Getting organized involves more than collecting your tools and managing your time. All of that effort is wasted if you don’t have clear intentions for your work. Ask yourself these questions as you plan your writing career
What are your goals for your writing? Organizations and individuals spend a lot of time developing goals and objectives to make their work more effective. A writer should have the same concern. If you don’t know what your goal is, you have no way to measure success.
Do you want to publish a book? The steps to publication for a published writer will be different from those of an unpublished writer. As you set your goals, be sure they are realistic. Miracles do happen, but it usually takes years, even decades, to see that first book in print. Attend conferences and learn what it takes to reach your goal. Then, set your sub-goals with your time constraints in mind.
For the Christian writer—do the goals you’ve set coincide with what God wants for your writing? The best resource on this topic is a book that is out of print. Published in 1983 and 1988, Mark Porter’s The Time of Your Life: How to Accomplish All That God Wants You to Do is not specifically for writers, but I highly recommend it. Porter outlines a time management method for Christians that includes several chapters on goal-setting. See my review of this book here.
Why do you write? Every writer needs to know the answer to this question. Sandra P. Aldrich, a Christian writer was featured speaker at Kentucky Christian Writers Conference 2006, said, “I write because I have to.” She doesn’t write to make a living or to become famous. She writes because it’s part of who she is. Some writers who “write because they have to” are not concerned with publication. They might use their writing to encourage and teach others or to enhance a speaking ministry.
Check out this article, “Do You Know Why You Write?” Then take a look at the first chapter of Marlene Bagnull’s Write His Answer here.
And for whom? Writers want their work to be read by someone. Who are your prospective readers? For example, do you want to write for children, ages 6-10? Senior adults? Teens? The “market” you choose will determine the subject matter, language, and style of your writing. Publishing industry experts say this is possibly the Number One deficiency in the work of writers seeking publication. These writers have no idea that they are supposed to tailor their work for specific publications.
See this article on Daily Writing Tips site. Also, Jim Watkins has a masterful piece entitled “The Ministry of Writing” on his site here.
This is the third installment in a series of five posts on the topic, Get Organized. The material will be part of my workshop, Get Organized and Sell Your Work, at Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, June 11-12.
Links to previous posts in the Get Organized series:
- W – Your Writing Place
- R - Your Records