Take actionable steps to further your writing career.
First, take a moment to figure out what you accomplished in writing in 2016:
- Did you allocate a certain amount of time each day or week to writing?
- Did you finish your first rough draft of a story or article
- Did you plot out a new story or series?
- Did you make writing a priority in YOUR life?
Now think about where you want to go with your writing:
- Do you want to write every day?
If so, then put it on your daily to-do calendar.
- Do you want to finish your story, but have limited time?
Plot out how many words you need to write each day/week to reach your goal and start there.
- Did you finish the first draft of your story and think it’s brilliant, as in the most amazing story ever?
Put your story aside for a few days and then look at it again objectively. Do the characters grow? Do you have every cliché in the book? Is the reader getting a rich representation of world you are creating? Grab a colored pen or pencil and start jotting down some objective thoughts – use these as your guide to rebuilding your story.
- Did you already edit and re-edit?
Take the plunge and start submitting your story to agents or editors (depending on what you are writing).
Send out query letters. Sell your book and your writing. (Ideally, you are trying to not only sell this one story, but your work in the future as well.)
Yes publishing, newspapers, print media, etc., have changed in recent years. That’s why quality writing is even more crucial now. You need to be your best, and then get out there and show the writing world what you can offer.