Snow Melt

Improving my writing in 2013

The "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  prompt for January 1st, 2013 is Write about the area of your writing you would most like to improve.

I am not sure where to begin with this prompt because I think I need help in every area of my writing; however, that is too large an area because it does not allow me to focus on specific writing issues. Yesterday afternoon, I watched the Dr. Phil Show on Channel 3 in Las Vegas. His subject concerned achieving your New Year's Resolutions and one of the things he emphasized was making one's goals concrete enough to measure. The idea is to write down concrete goal statements that can be measured. Since I cannot write a concrete goal statement covering the entire scope of my writing, I need to focus on specific areas.

What do I think are my weaknesses? I have on going issues with spelling, grammar and mechanics, rewriting or editing, and (possibly) style and presentation. I can write concrete goal statements for each of those areas, but I think there are too many to focus on in 2013. I can handle any spelling problems by using a spell checker and dictionary. Since I am not sure about the style and presentation issues, I am putting those aside for the present. The areas I want to focus on in 2013 are grammar and mechanics and rewriting and editing.

I have problems with editing and rewriting because I do not want to change anything in a novel once I have ended the story. I put off the rewriting because I am afraid I will ruin the story or mess up the plot. I suspect if I focus my editing on the grammar and mechanics of the novel then I will be able to complete the rewrite in a timely manner. I also have to place a deadline on the editing that way I can complete the novel in a specific time. Now all I have to do is write concrete goal statements for grammar and mechanics and editing and rewriting. I have to think about the goal statements for a little while before I can put them into writing.