The new year is upon us. Last month I talked about a review of 2014, but now it's time to look at 2015 and think about the future. With that being said, January is the first month of a new year - let's get it started off on the right foot.
Start your new year off by looking at your creative space. Are there things that are cluttering your work area and distracting you from getting the words down? Now is the time to clean up your space.
1. Make sure that unnecessary clutter is removed.
2. Create places for those things that keep you moving forward - books, calendars, motivational items, etc.
3. Organize your workspace so it's easy to grab pens, pencils, notepads, clips, etc.
4. Review your space with a critical eye - are there things that would make your space more comfortable, easier for you to concentrate or improve the ergonomics?
Now that you are comfortable, it's time to do a review.
1. Update your author's bio and photograph - bios should be updated at least yearly. Photos every 3-5 years.
2. Review your website, social media sites and blogs. Are they in need of an update? A fresh look?
3. Don't forget to review your on-line bios in places such as Goodreads, Smashwords or Amazon.com.
4. Is it time to order business cards?
Finally, let's think about what we want to accomplish in 2015.
1. Set long term goals - ones that may take more than a few months.
2. Set some short term goals too - monthly or even weekly goals are great!
3. Look at how you can improve personally: are there classes you would like to take, a writer's retreat you would like to do, a writer's conference you'd like to attend, or some other way you could grow as a writer?
2015 is the time to take your writing to the next level - start now and get on track.
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D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, House of Glass, Book 2 of The Exodus Series was written with coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.
D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole, and Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.
She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com
You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook.
5 comments:
Thanks for the great tips, Jean! I've had a great chance to update my office due to a recent move. Now it's time to get back to work. Your tips on updating bios on social media sites is a big help.
Jean, I agree with Linda, these are great tips to start the new year and beyond. If you don't monitor what you're doing, you won't know what's working and what's not.
Great tips Jean. Since my writing space is under construction I am focusing my review on looking ahead.
Thanks for the great suggestions, Jean. I never think to update my bios on social media until I stumble across them and realise they are out of date! Good plan to do it once a year!
Oh yes, I need to do some of these! Thanks for the reminders.
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