Wednesday, December 7, 2016

The Five-Year Writing Plan


December 7 Question: In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?


A five-year plan. Well I don't have a concrete long term plan. Except to keep writing of course.

I have made the commitment to begin book two and would like to have it published no later than the beginning of 2018. I was originally thinking next summer but I'm not sure I can get a quality product out in that time.

Of course I would like to continue earning money for my writing. I am happy that my writing brings in a monthly income, but there's always a desire to increase the amount. 

I suppose in five years I would like to be where I've always wanted to be -- a full time writer earning enough money to not have to work a "real job". 

My two favorite times in the past year were on the surface not very good times; Last summer when I was laid off from my full time job and without another full time job for four months. And then these past couple months when I was home with a broken foot on workers comp. Both of those times off of work saw big bursts of writing and creativity. Just not enough financial reward to permanently stay home and write. But I loved the freedom of spending my days writing, reading and creating. 

I know I've said it before, but when I write (and when I am teaching yoga) I feel like I am living my dharma. 

So, OK, an actual plan:
  • Continue to write
  • Commit to writing more regularly
  • Continually remind myself that I must allow writing to be a priority in my life
  • Be more intentional in seeking out paid writing opportunities
  • Create a timeline, and follow the timeline, to publish book two
  • Be more intentional in finding promotion opportunities for book one
  • Stop the negative self talk of "I'm not a real writer if I also have to work a day job"





This post is a part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a monthly meeting of writers who over think, under write and just want people to like them.

14 comments:

  1. Good luck with your goals. Writing consistently is essential. Re: promotion. The best promo is a 2nd book, a 3rd, 4th, etc. Yes, you do have to let people know you have a book out there, too. Best wishes for finishing that book.

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family.
    December co-host

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love how you focused on all the positives that came out of events that on the surface weren't great. What a great attitude! And kudos to you for making a monthly income from writing. It might not be enough to quite the day job, but it's still a huge accomplishment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've enjoyed some "monthly" income a few times this year. What a crazy feeling that is! Congrats on your finding something steady and I'm sure you'll get it bumped up soon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't really have a concrete long-term plan beyond "Keep Writing" either, but that's a pretty important part of it.

    Best of luck to you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like a good plan to me! That negative self-talk is a creativity killer. We would all do better to get that out of our heads and our lives.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good luck with your plan.
    I have a day job too and it doesn't bother how I see myself as a writer. If anything, having that steady income takes off from the stress of 'how will I pay bills'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The first part of your list sounds very similar to mine! There are paid writing opportunities out there...I'm a full-time freelance writer, so I know that all too well!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a great plan and its actually doable! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great goals, Jennifer. Sometimes those dark clouds definitely have a silver lining. I'm so glad you found yours.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, you're definitely a real writer even if you have a day job! Good luck on all your goals. I also need to be better about creating a timeline to follow. I don't really do that, and I think I'd benefit from it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are a real writer. I understand about wanting to write full-time. I'm currently looking for employment opportunities, so that I can support myself and to afford editing:) If you are interested, Jennifer, I would love to have you over on my blog for a guest post. You can make it about whatever topic you would like.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Whenever I think of making any money from writing, I think of something a good friend said after he published his fist memoir. "I hope to make enough money from this book to be able to write another." Yeah, that's a good goal. Also, thanks for stopping by my IWSG post this month. Best of luck!

    https://ryanscarty.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great post thanks for sharing this great article keep posting such articles :)
    Nova launcher

    ReplyDelete