at Kristi’s” in the Institute newsletter.

Getting Your E-Book

The form to get your e-book is on the right-hand side at the top of the page. After you sign up, it will send a confirmation email to your Inbox.

After you confirm, you’ll be taken to where you’ll get Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time.

NOTE: I’m not starting a newsletter at this time, nor do I send out sales letters. I won’t abuse your email addresses. Very occasionally, when I post a new report in my Resource area, I will let you know that. And, of course, you’ll be free to unsubscribe at any time.

Three Reasons Your Writing Life Isn't Working–and What To Do

Published on by Kristi Holl
What's the problem?

What’s wrong with me? you wonder. Why doesn’t this writing advice work?

A third worrisome thought nibbles at the back of your brain: Maybe I’m not a writer after all. 

Not to worry.

I’ve identified three of the most common reasons why writers don’t get their writing done. And I’ve put together an overall solution for you.

Reason #1: No Overall Strategy

You dream of being a novelist. You’ve taken a writing course. You read writing blogs.

And you write. Daily!

But you’re no closer to writing that novel than you were a year ago. Why?

It’s true that you write every day, using exercises and prompts. And you faithfully journal.

But there’s no overall plan or strategy for writing the novel, no measurable goals and sub-goals.

Reason #2: Forcing Square Pegs into Round Holes

Maybe you diligently follow writing advice found in magazines or tips you hear from published writers.

You set your alarm to write at 5 a.m. but fall asleep on your keyboard because you’re a night owl.

You join a weekly critique group, but their need to socialize irritates you because you came there to work.

You set up your laptop to work in a coffee shop with a writing friend. She gets to work and churns out ten pages! You can’t focus, even with ear plugs in.

The problem? You don’t match writing advice to your personality.

Reason #3: Writing Habits That Don’t Help

You have less than two hours of time alone while your child is in preschool. You use that time to do a low-energy job instead of writing on your novel (a high energy job).

You’re on a roll, half way to making your writing quota for the day. Your sister calls. You could let the answering machine or voice mail get it…but you answer instead. When she asks, “Are you busy?” you say, “Not really.”

You have alerts turned on so when you’re on the computer or near your phone, you hear beeps and buzzes every five minutes. New email! A new text! A new “have to see this” YouTube video!

The problem? Sometimes we develop writing habits that are detrimental to our ability to concentrate and thus to our productivity.

Help is Here for Your Writing Life: Free E-Book

As I said above, I’ve put together an e-book dealing with these very issues.

It’s called “Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time.”

I’ll be giving it away this Friday as a kick-off to some changes that are coming.

See you back here on Friday. And if you know any writers with these issues, please pass the word. I’d love to have them check in here on Friday for their free e-book.

What's Hindering You?

Published on by Kristi Holl

Are you dragging around excess baggage?

 

Is there “stuff” taking up space that you need to dump overboard so you can pick up some speed?

Chasing Dreams

I’ve been struggling with this issue lately, and it reminded me of a period in our country’s history.

Each spring from 1841-1861 Independence, Missouri, was crowded with thousands of emigrants preparing for the 2170-mile trek we now call the Oregon Trail.

Here merchants competed for the opportunity to furnish emigrants with supplies and equipment for their journey west.

A family of four would need over a thousand pounds of food to sustain them on the five-month trip to Oregon.

Loaded Down or Overloaded?

Most emigrants loaded their covered wagons to the brim with food, farm implements, and furniture.

The journey began, but within a few miles most emigrants realized they had overloaded their wagons. Unless their loads were lightened, they would never be able to make the arduous journey across the plains.

Their only choice–if they wanted to go the distance and attain their dream destination–was to start throwing things out.

What’s Hindering You?

Do you identify with these emigrants? Have you overloaded YOUR wagon?

Are there things (activities, hobbies, interests, bad habits) that you need to dump if you’re going to make a successful journey as a writer in 2013?

Remember, those pioneers weren’t throwing out things that didn’t matter. They were giving up precious possessions in order to fulfill their dreams.

What have you given up for your writing? Fulfilling our dreams usually requires sacrifice.

  • What have you “tossed overboard” in order to devote some time to your writing?
  • What was the easiest to let go of?
  • What was hardest?
  • What is still hindering you that needs to go?

Take a moment and share!

Ask About the Numbers

Published on by Kristi Holl

While discussing goals with several writer friends, I found myself becoming depressed. We were analyzing how 2012 had gone. Each person shared their goals for the past year and how they had succeeded or failed.

Until I heard the other reports, I had been happy with most of my year. While I hadn’t yet completed a couple of novels I’d started, I had written a couple of proposals, and one of them got the “nod” from an editor. (Proposals take me a while, with their sample chapters and market plans.) A revision for a book I sold in 2011, which I expected to take about two weeks, took the last three months of 2012 to complete instead.

Check the Numbers

Here’s where the depression part came in. Several friends said something like this: “In 2012 I wrote a six-book series for X Publisher, plus three books in another ongoing series for Publisher Y.”

After hearing that, I didn’t want to share that my completed projects were so meager. And yet, I had put in more writing hours this year than in many years (and I’m not counting the blogging or critique letters for private critiques.) Was I getting slower? Was I burning out? I didn’t feel like it, but I sure wasn’t producing books at the speed these other writers had.

For me—and for many of you—it’s all in the numbers.

Then I remembered something. Several years ago I had what looked like my most productive year. I wrote three books in a series for an educational publisher, then two mysteries for a different educational publisher. A five-book year!

But the whole truth was that the three books were all written in a week and totaled only about 750 words each. The mysteries were early chapter books that were less than 2,000 words each. That’s only about 6,000 words altogether! And it was less than two months’ writing time. Still, I could truthfully say I wrote and sold five books that year.

In Comparison…

In 2012, though, I wrote two proposals. One got nixed fairly early, and one got the go-ahead. I’ve been working on that novel, and each revision has changed it substantially. It will still take months to finish it. And the revision I did this fall and just turned in (for the book sold in 2011) grew into a longer book when I added the additional material my editor wanted. (It’s a much better book now.) But the numbers? The “revision” included major changes to the 36,000 words I had written, plus an additional 21,000 words of original material. This 57,000-word revision took me much longer—and was more challenging—than the five books I wrote several years ago.

Am I knocking educational writing or short books? NO! Not in the slightest. The value of the writing is NOT in the length. I’m just suggesting that you ask about the numbers. Before your writer’s ego shrinks any further when someone talks about their multiple book successes, ask them how long the books were. (While there are a few full-time writers who produce long books several times per year, they are few and far between.)

Part of the Writing Life

And if you like to write long books, get used to this. It will happen throughout your career. I generally sell one or two books per year, depending on length. But except for that one year, I don’t write short material other than this blog.

Writers aren’t telling you they wrote and sold six books last year to put you down or make you feel small. They are telling the truth. (It wasn’t until someone commented to me that I must not have seen my family that whole year that I realized the misperception on their part.)  But if it makes your writer’s self-esteem take a plunge, ask (nicely) how long the books were. Add up the numbers. (Some middle-grade novels are 50,000 words, but many middle-grade series books are 15,000 words or less.) You may realize that despite appearances, you’ve written much more than that last year. So don’t compare apples and oranges.

Better Yet, Don’t Compare At All

We were each given stories and material to write, either fiction or nonfiction. We each have a unique voice and a unique “take” on the world. No one else can write your stories—or my stories. And if the stories you are given to write are longer or take more thought, your “production” quotas will look lower to others. Find a way to be okay with this, or it will plague you throughout your career.

I hope your 2012 was a successful writing year, but be careful how you measure success.

Just curious: how will you measure success in 2013? I’d love to hear your thoughts.