Step 8: Mindset

This is the home stretch of #Preptober in anticipation of #NaNoWriMo.

Here’s a recap of what you’ve accomplished towards your project so far. You:

• Set a goal + are being held accountable

• Reserved your writing time

• Assembled your resources

• Connected with your “why”

• Identified your point

• Envisioned your ideal reader

• Brainstormed a title

• Identified your genre/category

• Assembled your comps

• Drafted your jacket copy

• Set up the arc of change

• Sketched a simple outline

• Filled out a detailed outline

(If you haven’t done these yet, you can always catch up by following the links!)

Here are a few mindset tips that I find most helpful, whether I’m taking on a challenge like NaNoWriMo or just sitting down to write:

“Today’s task is never to write a book.” (Matt Bell) 

Take each day (or each writing session) as it comes. All you can do is put words on the page when you sit down to write. You don’t have to write a whole book at this moment! One word at a time. 

“Measure progress by actions not outcomes.” (Dallas Travers)

Perhaps similar to the one above, this statement is meant to take the pressure off to produce. That’s your task: get your butt in the chair and put words on the page. You will make the words wonderful later. The action of writing is the goal, not the end product. 

Your journey is your own. (?)

Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Everyone’s writing journey is different, just as everyone’s writing style, topic, genre, goals, etc. vary. 

Also, don’t compare what you’re doing to a finished product. If you pick up your favorite mentor text and think “I’ll never write a book as good as this” remember that what you’re holding is the result of years of work and many sets of eyes and hands that shepherded it to the point of publication. 

Most importantly, have fun! 

Sometimes it’s hard to find writing fun. It can feel heavy, it can feel important, it can feel like WORK. But there is joy in it too: freedom, creativity, expression, wonderment, speculation. What if you focused on the fun aspect? What might happen?   

Who’s with me? My November goal is to draft a micro story a day. Are you challenging yourself to write 50,000 words in November? Or have you set yourself a different challenge? Let me know so we can cheer each other on.