Writing Accomplished: backstory, lots of backstory
Writing Goal: in the process of creating my Plan Of Action
Recommended Website: http://www.vickihinze.com

This is it. A new year. A chance to start all over again. Get organized. Write more. Maybe diet a little, quit a few bad habits. Sound familiar? You bet. I've 'started over' many times yet continue to feel the need to do so once again.

A new year brings about a time to reflect on the past year and decide what you want to do different. Well, for me it does anyway. My foremost resolution is to do more writing. Sound familiar? This is a resolution I've made before, many times.

Well, as browsed my blog list, I came upon a very inspirational post by Vicki Hinze. I read her blog regularly and it is often inspiring and informative (as is her website). The January 3 post is about planning for the year ahead and I realized that I need to do that. I've set goals, but never actually sat down and made a plan on how to reach those goals other than figuring out how many words I needed to write each day (a number that increased with each day that passed as I didn't write).

In her post, Vicki brings up the traps that many writers fall into, albeit with good intentions. She refers to one of her articles in her website library called "Why We Need a Plan." You can link to her website here, but you will need to register (for free) to access the article library. Vicki has kindly given me permission to reprint the article here. However, I HIGHLY recommend you register at her site and take full advantage of the terrific articles she has.

"Why We Need a Plan" talks about the desire to write and how to apply discipline to the act of writing. Vicki asks the reader to take a good look at him/herself and decide what they want most out of life. She also talks about fear (yeah, know that one) and suggests writers have to have the courage to ditch the fear. "A helpful way to go about that is to look at what we as writers do NOT have to do..." says Vicki. She goes on to share her personal plan to give writers an idea of what to focus on and what to do. Want to be more productive as a writer or a person? Read the article. You won't regret it.

On another note, Hinze is one of my favorite writers who write about writing. Aside from articles on her website, she has books out on writing. One is ALL ABOUT WRITING, an awesome book that covers just that, all about writing. Another is ONE WAY TO WRITE A NOVEL, being released January 31, 2006. The cost is $14.99, but preorders are only $10 WITH the following coupon code: NIHTB-614. The publisher is also giving away a 2nd writing book to the first 100 who preorder at www.spilledcandytraditional.com.

So, my friends. The next time you hear from me, I'll be a lady with a plan.

Happy New Year!
Nienke