The Writer: The Plan for Sucess

Okay, I am so overdue with The Writer – the Introduction. But I am happily late. To write this post I thought A LOT about what my career is, where I want my career to go, and how I can go about getting these career goals accomplished.

To be a bit more frank, I wasn’t altogether sure about the kinds of questions that make my career a lot more concrete. But, now I know at least 2 things

1. That my writing career is growing way beyond book genres and novels
2. That I still want to write –

This post was supposed to be all about re-introducing myself as the writer behind the blog, but I totally jumped down the rabbit hole of figuring out my career instead.

At the start of 2023, I sort of renovated my whole blog’s design and content. At first, the whole blog was about my writing career and my journey to “making it”. It still kind of is. But that is not the MAIN topic anymore. 

The fun part about writing on this blog is wanting to be a writer, loving to write, and then sharing what I’ve learned and written with whoever would read it. And it’s always so interesting to go through my blog analytics and see that someone else from a place I’ve never been read my article or my published story.

I started this blog as an emergency – start my writing career – sort of thing. And today I’m to redefining what my career is and how I am working towards my goals.

Then, I didn’t know how much my career was evolving beyond being centered around my story. But now sharing what I’m learning is becoming one of my biggest motivators. And for this blog specifically sharing what I’m learning on my journey to becoming a published writer.

This blog has really given me the time and space to explore writing and independently endeavor my interests.

And as this form of entrepreneurship exposed my productivity weaknesses and tested my patience, I still couldn’t get over the sharing part.

And that’s why I changed the blog for 2023. Writing on this blog turned into so much more than my journey, where I’m going, what I’m doing, and just me (this is not some sort of influencer blog ). But I wanted it to be more about things I’m discovering along my journey. 

And let me just say that I have lots of journeys. 

I’m not a linear learner or worker at all: I kind of just explore many different disciplines, arts, and just anything – on rotation. And I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but it’s fun and I often end up with a lot of newfound information and talents. 

Writing is one of the more prominent things that I’m pursuing, but realizing my want to document or share these discoveries really gave me a new outlook on my career and where I want to go with this blog years from now.

Okay, now lean a little bit closer to your screen, I want to share some of my broader career ideas. 

I kinda sort of always thought that having a blog/publication was one of the coolest things ever. 

Yet when I started I really just focused on being a writer and wanting to publish a great novel ( As I’ve said many times, I know ). Somewhere along the way, owning a publication has really grown on me. And even more so, sharing my discoveries through blogging.

So I think I want to keep blogging. But about more than my literary discoveries and about some of the other things that I find myself exploring, learning, and doing. 

( Though not all in one blog, that would be really bit chaotic for me to start right now )

And so it seems that my “grand career” may end up a little bit bigger than expected.

And back to creative my writing career – 

In old articles, I wrote about finally taking writing seriously but it seems that there are still levels of seriousness I haven’t reached yet, because I’m even more serious now ( lol ).

Then, being serious about writing meant considering writing to be something I could professionally pursue. So I did. 

Now, taking writing seriously means creating finer writing goals and drawing up an actionable plan to achieve these goals. 

I’ve shared my writing goals already and they are still the same, mostly.

Some writing goals 

• Hone into my ( unique ) writing style 
• Publish some works in journals and magazines
• Be a good writer, and get better
• Publish a novel

And now the plan…

Based on the writing goals I’ve drawn up a little road map for me to follow so that can have something to move towards and track my progress.

For the first phase, my job over arching job is to write as much as I can, whenever I can. My mini-tasks are to

• Improve my writing
• Build a sort of portfolio of work
• Start exploring ideas for my debut novel
• Build/maintain writing discipline and stamina
• Develop productive routines and writing habits
• Learn how to be a better writer
• Experiment with different writing styles, methods, and tools

After completing 1 story or a few ( depending on their lengths) I want to gain experience in the field. You know, throw my work into the writing world and see who my audience is, how the feedback goes, how my work is perceived, how the publishing process goes, and so on.

I want to do this by

• Submitting work to literary magazines and journals
• Entering writing contests

Using everything I’ve learned from trying my work in the writing world, I want to step back into the ‘writing room’ (halfway) to focus on getting that debut novel done: Pushing my focus into a “Phase 1” sort of mode

As the novel nears completion, I want to dive into publishing…

• Learning all that I can
• Exploring agents and publishers I want to work with
• Exploring traditional publishing ( if that’s what I still want to do )

By this phase, I want to have grown as a writer and publish my debut novel

I have no idea how long these phases will last or when they will end, but these are the phases I want to go through to begin accomplishing my writing goals.

Goals like improving my writing will probably last forever. But other goals like publishing a novel or some stories in a literary magazine can be accomplished through these phases.

One published work or many doesn’t define the end of my writing career. But my first published novel will definitely take me into a new era in my career.

And so with this long overdue start of “The Writer” the third grand section of this blog, I’m starting with a refined outlook and plan for my writing career.

I just revamped my simple story planner. If you like to plot your stories a lot or a little, I think you’ll like it! And it’s free…

Download the Free Simple Story Planner