Judy Schneider's Writing Lab

Step One: Don’t dwell on what you haven’t done.

You’ve already wasted enough time saying, “I don’t know where the time went.” Forget it. It’s gone. Whatever you were doing in January and February took you farther from your writing goal, so let’s turn that distance into motivation. The time is now. If you’re still not ready, you might want to write a checklist of items you CAN cross off, like “I know what my protagonist does for a living” or “I’m going to include mini-quizzes in my how-to book.”

Step Two: With that behind you, set a reasonable goal.

Don’t tell yourself to accomplish grandiose generalities like “write your novel” or “finish your nonfiction book proposal.” Those goals are huge. It brings to mind the words of my father who paid for 32 years of private college tuition (some of us have graduate degrees). He said, “If I had thought about all the money I’d be spending when I wrote that first check, I might never have done it.” So don’t overwhelm yourself. Forget the big picture. Instead, be specific. Vow to write a detailed character profile, to rough out the opening paragraph for your query letter, pick three target markets for your article idea, or to brainstorm a fresh format for your nonfiction material. Those goals are fair and far less frightening.

Step Three: Now, do it.

Don’t pull the postponing-the-diet trick of “I’ll start next Monday” or even tomorrow. No, you can start today, by making a quick note of what you’ve already accomplished and then deciding where you’re headed. I don’t want to hear that you don’t know where to go. If you’re writing fiction, there’s no right answer, so choose a direction, commit to it, and head there. For nonfiction, you’re the expert. Decide what message you most want your readers to receive and move forward from there.

Henry Ford said it best: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Force yourself to focus in March so that, come April 1st, you won’t be fooling yourself any longer.