Dear Me

Dear Me,

This is my year. I am in charge and in control of this one. Why this year? Because dear Me, 2009 is MINE; you’ll see!

I’ve got big plans for 2009. I will be filling my portfolio with creative pieces I will be proud to call my own. I am going to finish— and I mean finish— my very first novel. By the year's end, I will start submitting my best work to publishers. And, I’m going to accomplish these goals and more with a plan I designed called, M.I.N.E.

M is for Motivate My Muse
I is to Inspire for Inspiration
N is for Novel Write Now
E is to End 2009 Empowered!

Motivate My Muse

In order to move forward, it is important for me to take a good look at where I’ve been. I look back on 2008 with pride, knowing that I raised the bar when I joined Writing.Com; I took the step to create a portfolio and display my work publicly. This step has provided me with a learning stage that brought my writing to a new level. I am a more skilled and more serious-minded writer. However, with much opportunity at my fingertips, something happened to me mid 2008 and I stopped writing.

After much self-evaluation, I realize that it was all about success and failure last year. I wanted to succeed, but I was afraid. I was afraid to fail. So frightened, my muse suffered, and I couldn’t write at all.

This year, I have a new philosophy: in order to succeed, I will fail. In fact, I’ll fail a lot. Picasso didn’t paint a masterpiece every time — well, perhaps he was a bad example. But, I do know that I won’t write the Great American Novel every time I sit down at the computer. But that’s okay with me! It’s okay because it really doesn’t matter if I don’t get the gold when my contest entry doesn’t win. It doesn’t matter if I don’t receive a ribbon or a cool merit badge. What matters is the magic that happens during that wonderful writing process and the product— the story or poem that I created. That’s the real gold. And if I get a bad review or low rating, who cares? What can I learn from that reader’s feedback? That's what matters. If the first draft stinks, so what? Revise it! Editing is the beauty of my craft. So, if I’m writing, I’m winning— every time. This year, I welcome “failure” because I know now that it cannot touch me. It can’t be failure if I’m learning from it. It can’t be failure if all I end up with is a new item in my port. It can’t be failure if I’m trying. No my dear, it’s not failure; it is success!

Now that I’ve taken the pressure off myself, I’m left with the perfect conditions to free my muse. I simply need to get motivated and just write. How can I motivate my muse? If I am challenged, I become determined, and my muse will come alive when I am inspired by a good writing prompt. On this premise, my plan calls for me to …

Enter at least two contests on Writing.Com each month!

They can be either poetry or short story challenges, one of each or two of the same, but there must be 2 entries a month. If I want to, I can always write more and enter more contests, but this minimal goal will motivate me and guarantee 24 new items in my portfolio by the end of the year!

On the 15th of each month, I will choose 2 of my favorite contests and begin writing the entries. I’ve set up "Motivate My Muse"  in my portfolio which will help me to reach this goal. I’ve listed the links to my favorite contests and created a monthly chart to keep track of which contests I’m working on and to document my progress. Write On!

Another way I will motivate my muse is by journaling. My plan calls for me to …

Journal at least once a week in "A Separate View" !

Since my blog is currently empty, I will get motivated and begin my blogging journey by signing up for "Invalid Item" .


Inspire for Inspiration

Okay, I admit it: this one’s a little bit self-serving. But I did say that this was the MINE plan, right?! It’s true, when I help to inspire other writers to write on, I feel inspired! When I read fantastic stories or poems written by other authors on Writing.Com, I am inspired to write. It’s a good thing to give quality, encouraging reviews to these items and communicate with other writers who share my passion for writing. And, it’s a great thing when they return the favor by reading and reviewing my work. I need that kind of feedback— the kind of feedback from readers who share my love of the English language, the kind of feedback from readers who know how to write. I learn from them. Not only is reviewing a benefit to the author who receives the review, but it is also beneficial to the reviewer. Reviewing is all good. My goal for 2009 is to triple my reviewing efforts of last year and …

Reach 1000 reviews by December 31, 2009!

How can I reach this goal? So far, I’ve reviewed a little over 300 items, which means I will have to review roughly 700 items this year. I’ve chosen 728, a nice even number to work with. That is about 60 reviews a month, 14 reviews a week, and only 2 reviews a day. Piece of cake! I think I’ll join "SIMPLY POSITIVE GROUP"  to help me reach my goal!

For quick clicking, here are two review forums I already have made obligations to:

"Angel Review Forum" 
"Random Thoughts and Cares" 

One of the best ways to inspire other writers to write is to offer them a writing challenge. This will give authors incentives and inspiration to write and will help support Writing.Com. But between you and I, it will also help me reach my reviewing goal and bring potential readers/reviewers to view my portfolio. Therefore, another objective my plan calls for is to …

Host my first writing contest!

I’ve already gotten the ball rolling and set up a "Contest Folder"  to house my contest items!


Novel Write Now!

That novel which sits unfinished in my word processor has waited for my attention long enough; hasn't it? NOW is the time to write that novel. Finish it— THIS year!

I work best on a deadline. Therefore, my ultimate goal is to …

Write my first 50,000 word novel by October 31, 2009!

This means, from now through October, I will write 5,000 words every month dedicated to completing the novel. I have created a new book item in my portfolio especially for this project:

Novel Write Now  (E) My first novel, a new work in progress and my 2009 goala #1523135 by Noelle

Since I also have two contest entries to write each month, I have decided my novel writing will be most successful if I dedicate the first two weeks of each month to just working on the novel. That way, I can concentrate on my short stories and poems the last two weeks of the month. I will use the monthly contest deadlines to my advantage, since I know I become more determined to finish a piece when the deadline is drawing near. The first two weeks are a more relaxed time in which I can focus on just novel writing. Also, putting it down for a couple weeks may provide a necessary break from the novel; it seems to help renew my muse when I put a piece of writing away for some time and then return to it later with ‘fresh eyes’.

Since I have “real life” work and family responsibilities, I set up a block of time EVERYDAY to my writing. My most productive writing time is either very early in the morning or late at night. This craft that I adore is worth at least an hour of my time everyday. But, for the purposes of my 2009 is M.I.N.E. plan, the most important gauge will be the number of words I actually write. My plan calls for me to …

Write AT LEAST 2009 words per week!

This works out as follows:

2009 words per week
8730 approximately per month
107,760 words this year
287 words a day!

287 words a day! That’s easy enough, very doable.


End 2009 Empowered!

By the end of 2009, I will have much to celebrate. I will have a year of solid writing effort to be proud of and a number of quality works to add to my writing collections, including a novel. The final stage of the 2009 is M.I.N.E. plan calls for me to…

Begin composing query letters and submitting to agents and publishers!

My goal is to start writing my first query letter November 1, 2009 and begin submitting my work to publishers for consideration by December 1. This is a brand new adventure for me, so here are a few links I found that I will refer to along the way:

"Invalid Item"   by A Guest Visitor
"How to Write a Query Letter"   by Writing.Com Support

For me, this year is all about empowerment. Through determination, motivation, and organization, I will find myself empowered to write on, into the future!



Yours Truly,

~ Noelle