My own best advice to young writers is: follow your curiosity and passion. What fascinates you will probably fascinate others. But, even if it doesn’t, you will have devoted your life to what you love. An important corollary is that it’s no use trying to write like someone else. Discover what’s uniquely yours. ~Diane Ackerman

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all…

Why do you never find anything written about that idiosyncratic thought you advert to, about your fascination with something no one else understands? Because it is up to you. There is something you find interesting, for a reason hard to explain. It is hard to explain because you have never read it on any page; there you begin. You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment. “The most demanding part of living a lifetime as an artist is the strict discipline of forcing oneself to work steadfastly along the nerve of one’s own most intimate sensitivity.” Anne Truitt, the sculptor, said this… ~The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Have you found your passion? The subject, the theme, the characters, the element in life that you alone love? Are you writing about that?

February is National Time Management month.

For writers, Time Management is a required skill. Most of us have jobs, families, other obligations that require our time and attention, often leaving little time for writing. We have to be disciplined in how we approach our activities, so that we can accomplish our writing goals amidst everything else we have going on.

Here are some resources to help with managing your time:

Time Management for Writers by Seressia Glass

Time Is Not on Your Side: Time Management Tips for Writers by Michael Stelzner

Time Management for Writers by Randy Ingermanson

Time Management for Writers by Terescia Harvey

Time Management for Writers – Controlling Time, Without the Sci-Fi

How do you manage your time so you get your writing done?

I was planning to start a new series for beginning writers today, walking them through the steps to start a novel. But this idea keeps nagging at me and it has finally shoved itself to the front of the blog post line like a rude person cutting in line at the movie theater. Beginning Writer Series grudgingly gives way to Pushy Post Idea to avoid a fistfight at the blog.

January’s the time of year when we make resolutions… and promptly forget about them within a week. I’ve done my part in this grand old tradition for many years, obediently forgetting mine within the designated time period.

This year I’m not setting resolutions in the usual way. Instead, I’m drawing inspiration from two sources – Ali Edwards and Chris Brogan.

One Word

Ali is using a one-word resolution.

Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2009?

It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother’s word or your spouse’s word or your child’s word – this is YOUR word.

One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here’s one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren’t ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities.

She has a HUGE list of words from her blog readers. It might spark some ideas for you.

Three Words

Chris is making a three-word resolution.

…think of how you want to be successful in 2009. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on.

Meaning, don’t think as much “I want to lose 50 pounds and get back into my high school pants.” Try thinking “Fitness means I’ll be able to cover more ground.” From there, you can say “ground” might be your word. And then, when you look at that as a word, you see how it can open you up to even more meanings. “Ground” can remind you to get fit so you can cover more ground. It can mean to be “grounded,” like someone who feels calm and at rest.

Look for three words that will help you frame your challenges and opportunities for 2009.

I find myself falling in between one and three. My two words this year are Persistence and Focus.

Persistence means that I will keep on working on this website (always improving and adding more value for you) and making progress on my internet marketing plans. Persistence means I will make consistent efforts on the housework. Persistence means that I will make regular, measured progress on my science fiction novel until I have a completed, revised final manuscript.

Focus means that I won’t get distracted by all the new and shiny things on the Internet. Focus means that I will evaluate new ideas against my overall goals to see if they fit in or should be discarded. Focus means ignoring the irrelevant drama in the world around me, so that I can give more attention to the things that matter most to me.

I like the idea of having a mantra of one to three words to focus on throughout the year. If you’ve had trouble keeping your resolutions in the past, try choosing one or three words to reflect on in 2009.

And if you’d like to share them in the comments, even better.

January is also National Clean Up Your Computer Month. Starting a new year is a great time to clean out the old and unneeded. Most writers depend on their computer as a vital part of their writing process. To keep yours in tip top shape, follow these steps:

If you have a PC:

1. Organize your documents in your My Documents folder. Delete unneeded documents and create folders to store the ones you need to keep.
2. Delete temporary files.
3. Clear the cache.
4. Delete old email.
5. Clean off your Desktop of outdated shortcuts.
6. Uninstall programs you no longer need or use.
7. Review your Favorites or Bookmarks folder and get rid of any sites you no longer visit.
8. Run Disk Cleanup in System Tools (Start menu, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup)
9. Run a spyware detection program. I use Ad-Aware. It’s free for personal use.
10. Install an anti-virus program if you don’t already have one. I use AVG. They have a free version for personal use.
11. Run Disk Defragmenter (Start menu, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter).

Perform these steps once every three months, at the minimum, to keep your computer running well. (For more information on how to run these steps, read How to Clean Up Your Computer.)

If you have a Mac:

I don’t have a Mac myself, so I’m just going to point you to some resources for cleaning up a Mac.

How to Use Apple Computer Disk Utility to Clean Up your Mac

Clean up a Thumb Drive

Physical Cleaning

As a final step, shut down your computer and get out your vacuum. Using a brush or wand attachment, vacuum out the computer fan on the back of the computer. The fan pulls air in through the front of the computer and across the processor to keep it cool. It pulls in dust as well, a lot of dust if your computer normally sits on the floor. Vacuuming off the back fan will help it run better, so you don’t run the risk of overheating the processor.

While the vacuum is out, run it across your keyboard. If you tend to eat at your computer like I do, the keyboard becomes a crumb catcher. Even just turning the keyboard upside down and shaking it will allow some of the crumbs and dust bunnies to fall out.

If you keep your computer in good condition, it should help you write your bestsellers for many years to come.

Do you have any specific steps you use to keep your computer clean?

January is Get Organized Month, a great month for writers, though we may not appreciate it so much. As a writer, you have to keep yourself organized or you’ll make your writing life a lot harder than it has to be.

Organize Your Research

If you’re writing a book that is heavily dependent on research, you’ll need a way to organize your notes so you can find what you need, when you need it.

Lisa Janice Cohen uses a “wiki” to organize her notes. A wiki is a collection of web pages that can be modified by anyone with access. Wikipedia is one of the best known wikis. You can read her posts on how she uses a wiki . And she put together a PDF with screenshots to give you a better idea of how it works.

Infocollector is another online application for collecting and tagging information.

Jason Penney shares how he uses a mind map to organize his novel notes.

Organize Your Novel

There are a lot of details to track when writing a novel. Creating a Project File might help.

I use yWriter software to organize and write my novels. (Love it!) It’s a free download and here’s a good review of the software.

Organize Your Submissions

Greg Knollenberg shares how to track your submissions.

Sonar is free manuscript tracking software from Spacejock Software.

The Writer’s Technology Companion reviews Sonar as well as Slushomatic and Writer’s Database.

LitMatch is an online submission tracking application.

Organize Your Business

Shirley Jump gives some tips for how to keep the business side of your writing organized.

You can also download 1-4-all Account software to help you keep your books, manage your writing business and more.

Paperback Writer shares thoughts on tracking writing expenses.

What tools do you use to stay organized?

I mentioned Shrinking Violet Promotions the other day. As Christmas approaches, they’re doing a wonderful series on the Twelve Days of Christmas-Introvert Style. They’re up to Day 5 with an inspiring post each day and a giveaway.

If you’re feeling people-challenged this holiday season, visit Shrinking Violet Promotions to pick up some helpful suggestions for surviving the holidays while keeping up with your writing. And throw your name in the hat for the great giveaways!

It’s December again and besides the rush of holiday buying, it’s also time to begin planning for 2009. What do you plan to accomplish in 2009 that will further your writing?

What did you accomplish in 2008?

Start by jotting down some notes on what you did this year.

Write down where you are at in the following areas:

• Inventory – How many stories or novels do you have on hand? What’s the status of each? Working on rough draft? Rough draft done? In revision stage? Polished version completed?
• Submitting – How many stories or novels did you send out last year? What’s the status of each? Heard back from the publisher? Time to send a follow-up note?
• Marketing – Do you have a marketing plan to connect with your readers? Do you have a website or blog? Do you have an email list of interested readers?

What do you want to accomplish in 2009?

Once you know where you are are, take those same notes and decide where you want to be in 2009. What do you need to do, acquire, or learn to get to that point?

Write out your 2009 plan and keep it handy

Write it down and keep it in your purse, post it at your desk, tape it to the bathroom mirror. Keep it in front of you, so you are always thinking about it. Constant attention to your goals will help you achieve them.

Review your plan regularly

I recommend reviewing your plan at least once a month, but once a week is better. Follow the same format and look at Inventory, Submitting, and Marketing. Where are you at right now? Where do you want to be? What do you need to do this week to get there?

Other Resources

What are your writing goals for 2009?

Goal Setting Strategies

8 Steps to Setting (and Achieving) Goals for Writers

What goals have you set for your writing in 2009?

James Chartrand from Men With Pens offers this advice to find your inspiration again in Writing Inspiration: How to Break Through Mental Barriers over at WriteToDone.

1. Simulate a scenario – What’s the worst thing that can happen if you write the piece you’re having trouble with?
2. Validate your feelings – Don’t avoid your fear or uncomfortableness about your writing. Acknowledge the feelings and keep going.
3. Confirm your reality – Don’t trust your perceptions about your writing. Challenge your assumption that it is bad and get an objective opinion.

To these suggestions, I’d add… just sit down to write. Set a timer for five minutes and just write, no matter how bad, confusing or incoherent your words might be. Just write.

If five minutes is too long, then write one sentence and walk away. Come back later in the day and write another. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to be any good. Just write a sentence. You might find that writing one sentence at different times throughout the day moves you past your block.

What other methods do you use to get inspired?

This was my fifth year doing NaNo. I started off very strong… and died in the middle. Died is probably an exaggeration. But here it is the 30th and I have 28,000 words done. So this is about what I learned from this year’s NaNo.

Accountability is Good

I started November with two family members and my writing group all participating in NaNo. The two family members dropped out within a week. My writing group stayed strong and made tremendous progress on their novels. They had daily checkins on their progress through our Yahoo group. Check-ins which I didn’t participate in. If I had… I think I would have made better progress. There’s nothing like your friends harassing you to keep you writing.

Pre-Planning is Important

I didn’t do a lot of pre-planning on my novel. I meant to, but let October get away from me. And I found that I needed all of that detailed planning to keep making progress and to keep my writing spirits up during November. For my first newsletter on Learn to Write Fiction, I covered the writing process that Elizabeth George uses and it sounds perfect for me. I need that character and setting work done ahead of time so I know what I’m going to write when I sit down.

Maintaining Momentum is a Must

I kept up during the first ten days or so. Then I missed a day, then two and before I knew it I was 10,000 words behind where I should be. To succeed in NaNo, I have to write 1667 words every day without fail. If I skip even one, it is even harder to write the next day.

Clear the Decks

In addition to NaNo in November, I had my day job and my work on Learn to Write Fiction which is essentially another job. Two jobs and writing a novel is a tough combination. I’d have been better off to get November’s website work done ahead of time so that I only had the novel to work on.

Recap

So what will happen to my novel? I plan to finish it, just at a slower pace. And after I do the necessary pre-work.

If you participated in NaNo this year, what did you learn?

It’s time for NaNo again! National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo) is a yearly event where writers strive to write 50,000 words in just 30 days. It occurs each November and 2008 is the tenth anniversary for NaNo.

NaNo was started by Chris Baty and a few of his friends. They got the crazy idea that they wanted to each write a book. They needed a way to determine that they had succeeded, so Chris pulled the shortest novel that he could find off his bookshelf and counted the words. It was Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and it was 50,000 words.

The best part about NaNo is being a part of a huge writing effort. You and 25,000 other writers, all around the world, banging out novels in the space of a month. There are regional groups that sponsor “write-ins” for “WriMos” (people participating in NaNo) in local areas. They meet in coffee shops, restaurants, libraries and just write. There’s something exciting about being surrounded by other writers typing madly on laptops, Alphasmarts or writing longhand.

You can sign up to participate in NaNo at their website, www.nanowrimo.org. It’s totally free. I’ll be participating as well. Got a science fiction novel that has been bugging me to get written. You can follow my progress by adding me as a Writing Buddy. My profile is here. Or follow me on Twitter as I’ll be reporting my progress there, as well.

50,000 words in just 30 days may seem impossible. Sure, it’s short for a novel, but a lot of words to kick out in just a month. You’d certainly have to drop every other activity in your life just to have the time to write that many words. Right? Wrong. 50,000 words in 30 days is just 1,667 words a day. You can write 1,667 words each day easily, if you are properly prepared for the challenge.

From now until the first of November, I’ll have some tips for you to help you get prepared and send your word count soaring. Sign up for NaNo today!