What Will You Do in 2011 To Help Your Writing?

December 26, 2010 by John
Filed under: General Writing, Submitting, Writers

Many of us are starting to think about our 2011 New Year’s resolutions. How about applying this to your writing? Here are 13 questions to get you thinking:

Will you attend a writing conference? Which one? Where is it and what do you have to do to get there? Do you have the money or will you have to start saving? Here’s a page on this website about choosing a conference.
Can you learn by taking an online writing course? There are many offered. Here is a link to a page on this website that list some of these courses.
Can you commit to reading X number of new book on writing in your genre? Make X a good number that you can afford and have the time to read. One a month? One every two or three months? You decide.
Are you reading new book in the same genre that you write? This is important to stay in touch with what others are doing. How many will you read?
If you are not in a writing critique group, can you find one – or start one? Critique groups are a great way to improve your writing. Here’s a link to a page on this website about critique groups.
Will you submit a query to an editor? When will you do this? Who can help you edit your query? How will you select whom to send it to?
Will you work on a proposal and submit it to a publisher? What work does it need? Are your first chapters ready? Who can help? To whom will you submit it?
Can you pull something out of your files that needs polishing and turn it into a salable piece? What will this require? Who can help?
What can you do to build up your platform? What would give you credibility as a writer? What would make you more appealing to an editor?
If you are already a successful writer, how can you pay it forward? Who could you mentor?
Could you benefit from subscribing to either The Writer or Writer’s Digest?
Can you find an online writer’s group to join?
Can you educate yourself about the publishing world? This is an exciting time and is evolving into new areas. Ebooks are becoming popular. Print on Demand publishing is offering new opportunities for writers. Unless you keep current, much will pass you by.

The choice is yours. Many writers attend conferences and never taker a step to submitting a query or proposal. Others write yet produce nothing to everysubmit. Depending on your writing goals, that may be fine. However if you want to be published, work is required. Better to set a few New Year’s resolutions that to go into the new year without any writing direction.

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