Have Something to Show for Your Summer

Here’s a not-so-fun fact about writing a novel: the initial excitement you have for your project isn’t enough to get you from Once upon a time to a polished final draft. At Bardsy, we recommend starting with a story element you're passionate about, such as your characters or world, and using that momentum to propel you. Nevertheless, at some point, you’ll have to dig in when the going gets tough. This holds doubly true when life throws external obstacles your way. These obstacles aren’t always negative—take summertime for example. Although you may look forward to having more time for family activities while school’s out, finding the solitude you need to focus on your novel may be challenging. And when the going gets tough…

Unless you’re an outlier, passion alone won’t keep you writing. We’ve all had moments where dragging the Word file to the trash is dangerously tempting, or a new plot idea seems infinitely more exciting than our current work in progress. That’s when having a clearly defined goal, a plan for success, and discipline—what we call intelligent persistence—comes into play.

Last week, we covered how Bardsy’s directed writing groups provide you with the outside perspective you need to take your novel to the next level, improve your developmental editing skills, and learn how to leverage your novel’s best assets to find your ideal readers. Our goal is to help you reach success, and part of that process is learning how to stay motivated long enough to reach your writing goals.

Over years of helping writers reach their goals, we’ve identified something the most successful have in common, and it might surprise you. It isn’t spectacular worldbuilding, gorgeous prose, or even a compelling plot, though all those components are important. We’ve found that a key factor to a writer’s success is intelligent persistence. Here’s a fact: Intelligent persistence is a skill, not a trait, meaning you can essentially teach yourself to persevere. If you’re wondering what intelligent persistence is, keep reading.

To start, intelligent persistence means persisting, but in a strategic way. It’s being committed to seeing something through while also evaluating ways to reach your end goal to find the most effective one. In other words, you think carefully about how to reach your goal as well as the goal itself, which includes monitoring your progress and making tactical changes when needed. In short, intelligent persistence requires you to determine your goal, discern the most effective method for achieving it, and persevere until you either succeed or realize what you’re doing isn’t working, and regroup. For many writers, the second half of that sentence is the key.

For demonstration purposes, let’s put intelligent persistence to the test and decide whether to set a summer writing goal or take a hiatus. On the one hand, you could choose to take the summer off and recharge your batteries. No time constraints or other physical barriers prevent this choice. The only potential stumbling block is creative—missing the act of working on your manuscript. The outcome of this choice is easily predicted: no progress on your novel.

Now, let’s look at the other choice: setting a summer writing goal, while still keeping potential potholes and ideal tactics in mind. Some common obstacles include schedule changes, vacations, and the general lack of motivation that often accompanies the summer months. None of these are insurmountable, provided you acknowledge and plan for them. You’ll want to set a specific goal and have a strategy that accounts for factors such as childcare or relatives visiting, as well as your preferred writing practices and personality.

Hopefully, you'll choose to prioritize working on your novel. After all, now you know what it takes. You’ll follow the path you’ve charted, analyzing your efforts throughout the summer to ensure you’re staying on course, and correcting if you stray or stall. Remember: if you do hit a roadblock, continuing with the same tactics that aren’t working isn’t the answer. This applies to your summer goal and your long-term writing goals, leading us to the final component of intelligent persistence we’ll discuss today:

It isn’t unusual for writers to come to us because they’re stuck. Maybe they realize something is wrong with their story but can’t pinpoint it, or they’ve been endlessly querying agents or publishers without bites. Perhaps, they’ve self-published but aren’t seeing the return on their marketing efforts they’d hoped for. Sometimes it’s the timeless question that plagues every writer at one point or another, “Is my work good enough to be published?”

In all these cases, writers made the wise choice. They didn’t toss out their manuscript or give up their writing aspirations, they evaluated their situation, realized what they were doing wasn’t working, and tried something else: Bardsy. :-)

Identifying that your current efforts aren’t as effective as they should be is an essential part of intelligent persistence for one simple reason: persistence is worthless when it’s aimed in the wrong direction. Misdirected persistence can even be detrimental, not just from a practical standpoint but an emotional one as well. Toiling diligently without progression is discouraging, making it that much easier to give up. Being willing to analyze your actions, and adjust your efforts—sometimes in a massive way—is critical to reaching success.

When you attend our mini workshop, Setting (& Reaching!) Your Summer Goals, you'll make a plan to reach your next writing milestone. This way, you can go into the summer feeling prepared for challenges and excited to make progress on your story. Once you have a plan, there’s nothing left but to do it. Your reward comes in the form of significant progress toward a completed novel, and a sense of accomplishment—when you could have been relaxing, you set a goal and achieved it.

Ready to make a plan to reach writing success? Attend our mini workshop, Setting (& Reaching!) Your Summer Goals on Wednesday, May 28th at 4:00 PM Pacific or Saturday, May 31st at 10:00 AM Pacific. Drop an email to joinus@bardsy.com to save your spot.