Latest / Show, don't Tell Writing with Suzy Vadori / 27. Goal Setting for Writers

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27. Goal Setting for Writers · Show, don't Tell Writing with Suzy Vadori

• 0:07
  Welcome to Show Don't Tell Writing with me, Suzy Vadori, where I teach you the tried and true secrets to writing fiction, nonfiction, that are going to wow your readers broken down step by step.
• 0:18
  We're going to explore writing techniques.
• 0:21
  I'm going to show you a glimpse behind the scenes of successful writers careers that you wouldn't have access to otherwise.
• 0:27
  And I'm also going to coach writers live on their pages so that you can learn and transform your own storytelling.
• 0:33
  Whether you're just starting out, you're drafting your first book, you're editing, or you're currently rewriting that book, or maybe even your tenth book, this show's gonna help you unlock the writing skills that you didn't even know you needed.
• 0:45
  But, you definitely do.
• 0:48
  I'm so excited.
• 0:48
  I'm so looking forward to helping you get your amazing ideas from your mind onto your pages in an exciting way for both you and your readers, so that you can achieve your wildest writing dreams.
• 1:00
  And you're going to also have some fun doing it.
• 1:02
  Let's dive in.
• 1:05
  If you are looking to crush your writing goals this year, you have come to the right place.
• 1:09
  Even if you have set goals for your writing before and not achieve that, we're going to unpack it all.
• 1:16
  I work with thousands of writers every single year.
• 1:18
  And one of the first things I ask them is what their writing goals are, because it can tell me a lot about how they see their writing and whether or not they're going to be successful.
• 1:27
  Yes, that's right, it might seem weird, I get it, but my background is in operations and running companies, and I worked in manufacturing and tech, the opposite pretty much, but the job that I did before I got to quit it to do all things writing.
• 1:43
  And without goals, a company is rudderless, and so is your writing career.
• 1:49
  Yes, writing is creative, and I can just hear the pushback I'm going to get already in the comments for this episode.
• 1:55
  Rudder.
• 1:55
  That writing is creative, and whatever happens, happens, and we shouldn't be hemmed in.
• 2:01
  I can get behind that statement for those who write for fun, and if you truly don't care if anyone ever reads what you write.
• 2:08
  If this is you, I'm behind you 100%.
• 2:11
  But the truth is If you're honest with yourself, my guess is that you secretly hope that someone, somewhere, or a whole lot of someones everywhere, is going to find your writing, and love it.
• 2:24
  And they're going to share it with their friends.
• 2:26
  This is how great writing gets discovered, and lives change.
• 2:32
  If this is more the way you feel, that sort of secret hope that it will be discovered, even if you tell people that you don't care, then suspend your disbelief for the duration of this podcast and see if you can map a path to get you to your goals.
• 2:45
  We're going to explore how to figure out where you want to end up and set some realistic timelines to avoid getting overwhelmed.
• 2:52
  And of course, I'm going to make it fun for you to dream along the way.
• 2:55
  You might want to have a pen and paper handy to capture all the creative ideas you're going to generate.
• 3:00
  I can't wait to hear what you come up with.
• 3:03
  Put it in the comments because we are waiting to hear now I don't ever ask a writer their goals to put them on the spot to be clear I'm not trying to catch anyone out and I will never like oh that goal is completely unattainable Nothing actually scares me that I hear from writers because I think it's all possible.
• 3:23
  I'm not gonna tell you Oh, don't think so big think small because writing is hard.
• 3:28
  I hear this advice a lot, right?
• 3:31
  You'll never hear me say, Not many people get published, so temper your expectations.
• 3:36
  And I definitely won't tell you, Oh, it's one in a thousand, so the odds are against you, so good luck.
• 3:42
  I don't feel that way, and that hasn't been my experience at all with the thousands of writers that I've worked with.
• 3:48
  In fact, Those who do the work get there.
• 3:52
  It is not a crapshoot.
• 3:53
  It is not subjective.
• 3:55
  Those who put the work into their writing and do the steps to create the writing career that they're excited about, they succeed.
• 4:03
  A writer answering this question, what are your goals, is very telling to me.
• 4:08
  Why?
• 4:09
  Because setting goals can be super scary and most writers don't aim high enough because they have doubts.
• 4:15
  Guess what?
• 4:16
  If you aim low, you're never gonna fly.
• 4:20
  Having goals about where and when to publish and what you want the outcome to be automatically creates a list of steps that you can take to get there.
• 4:29
  And we're going to go through those later in the episode.
• 4:31
  Because maybe you want to share your story to help others who've gone through a similar trauma.
• 4:37
  Maybe you want to tour with your books, visiting comic cons and immersing yourself with your science fiction and fantasy heroes.
• 4:43
  Maybe you want to start a conversation with the world about what it's like to be human.
• 4:48
  Maybe you hope to inspire young minds to think beyond what they learn in school.
• 4:54
  Whatever your goals, they're important.
• 4:57
  Pay attention to them, pay attention to what it is that you want, and then all the steps will fall in place.
• 5:04
  Some of the writers I've worked with have signed big publishing contracts, it's true, and some have found a new path through their writing, getting paid to speak about their passion.
• 5:14
  Everybody's goal is different, and your goals and your reasons for writing a book are going to be different than mine, and that's amazing, because that's what's going to make your book special, and make it stand out in the world.
• 5:27
  My job as a book coach is to listen to your writing dreams.
• 5:31
  Not to try to make you achieve my dreams, right?
• 5:34
  And help you craft a path to get there, spelling out step by step how you can fly, keeping in mind all the things that are happening in your life, right?
• 5:43
  But this is not the only thing in your life.
• 5:45
  If it is, then that's not the norm.
• 5:48
  Most people have lots of competing priorities.
• 5:50
  And guess what?
• 5:52
  Writers who set goals finish their books.
• 5:56
  And writers who don't?
• 5:57
  Rarely do, this is my experience.
• 6:00
  In this episode, I'm going to address some reasons why you may not have hit your goals in the past.
• 6:06
  I'm also going to talk about common problems that writers face, and I think you're going to learn a thing or two here.
• 6:12
  And then I'm going to walk you through a goal setting exercise that's going to help you reach your dreams.
• 6:17
  But before we dive into all of that, I want to address some myths that you probably believe, or that you've heard at least.
• 6:24
  I want to talk about these myths in writing.
• 6:27
  Most writers think that everyone writes faster than they do.
• 6:31
  Myth.
• 6:33
  The other myth that most writers buy into is that you should be able to write all by yourself.
• 6:39
  And that isn't true.
• 6:40
  Right?
• 6:40
  And we're going to go through why that's, why that's the case.
• 6:43
  So whatever goals you set yourself.
• 6:45
  Give yourself grace, know that even if you have to readjust your timeline along the way because life happens, you're going to be further along than if you hadn't set that goal at all.
• 6:55
  In fact, writing a book usually takes longer than you think it will.
• 6:59
  I hate telling people this because I feel like if you knew how long it actually takes to write a book, especially your first one, many people wouldn't start.
• 7:07
  So maybe it's good to be in the dark at first, but setting a goal like finish my book this year?
• 7:14
  This isn't super helpful, much like if I was to say, Oh, I want to lose 10 pounds this year.
• 7:20
  It's not a very useful goal, but if I was to break this down into smaller steps, like if I said I was going to go to the gym three times a week and I was going to eat salad every weekday.
• 7:30
  Those are things I can control while doing those things result in me losing 10 pounds.
• 7:35
  I don't know, but eventually likely, but at least I'm doing things that I can actually commit to.
• 7:40
  We're going to talk about that.
• 7:42
  Finish my book as a goal is kind of the same.
• 7:46
  If you don't get down into pieces that you can control, your chances of success are pretty small.
• 7:53
  So if you've set goals before and failed, right, I want you to think for a moment, think of a goal that you've set for your writing before and failed, because there's a few likely reasons why it failed.
• 8:06
  For the goal that you've set, let's say it was finish your book last year, and you didn't meet it.
• 8:12
  I want you to think really long and hard.
• 8:14
  Did your goal have one of these problems?
• 8:17
  Number one, was the goal something you really wanted?
• 8:20
  Like, was it the right book?
• 8:22
  And did you need to have it done that year?
• 8:24
  Because if it's not something that you're super jazzed about, or it's not something that you really, really wanted to do, it's never going to happen.
• 8:32
  You're going to self sabotage yourself, right?
• 8:35
  Number two, the number two problem that goals often have and in not meeting them, especially creative goals.
• 8:42
  I want you to think about, do you actually need to restore your creative energy?
• 8:47
  Were you giving yourself enough of an oomph?
• 8:50
  Were you making sure that you were looking after yourself, it's self care, it's rest, it's thinking time, all of those things.
• 8:57
  Writing a book is so much more than just sitting down and typing, right?
• 9:01
  We're sitting down and, and writing it out by hand.
• 9:04
  There is so much more to that and if you are low on creative energy, you are never gonna get there.
• 9:10
  So make sure you're taking locks, you're taking headspace, you're taking time.
• 9:15
  The times when I don't do this, I can't write.
• 9:19
  Number three, did you stop and did you not reach your goal because of fear?
• 9:25
  Now, the thing that we think of the most is like the fear of failure, right?
• 9:30
  What if people don't like my book?
• 9:33
  That might be what you're thinking.
• 9:35
  But also think about this, are you afraid of succeeding?
• 9:39
  What if you finish this book and it's amazing?
• 9:42
  People write to me all the time and ask, what if I'm immensely successful?
• 9:46
  How do I protect my privacy?
• 9:48
  How do I protect my family?
• 9:50
  Right?
• 9:50
  There might be things that you're worried about being successful.
• 9:53
  So confront those head on and be aware that you're feeling that way and it's not for everybody to be famous.
• 10:01
  Definitely not.
• 10:02
  But are you afraid of succeeding?
• 10:04
  Are you afraid of failing?
• 10:05
  Are you afraid of succeeding?
• 10:06
  Either one of those two and having a fear surrounding that goal.
• 10:11
  Friends stop you from achieving it.
• 10:14
  Number four, problems that your goal might have.
• 10:17
  Did you give yourself enough skills?
• 10:21
  Right?
• 10:21
  Do you have enough skills that your confidence in your writing defeats your doubt weasels?
• 10:27
  This is one of the most important ones because oftentimes, remember I talked about that myth that we think that we should be able to do it by ourselves.
• 10:36
  There's this sort of misperception out there that people are either born being able to write or they're not talented enough to write, and that just isn't the case.
• 10:46
  You can learn to write, but you have to give yourself the skills.
• 10:50
  So if you had a goal of to finish your book, And you didn't meet it.
• 10:55
  Did you give yourself the skills?
• 10:56
  Did you invest the time, the money, the energy, all of the things or any combination of those, right?
• 11:03
  If you're going to invest less money, then you're going to take more time and energy.
• 11:07
  If you're going to invest more money, then you can take less time and energy, those types of things, because you can skip the learning curve.
• 11:13
  Did you give yourself enough skills that your confidence could defeat your doubt weasels?
• 11:19
  You've got to have more confidence than doubt to be able to reach this goal.
• 11:24
  If your goal of finish your book had any of those four problems, or maybe a combination or all of them, you weren't going to finish your book.
• 11:32
  So we're going to talk about How to overcome some of those things.
• 11:37
  We're going to talk about some of the most common problems that writers face.
• 11:41
  And then we're going to dive in and set some goals.
• 11:46
  Here are the three main writer challenges that writers I meet every day talk about.
• 11:52
  The first one is Feeling overwhelmed, or what the heck is overwhelmed.
• 11:57
  The second one is writer's block.
• 11:59
  And the third one is what's called imposter syndrome.
• 12:02
  And I'm going to dive into each of these and you can see if any of them relate to what you're feeling.
• 12:07
  That first one, overwhelmed.
• 12:09
  First, what I want to say is This is a real thing.
• 12:13
  This is a scientific thing that your brain does.
• 12:16
  It happens, overwhelm happens, we use it to describe lots of different things, but the actual brain function that creates this overwhelm is when you don't know the next steps, or you haven't decided something, right?
• 12:29
  So you either don't have enough information, Or you didn't make a decision, and so you're walking along a path, and you come to a fork in the road, and you don't decide, you don't choose, you don't choose if you're going left or you're going right.
• 12:43
  Your brain actually doesn't know what to do.
• 12:46
  And so instead of doing both, which it can't, it can't go left and right at the same time, your brain will shut down.
• 12:53
  And this is an actual real thing that happens in brains.
• 12:57
  I love brain science.
• 12:58
  And so you just stop and you get stuck, right?
• 13:02
  And this happens to writers and then they don't know why they've been overwhelmed.
• 13:05
  And so there's a bunch of ways that this shows up and it might not show up the way that you think, and then we'll talk about how to overcome it.
• 13:13
  When you're overwhelmed, it might look like one of these things.
• 13:16
  You might get stuck partway through your writing.
• 13:19
  Like you've written, you know, 50 percent of the book and you're done, right?
• 13:23
  I talk to writers all the time about this.
• 13:25
  So you might be stuck.
• 13:27
  You might have written lots of scenes, but you don't have any organization for them.
• 13:32
  Like they're not really written in order.
• 13:33
  You don't really know what's missing.
• 13:35
  That happens too.
• 13:36
  It's going to end up in overwhelm.
• 13:39
  You might have written a book that's way too long.
• 13:41
  We'll talk about that in a minute.
• 13:43
  You might have written a book that's way too short.
• 13:46
  Or you might have no idea if your writing is quote unquote good enough.
• 13:51
  Now, when I talk about whether or not your writing is good enough, I'm not trying to shame anybody.
• 13:56
  I can hear it right now, people are saying, you know, lots of times writers push back and say, my writing is perfect, I love it, it's exactly good enough for me, and what are you talking about?
• 14:07
  This is language that I hear from writers all the time.
• 14:10
  Can you tell me if my writing is good enough, right?
• 14:12
  And of course there are some standards and there are some ways and everything that I teach really tries to help you predict how a reader is going to react to your writing, which is really helpful because it means you can sort of have a preview of how they're going to react and whether or not they're going to enjoy your writing.
• 14:31
  So good enough absolutely is subjective.
• 14:35
  in terms of what your goals are.
• 14:36
  If your goal is to get readers to like your book, it's not that subjective.
• 14:40
  So if you're stuck partway through the writing, it's likely that you haven't given yourself enough skills, right?
• 14:47
  You don't know what it is that you're going to do next, and you haven't made enough decisions, or you don't know how to finish it because you haven't got enough skills.
• 14:56
  If you've got lots of scenes but no organization, same thing, you haven't taken the time, right?
• 15:01
  You haven't looked at it and you haven't taken a step back.
• 15:04
  It's not about just continuing to write.
• 15:06
  You need to spend some thinking time, planning time, to organize those scenes and give yourself credit for doing that.
• 15:13
  When you've got a book that's too long, sometimes we have no idea what to do with that.
• 15:17
  You'd be surprised at how many writers come to me and say, With a book that's 175, 000 words, and specifically 175, 000 words, they could be longer or not quite as long, but still too long.
• 15:30
  I can tell you that that is too long for a book in so many ways.
• 15:34
  There are books out there, yes, you can compare yourself to sort of that breakout book, but in general, for most, for every genre out there, there isn't a genre where the typical book is 175, 000 words.
• 15:46
  You're not doing yourself any favours by creating a book that is too long because everything in publishing will be more expensive.
• 15:54
  It will cost you more to edit, it will cost you more for layout, it will cost you more to record your audiobook when it's successful, right?
• 16:02
  Everything, all the way, it will cost you more paper to physically print the book.
• 16:06
  And so it's really hard because you can't charge, you know, a hundred dollars for your book.
• 16:12
  So you've got to be careful there.
• 16:13
  But also it's going to blow your reader's expectations in most genres, right?
• 16:19
  They are not expecting a book that long.
• 16:21
  So you need to come up with a way, like it can be overwhelming.
• 16:25
  You need to come up with a way to shorten your book, and that's where you need to learn some skills.
• 16:29
  If a book is too short, and you just got there too fast, and you haven't done enough outlining or planning to know what else you could add to get there, that can be overwhelming as well.
• 16:40
  Anytime that you sort of haven't made a decision, or you don't have, you know, not knowing the next steps, or you don't have the skills, you're gonna feel this.
• 16:51
  It's a real thing, and your brain will just stop.
• 16:54
  It won't write.
• 16:55
  It's tough, right?
• 16:57
  How do you crush overwhelm?
• 16:59
  Well, leaning into learning.
• 17:01
  Leaning into learning is how you crush, overwhelm, and giving yourself time and space and credit, or doing those thinking and those learning pieces to making those decision points.
• 17:12
  Spending some time making a decision.
• 17:14
  I mean, you can always back away from the decision or change it.
• 17:17
  If you go down the right hand path and you get meandering down there and it's not what you thought it was going to be, you can always turn around and go back and go left.
• 17:26
  But if you spend a year standing at the crossroads and not deciding, you're not going to finish your book.
• 17:33
  So pick something, anything.
• 17:34
  Something is better than picking nothing.
• 17:38
  So crushing your overwhelm, you need to break these things down.
• 17:42
  So if it's finish your book, that's going to be overwhelming because you may not know what all those steps are.
• 17:47
  Again, lean into learning, give yourself the skills, give yourself the time and the space and the thinking time.
• 17:53
  You need to be breaking it down one step at a time.
• 17:56
  Everything to finish your book needs to get done.
• 18:00
  Ask yourself, what is the next right thing to do?
• 18:03
  And that's how you're going to get through that overwhelm.
• 18:05
  That's how you're going to get through it, which is related to writer's block.
• 18:09
  Writer's block is just really a catch all phrase for not getting your writing done.
• 18:16
  And Hollywood's version of this, I mean, people will talk about whether or not writer's block is all in your head, is it real?
• 18:23
  Hollywood's version of this is, you know, you see this famous writer and they haven't written a book in years and then they get this idea or they force themselves and they go into the woods and they write a book on a weekend and then they come back and they become famous, they sell the book for millions of dollars and then they live the rest of their life on a yacht.
• 18:45
  That does not happen.
• 18:47
  I just want to tell you that is Hollywood's version.
• 18:49
  It does not happen any more than lots of fantastical things that we see in movies don't happen.
• 18:56
  It glamorizes this writer's block like it's a switch that comes on or off.
• 19:01
  Sometimes writer's block can be caused by overwhelm, but there are lots of different ways that writer's block can show up.
• 19:09
  Overwhelm is one of them.
• 19:10
  And usually it's because you haven't made enough decisions or you haven't made choices.
• 19:15
  But you can diagnose your writer's block.
• 19:17
  There's a YouTube episode that I recorded on it so that you can diagnose that for yourself.
• 19:21
  I won't get into that all here because it's a big topic.
• 19:24
  Go take a look in the show notes if you are, think you're experiencing writer's block.
• 19:29
  And the key to getting to the bottom of writer's block or to clearing it is actually to diagnose it and to understand what's causing it.
• 19:37
  There's always a good and actual reason why you're stuck.
• 19:41
  There's always a reason.
• 19:42
  So, don't feel terrible if you're like, Oh, I have writer's block and some people say it's a myth and I should just get past this.
• 19:48
  There's always a root reason.
• 19:49
  They're all in that YouTube episode, so diagnose yours so that you can get past it, okay?
• 19:54
  Bottom line is, you're gonna need to learn to ask yourself, What do I need to get past it?
• 20:00
  What is it that I need?
• 20:01
  And that's what's all in that YouTube.
• 20:04
  The third major issue that writers face is Imposter Syndrome.
• 20:09
  What is Imposter Syndrome?
• 20:10
  This is when we feel like basically we're faking it.
• 20:13
  Even if we've made it, or especially if we've made it, but we always feel like we don't deserve it.
• 20:18
  Or we're not there yet.
• 20:20
  And this is super common for writers because many writers come to writing from different walks of life and you don't get an accreditation.
• 20:28
  Or, you know, some people have degrees or things, and even then, it doesn't mean that you feel qualified to be a writer.
• 20:35
  Even published writers have feelings of doubt.
• 20:38
  And even when you get successful, sorry to tell you, but you might worry that someone's gonna find out one day that you're not a real writer.
• 20:47
  So, what do you do in this case, right?
• 20:49
  How do you get past that?
• 20:51
  How do we crush impostor syndrome?
• 20:53
  First of all, I like to say this, but I'll tell it to you again.
• 20:57
  If you are writing, you are a writer, right?
• 21:00
  You don't need anything special to say that you're a writer.
• 21:03
  You're absolutely a writer.
• 21:05
  There's not like some percentage of I'm, I'm a 30 percent writer or I'm 100 percent writer or I'm sort of a writer or I'm sort of not or I'm an aspiring writer.
• 21:15
  Get rid of all of that.
• 21:16
  You are a writer.
• 21:17
  The second thing that I would suggest if you're experiencing this, remember, please do not compare your first draft to a published novel.
• 21:26
  We write this first draft, this messy first draft, especially if it's your first book and then we read a book and we're like, wow, I'm never going to make it that good.
• 21:33
  And yeah.
• 21:34
  Of course you will, but it's going to take some effort.
• 21:37
  You need to, again, you need to give yourself those skills or you're never going to get there.
• 21:42
  Do not compare your first draft to published novels.
• 21:45
  Number two, to crush your imposter syndrome, own your own writing experience and put in the work.
• 21:53
  It is not an easy thing to write a book, and I've said it earlier in this episode I think already.
• 21:59
  But if people actually knew how long it took, I don't know that many people would try this.
• 22:04
  Writing a book, I think there's too many messages out there that say that it's really easy.
• 22:09
  I think it's definitely doable, it's absolutely possible, you can reach your goals.
• 22:15
  But yes, it is going to take work, so own it, do it, okay?
• 22:19
  Imposter syndrome comes about when we're not willing to put that in, and then we get kind of pissed off sometimes, right?
• 22:26
  And the third thing is, play to your own strengths.
• 22:29
  Don't try to be anybody else that's out there.
• 22:32
  The thing about being a creative is you get to be creative, and you get to do what's right for you.
• 22:38
  And what's going to light you up.
• 22:39
  And so definitely draw inspiration from your heroes in writing, but don't try to be just like them.
• 22:47
  Just be you.
• 22:48
  And that's enough.
• 22:50
  Tell the story that only you can, because the world needs your story.
• 22:56
  I want to share with you this quote because as an entrepreneur and a writer and doing all the different things that I do, I love, love, love to challenge myself, but I got to tell you, it can be scary.
• 23:07
  It can be scary sometimes.
• 23:08
  And I say that nothing scares me in terms of a goal, but sometimes I have to like talk myself into overcoming it.
• 23:16
  Robin Sharma said, the antidote to fear is fortune.
• 23:20
  And so we're going to now.
• 23:22
  Go through and create some specific goals for you.
• 23:26
  So get your pen and paper handy that you're going to be able to crush that goal this year.
• 23:31
  Okay, so we're going to create some goals and we're going to commit to action.
• 23:35
  Action is the antidote to fear.
• 23:38
  And the only way through this fear or this unknown or this overwhelm or writer's block or imposter syndrome or whatever you're experiencing is to get specific and take action.
• 23:49
  Let's get this done.
• 23:51
  So what are your writing goals?
• 23:53
  I want you to take a moment and think about your intentions.
• 23:56
  Set your intentions.
• 23:58
  What is it that you really feel called to work on?
• 24:02
  What is the one project?
• 24:04
  Pick one.
• 24:05
  If you are working on multiple projects, and many communities are, pick one at a time and get them done.
• 24:12
  Again, it's like that overwhelm thing.
• 24:14
  If you've got several branches, you know, if you're working on more than one project or more than two projects, then you're walking along that path.
• 24:22
  There's not only left or right, there's left, right, straight, up, down, below, below.
• 24:26
  Wherever, like diagonal, I don't know, there's all these different places, your brain can't finish any of them, and you're not going to do your best work, so for the purposes of your goals, get specific, pick that project that you are the most excited to work on, because that's the one that you're most likely to hit your goal on, it's not about, don't pick one that you think you should work on, Or that you think that other people expect you to, or not even the one that you think might make you the most money or whatever else, it's got to be the one that you love.
• 24:57
  That's the one that's going to work, right?
• 24:59
  That's the one that's going to work.
• 25:00
  And you can always work on the other projects later, or you can adjust.
• 25:04
  But pick one for the purposes of this goal setting exercise.
• 25:08
  What is it that you are feeling called to write?
• 25:11
  Now that might feel different to everybody.
• 25:13
  For many writers, they talk about a voice that just won't leave them alone, or, or a story idea, or purpose that just keeps coming back to them that they can envision, right?
• 25:23
  So take a moment, get quiet.
• 25:26
  Which story is calling to you the most?
• 25:28
  Which one are you going to be the proudest of when you're finished?
• 25:31
  That's the one.
• 25:32
  Not the one you think you should write, not the one you started first, but you're no longer interested in because your life is different.
• 25:39
  You've changed and you're in a different place in time.
• 25:42
  As you're thinking about which of these projects is the most important one to you right now or the most exciting one to you, pay attention to any negative thoughts that creep up.
• 25:53
  Is there a project that you're resisting?
• 25:55
  Is there a project that you think is so big and so wild and so nuts and so out there that it's gonna be too hard?
• 26:03
  That might be the project you should pick.
• 26:05
  If it's the one that's the most exciting, don't pick the one that's safe, pick the one that's the most exciting to you.
• 26:11
  That's the project.
• 26:13
  And then name it.
• 26:14
  What is your dream goal?
• 26:16
  What is your, like, wild, pie in the sky, biggest thing you can think of goal?
• 26:21
  Do you want to win a Pulitzer Prize?
• 26:24
  Do you want to be signing books in a Barnes Noble somewhere with 40, 000 people in line?
• 26:32
  I don't know if anybody ever has 40, 000 people in line, but what is that big goal?
• 26:36
  Don't be shy, right?
• 26:38
  Go after that big goal.
• 26:40
  And then, you know, you can adjust along the way, but be honest with yourself.
• 26:44
  If all the stars aligned, And you could have anything that you wanted, make sure that you're aiming the bow and arrow before you let the arrow take flight, or you're going to go in the wrong direction.
• 26:58
  What is your dream goal?
• 26:59
  Write it down.
• 27:01
  Okay, write it down.
• 27:02
  It's got to be something huge and then we're going to break it down.
• 27:06
  Okay.
• 27:06
  It can be, it can be finish your book this year.
• 27:09
  It can be something bigger.
• 27:11
  I invite you to make it something bigger and then we're going to break it down into steps.
• 27:16
  Next I want you to take a pen and paper, get a couple of pages and give yourself credit.
• 27:22
  Make a list of steps that you already took towards your dream goal.
• 27:26
  Here's the thing, when, when people say, well, my goal was finish the book this year and I didn't do it.
• 27:34
  And then they feel crappy about it.
• 27:36
  But what if they spent time learning writing skills and taking courses and working with a coach or an editor or getting critique partners to read it?
• 27:45
  That's progress.
• 27:47
  What if you are bringing skills from other industries or jobs or schooling that you did?
• 27:53
  What if this year, while you were writing your book, you were actually bringing project management skills from somewhere else?
• 28:00
  What skills do you bring from another job?
• 28:03
  I love working with writers.
• 28:04
  That come from somewhere other than writing because they're always amazed at how helpful their other skills and talents are that they bring from other industry.
• 28:14
  Okay, that's what's going to make you unique.
• 28:16
  Give yourself credit.
• 28:17
  Write, make this, put this on your list.
• 28:19
  What about just having a terrific book idea?
• 28:22
  If that's all you have, and that's all you did towards your goal, then that's a step that you've already taken.
• 28:28
  It's a step that you don't have to take, right?
• 28:31
  Do you have some pages already written?
• 28:33
  Whether they're in order or not, whether they're finished or not, it all has to get done.
• 28:37
  If you have written some pages already, put that on your list.
• 28:41
  What about your writing habits?
• 28:43
  Do you have Do you set time that you write every day, every week?
• 28:48
  Do you have support in your family to give yourself the time and space?
• 28:53
  Do you have a particular way that you like to write?
• 28:55
  Do you write in a notebook and you, you know, get a particular one that works really well?
• 29:00
  Do you have a favorite pen?
• 29:02
  Do you have a laptop or a way to dictate or however it is that you're writing if you've got good writing habits?
• 29:09
  That is a step that you needed to take to get that book done.
• 29:12
  So write it down.
• 29:14
  Write it all down.
• 29:15
  What about inspiration and motivation if you are super keen and you're getting excited just listening to this?
• 29:21
  Write it all down and make it a list as long as you want.
• 29:24
  Nobody's going to see it but you and celebrate that progress that you've already made toward your goal.
• 29:29
  I mean, you're listening to this podcast, so you've done something.
• 29:33
  You put that on your list, but you've definitely done something.
• 29:36
  And so it's not just a pass or fail.
• 29:39
  That's the problem with a, with a goal like finish my book this year, right?
• 29:43
  It's a pass or fail and it isn't a pass or fail.
• 29:46
  You've created all kinds of momentum toward that.
• 29:49
  So give yourself credit and go and write that list.
• 29:53
  Once you have that list, you can say, okay, but where am I stuck?
• 29:58
  Right?
• 29:58
  Which places do I not have what I need?
• 30:02
  First thing to look at, what is your next right step towards your dream writing goal?
• 30:08
  What is your next step?
• 30:10
  So if you have written the first scene, maybe the next step is revise that first scene, share that first scene, maybe it's write the second scene, I'm not sure.
• 30:18
  But write down, what is your next step?
• 30:21
  You know what that is for your writing.
• 30:22
  What is it that you need to do?
• 30:24
  I don't know if you know how to do it yet, but what is it that you need to do?
• 30:28
  Write that down.
• 30:29
  And once you've got that, think about it.
• 30:32
  Is any next step for you fuzzy?
• 30:34
  Do you not know what the next step is?
• 30:37
  Because that can happen too.
• 30:38
  I wrote my very first novel while on maternity leave with my third child and she's 13 now.
• 30:44
  And I, I finished that draft and I had no idea what to do with it.
• 30:49
  I knew in my heart that it wasn't ready, but I secretly hoped that somebody would pick it up anyway and teach me how to finish it or finish it for me.
• 30:56
  I don't know what I thought, but those next steps were really fuzzy and I had to sort of get through that and recognize that and pursue that and talk with people.
• 31:05
  And what I ended up doing was going to conferences.
• 31:07
  And also working with coaches and editors and talking to other writers and doing all the things, right?
• 31:13
  I did it all.
• 31:14
  And that's how I was able to really just lean in and figure that out because I'm an ops professional.
• 31:20
  And I really just was dying to know how, how do I do this?
• 31:24
  It can't be this hard.
• 31:26
  Right.
• 31:26
  And that was sort of the germ or the seed that started my obsession with breaking this process down because I never wanted anybody else to feel that stuck again.
• 31:37
  I never wanted to feel that stuck again.
• 31:39
  I wanted to be able to understand the process.
• 31:42
  So if there's steps that are fuzzy, write it down and then break it down.
• 31:46
  Ask the question, come into my inspired writing community on Facebook, ask the question, we'll answer.
• 31:52
  And then the next thing, so after you've got your next step toward your dream writing goal and whether or not any steps are fuzzy, what do you need to make this happen, right?
• 32:03
  It's not all just, I have to sit my butt in a chair and get it done, I mean, that might be it, but likely you're missing something.
• 32:11
  So what is it that I need to make it happen?
• 32:13
  And yeah.
• 32:14
  Do I need to create time?
• 32:16
  Do I need to create space?
• 32:18
  Do I need to create energy?
• 32:19
  Do I need to learn a skill?
• 32:21
  Do I need to make some decisions?
• 32:22
  I don't know.
• 32:23
  All the things that we've talked about so far.
• 32:25
  What is it for you?
• 32:27
  Next, I want you to write down three things that you can control that will help you reach your writing dream goal.
• 32:34
  Maybe it's write every day.
• 32:35
  Maybe it's attend a seminar.
• 32:37
  Maybe it's work with a coach or an editor, maybe it's get a critique partner, maybe it's buy a book on writing craft, maybe it's listen to more podcast episodes every day because you feel so inspired that this is helping, right?
• 32:51
  Whatever it is that you need, but make sure that these three things are things that you can actually control.
• 32:58
  They're not so big, like, finish my book.
• 33:02
  You can't control when that happens.
• 33:04
  What you can do is you can control making the time and the space and figuring out how to get the energy to take all those steps toward getting that book finished.
• 33:15
  That's all you can do.
• 33:17
  That is a goal.
• 33:18
  That you can keep and eventually if you keep knocking those goals off, then you will actually achieve the bigger goal.
• 33:28
  Once you have this goal, I want you to go and share it with somebody.
• 33:33
  Did you know that sharing your goals makes it like 10 times more likely that you will actually achieve it.
• 33:42
  It's like this accountability thing.
• 33:45
  And you can share it anywhere you like, anywhere you're comfortable with.
• 33:48
  You can share it with us, my inspired writing community, or here as a comment on this podcast.
• 33:54
  Go ahead, share it.
• 33:55
  You can share it with your friends and family.
• 33:57
  You can share it with your community.
• 33:59
  You can share it anywhere you like.
• 34:02
  Find people in your life that will hold you accountable to it.
• 34:05
  Something about saying it out loud and declaring it.
• 34:08
  is pretty amazing.
• 34:09
  It's going to help you keep it top of mind.
• 34:11
  And if you've got supportive folks in your life that are going to help you and hold your feet to the fire, not the, Hey, didn't you finish this book in 2025?
• 34:19
  Don't share that one.
• 34:20
  Share the ones that are smaller, the three things that you can control because they will help you control those.
• 34:26
  And if you don't yet have those accountability people in your life, go share it in our communities, in a writing community somewhere, because lots of writers will egg you on.
• 34:34
  Cheer you on.
• 34:35
  We're going to be supportive.
• 34:37
  We're going to help you get there.
• 34:40
  Take that goal that you've made for yourself and write it somewhere.
• 34:44
  Write it on your wall.
• 34:46
  Write it on a sticky note and put it on your laptop.
• 34:49
  Keep it handy.
• 34:49
  If you're artistic, make it something pretty.
• 34:53
  Keep it on a card and keep it in your writing book.
• 34:55
  Keep it somewhere handy so that you can remind yourself.
• 34:58
  Once you have your goal, make a list.
• 35:01
  When you have that list, the three things that you can control, that you commit to doing.
• 35:06
  That you can actually do.
• 35:07
  It's totally within your control.
• 35:10
  And then, create a smaller list or a longer list of smaller tasks.
• 35:15
  Which has all of the things, all of the things that you need to do to get it done.
• 35:20
  Maybe you need to do some research to be able to make some decisions in your book.
• 35:24
  Maybe you need to do some thinking.
• 35:25
  Maybe you need to learn a little bit about plotting or character arcs.
• 35:29
  Maybe you need to take a class.
• 35:31
  I don't know what those steps are, but you can start to fill that out.
• 35:35
  Okay, when you come up against something where you're stuck, what is it that you need?
• 35:40
  Know that you're not just giving yourself credit for putting your butt in your seat and writing a new scene.
• 35:47
  There's thinking time, there's planning, there's all of these things need to get done in order to finish your book.
• 35:53
  Give yourself credit for it.
• 35:55
  Celebrate every single win.
• 35:57
  Check it off your list.
• 35:59
  There's a dopamine hit that your body and your brain gets when you check that off and you know that you're making progress.
• 36:05
  This is not just a pass or fail.
• 36:07
  Did you do it?
• 36:08
  Did you not?
• 36:09
  You've got to take one step, one foot in front of the other until you're done and I promise you, you will finish that book if you take this in stride.
• 36:19
  And you break it down and keep knocking things off the list.
• 36:23
  It might take you a little longer than you'd hoped, but you will finish.
• 36:27
  And we're going to be cheering you on every step of the way.
• 36:30
  Make sure you're sharing your progress.
• 36:33
  Make sure you're sharing what it is that you need.
• 36:35
  If you need some ideas about where to get some resources, let us know.
• 36:39
  We're listening.
• 36:41
  Happy writing, and I will see you next week right here on the Show Don't Tell Writing Podcast.
• 36:56
  Thanks for tuning in to Show Don't Tell Writing with me, Susie Vadori.
• 37:00
  Help me continue to bring you the straight goods for that book you're writing or planning to write.
• 37:04
  Please consider subscribing to this podcast and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you're listening.
• 37:12
  Also, visit suzybedore.
• 37:13
  com forward slash newsletter to hop on my weekly inspired writing newsletter list where you'll stay inspired and be the first to know about upcoming training, events and writing courses that happen in my community.
• 37:26
  If you're feeling brave, check the show notes and send us a page of your writing that isn't quite where you want it to be yet for our show don't tell page review episodes.
• 37:36
  Remember that book and your writing is going to open doors that you haven't even thought of yet.
• 37:42
  And I can't wait to help make it the absolute best.
• 37:45
  If you're feeling called to write that book, keep going, and I'm going to be right here cheering you on.
• 37:52
  See you again next week.