What To Do When It’s Hard to Keep On Track

When I started writing my book six years ago I had no idea if I would ever finish it. Me? Finishing a project? You have to be kidding me!

I am a busy mom of two, and a fantastic wife and homemaker who also happens to be a professional rockstar on the weekends…

I am one busy woman!

But with much love and support by those closest to me, in the fall of 2014 I finished my first manuscript. Granted it wasn’t edited, but I finally finished it!!! YAY! Go ME!

Unfortunately, 2014 was not a productive year for me. I didn’t like the editing process, I got frustrated and tired and bored with my story.

So I didn’t finish the editing. I had a lot of plans to self-publish, but I had no time to build a fan base and constantly be on the internet reading, blogging, posting, and advertising.

So that was out. But with the help of a very good friend and their brilliant idea I was able to be more productive in the first month of 2015 than I was at all in 2014. This is what I did.

I decided that due to time constraints I was not going to pursue self-pub any longer. I also knew my story needed a little work, and a big subplot to turn my protagonists life on it’s ear.

Once I decided what that little morsel was going to be—I sat down and outlined my goals for the year, and wrote out a list of goals to be achieved every month until the end of the year.

I decided I wanted to get the editing and storyline addition in first. I then broke that task down into monthly and sometimes weekly goals.

So long as I have that list in front of me and I can see what I need to be doing and when I need to be done, I can keep on track.

So for example, Jan-March I am re-outlining my book and adding the new sub-plot. April-June I will be editing and fine tuning the manuscript.

By June’s end my goal is to have a completely re-vamped and perfectly edited manuscript. During this time I am also going to be researching potential agents to query.

Come July I plan to query a list of forty compiled agents, with my hope being that I will hear back from at least five with interest in pursuing my book before the end of December.

That may happen, it may not.

Either way I am trying to keep my eye on the prize and look forward to what possibilities are out there for my story. Other side goals I have added is to post a blog once a month with either a conversational piece or a short story, and submit some new pieces into at least three competitions.

It sounds intense, but it’s actually quite simple and so long as you know what you want, you can have your goal outline for the year and subsequent monthly or quarterly goals laid out in about an hour. I would like to state for the record that I am not an organizational freak.

I just have a desire to succeed.

Making these lists and keeping them in an accessible place has exponentially increased my productivity because I can now see my goal as a possible thing.

The lists break it up into attainable pieces keeping the work load steady and on track. The excitement of staying on track and seeing my end-goal is completely possible is all the inspiration I need to keep on target.

Be honest about your productivity and your aspirations, if you feel as though you are at the bottom of a mountain, dreaming of the top and you’re too tired to climb I recommend this system.

The only other option is to give up completely… but that’s not what we do now is it?

For more info on Leslie Anne Alexander please visit www.LeslieAnneAlexander.com