What do you need to take your writing to the next level? Do you wish you were stronger in some aspect of your writing skills? Or maybe the business side of your writing career could use some bolstering. Perhaps it’s your workspace or your writing schedule (or lack of) that’s impeding your progress.
If it’s been a while since you took a deep breath and asked, “What, specifically, do I need to level up my writing or my career?” maybe today’s the day.
Let’s take 30 minutes and do just that. Get out 4 sheets of paper or open a new document. At the top of each page, list one of these categories:
- Writing Craft/Skills
- Writing Business
- Marketing
- Workplace/Schedule/Tools
Step 1: List your needs.
Under each category, list the things you’d love to enhance, refine, learn, obtain, or change in this category. For now, assume you live in an ideal world, with money and time being no object. (Don’t we wish!) Just list all the things you wish for that might help your writing craft or career. Don’t limit your lists at this point. We’ll worry about their feasibility in a later step.
- For “Writing Craft/Skills,” think about your writing skills. Do you wish you were better at plotting, natural-sounding dialogue, or making your descriptions and world-building relevant to the story without becoming info-dumps? Is POV-switching your bugaboo? Or do readers suggest your secondary characters seem a little flat or stereotypical? List all the things you want to be better at.
- For “Writing Business,” how’s your financial savviness? Do business taxes confuse you, or do you need a more efficient accounting system? Are you tracking business expenses? Do you need to become an LLC? Have you verified ownership of your copyright to your books? Do you wish you were more in tune with the fast-changing publishing industry and current writing trends?
- Under “Marketing,” list things you wish you could do better or more efficiently. Do you have an up-to-date website? What about your social media platforms? Do you have business cards, bookmarks, postcards, a press kit, up-to-date headshots, and an email newsletter that you send out regularly? Are you interested in appearing on podcasts, blogs, or in local or national magazines, news shows, or other media? The sky’s the limit—just brainstorm!
- For “Workplace/Schedule/Tools,” list things that might make you more productive, such as a more comfortable chair, a second monitor, better lighting, a webcam, dedicated workspace, an electric mug warmer, an updated laptop, or an under-desk keyboard and mouse tray to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. If more writing time is what you crave, be specific: how many hours do you need, and what time of day are you most productive?
Step 2: List things that may help you achieve your needs.
For each category of needs, brainstorm tools that might help you achieve each improvement you listed. Again, write down everything that occurs to you. We’re still not worried about feasibility at this point.
- Under “Writing Craft/Skills,” depending on what you listed as a need, you might list how-to books, online seminars, conferences or workshops, memberships to writing organizations, joining a critique group, or hiring a professional writing coach or editor.
- For “Writing Business,” ideas might be to read books or websites on the topics you listed, find a good app for managing small business finances, hire a tax professional, follow industry newsletters like Publisher’s Weekly, or attend conferences that offer sessions on the industry or panel discussions with agents and editors.
- Under “Marketing,” list things you can do to beef up this important aspect of your career, such as reading books or websites, subscribing to other writers’ email newsletters, investigating “best practices” for social media, learning to use Canva or other design tools, learning to make TikTok videos, comparing printing costs for bookmarks, hiring a web designer, or booking a photographer.
- And for “Workplace/Schedule/Tools,” things you can do to make those needs come true might include: pricing new vs. used items on Amazon and Facebook Marketplace, or creating a “Do Not Disturb Unless the House Is on Fire” sign for your office door.
Step 3: Highlight the most impactful ideas as well as the cheapest/easiest ideas.
In green, highlight those items that seem most likely to make a significant difference in your writing career, regardless of how feasible they are. These are your “high impact” ideas.
Then use yellow to highlight everything that’s easiest or cheapest to implement, even if they may not have a huge impact right away. These are your “low-hanging fruit” ideas.
Give your list one more good look. What, if anything, can you realistically do in the next week? Month? Six months? A year? Circle (or underline) those things.
Step 4: Make a plan.
Look at your green (high impact) ideas, your yellow (low-hanging fruit) ideas, and your circled/underlined (most feasible in the short term) ideas.
Make a plan to achieve each of these things. Only you can decide which ones to pursue and when, so lay out a plan of attack for each item, along with a target date of completion. Include a list of what you’ll need to do or obtain to complete each one. If some truly aren’t feasible, what would be a less-expensive or less-complicated alternative? For example, if going to that writing conference in Spain isn’t in your budget, how about a local conference on the same topics?
Step 5: Execute!
Finally, of course, start executing your plans.
Congratulations! You’ve just taken the first crucial step towards leveling up your writing game. Good luck, and happy writing!
[Photo by Kira auf der Heide https://unsplash.com/@kadh on Unsplash]
