Clearly defined success

How is it you are defining success? Your answer that will not only show a great deal about who you are but also about who you will be. If your goal is to maintain where you are-do you like where you are? Some people really do, and that is great! I like where I live. I like the size of our family and I love the relationship I have with my husband. Those things I want to maintain. I write a few columns in addition to my blogs each month. I am happy with that level, but would be willing to take on one more paid article per month [maybe two]. That means I may spend some time on submitting to a few places to try to develop my connections in paying markets.

I want to contract 3 novels this year so my daily tasks will be deemed “successful” each day if they are leading to that ultimate goal.

In Steve Martin’s Hilarious novel, The Pleasure of My Company, the main character has an odd view of success [such as touching the corners of every copier at Kinkos], but he takes very deliberate steps to reaching those goals. Some might call the man crazy, but how much crazier is it to daily say you have a goal but do nothing to cause forward momentum.

At least he left the house to go to Kinkos.

To read more on a similar topic follow these links:
Clearly defined goals
The right opportunity in the right hands

The Writing Career Coach blog is moving! After the first of the year we will only be posting to our main website. There you will find the blog, information on my speaking topics, FREE articles to help you with your writing and more. In order to receive or continue to receive these postings by e-mail, subscribe here.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.

Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Clearly defined goals

Over the next few blogs I’m going to really hone in on clarity. Lingering questions are the key to excellent craft but if you ever want your writing to be published there must be some clarity on a few things.

Today think about your goals. Are they clearly defined? You want to be published? When? Where? What form? What genre? What publication or Which project?
Do you even think about these questions? Do you say “I want to be published next year” or do you say, “I want to have my WIP “Awesome Book” completed and at least three queries out by August 2010”?

Does it seem I am really beating on this right now? It is because in the course of working with authors in my Writing Career Coach program I find that most people are extremely ambivalent. They are afraid of failure and are thus stuck in this persistent “One day” mentality.

So, write a clear goal for each day this week. What is ONE thing you will do each day? It could be research [Read 17 pages on Regency etiquette] or it could be directly writing [write 1,500 words], but whatever your goal determine going in how doing this will help advance your writing career. That will give a real value to your goal and make you more likely to follow through.

The Writing Career Coach blog is moving! After the first of the year we will only be posting to our main website. There you will find the blog, information on my speaking topics, FREE articles to help you with your writing and more. In order to receive or continue to receive these postings by e-mail, subscribe here.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.

Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.
Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.
Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Fight for it

Last night I was having a conversation with three of my daughters, I have four, and I was talking about my years in school. With the new school year in full swing we were talking about goals and expectations. One thing in particular I wanted them to think about is the strength of their dream. My daughter who is nearly eleven was talking about all the different things she’d like to be when she grows up. Her young mind was struggling to figure out how she could be so many differently, and seemingly unrelated, things.

It occurred to me that many people that I am in contact with through Writing Career Coach battle with the same issues. They arent’ sure if they are interested in or committed to writing. I’ve encountered many people in the years I’ve been writing. I saw some who are stagnating. They have reached a certain level and they’ve become enamored with the idea of “One Day” being a writer, but never really committed to seeing it happen. I’ve seen others get so paralyzed with fear over their writing that they stopped doing it all together. And then I’ve seen some who have really fought for it, and they’ve prevailed.

When I was in sales they used to say “Ignorance on fire is better than knowledge on ice.” Usually we said this about a new person who was starting out. They were excited and saw no limit to their potential. Over time, and with a steady stream of rejection, they gave up. They had more knowledge and better sales techniques but they went nowhere because they’d decided it was impossible. They weren’t willing to fight for it.

So, today, right now, consider what it is about your writing that you’re willing to fight for? Maybe you have an article almost done that is rotting on your hard drive. Wrap it up and send it off. Maybe you need to stop watching a cool new series on TV and spend time writing instead. Maybe, like me, you need to flip your body clock so you can write in the mornings as the house sleeps instead writing at night when there are more distractions.
Often by changing one small activity you can completely change your amount of progress. Don’t give up if you’re in a rut. Fight for it.

The Writing Career Coach blog is moving! In order to offer you more services and a central location for all information I am moving this blog to our main website: http://www.writingcareercoach.com/ There you will find the blog, information on my speaking topics, FREE articles to help you with your writing and more.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at http://www.writingcareercoach.com/
Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.
Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.
Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Preparing your fall calendar

When I was in sales we had something called planning your calendar. That meant figuring out what you needed in sales and then looking at your ratio of calls to bookings and finally looking at your average income per booking. The way this usually worked out was about 4 or 5 calls before you got a “yes”. Once you had a yes the average income was about $75-$100 for the booking.

With that information you were to look at what you needed to earn and time available and get your calendar booked. You always booked it 4-6 weeks out starting with the first two weeks.

Writers need to do the same thing. Our industry is slower than making a cold call [most places require a month or more to give a response on a proposal, even an article] but that isn’t an excuse to delay building your calendar. In fact, that makes it even more crucial.

Now that the chaos of summer is over the excuse from many will be “Well, we have back to school, the holidays, etc.” I think you’ve figured out by now it is always SOMETHING. There will always be SOMETHING that makes writing a challenge, but there is nothing in life worth doing that comes simply.

Take some time to determine what is necessary to get your goals met. Here is an example of what I am doing:

One editing project per week

Ten new coaching clients per month

Three blogs per week on each of my two blogs

Three examiner articles per week

Monthly marketing columns for the three different magazines I write for

Complete rough draft of one book every 6 weeks

Read one book per week on business and read one novel per week

In order to do each of these things I know what I need to do daily. I need to bid about 8 jobs because I know ½ of people who contact me for a quote end up booking a job that month. I need to read the book/novel every week and maintain the blogs because that leads to the new material that leads to more coaching clients. Everything builds on something else.

With that I go through and determine what must be done each day.

So what are you working towards in September? Do you even know? Do you have a plan of any kind? That will be the first thing.

Once you’ve done that, go plan your calendar.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at http://www.writingcareercoach.com/

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.

Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Your writing dream

I’m finishing up the book “Put your Dream to the Test” by John Maxwell. I have learned a great deal not only from the book, but also from the questions in the book.

When I picked up the book to read as part of the mentorship program in PVN I figured this book would focus on how to accomplish your dream. The title seemed to be a call for individuals to pursue with full gusto their dreams…

That wasn’t the case at all. Rather, what Maxwell challenges the reader to do is to check their commitment level vis-à-vis their dream. Are they really committed to seeing the dream to completion or are their dreams little more than wishes?

This is an important question for us to ask ourselves regularly. Once we have decided if we are committed or not we need to determine if your actions are on par with what we say our commitment level is.

Many times it can be difficult as a writer. You need to balance time between developing your writing, writing, and working to pay your bills. That is where I find myself at the moment. However, rather than running from that challenge, future writers see it as an interesting challenge. They don’t take their eyes off of the publication goal. Not only that, many of them try to find ways to make streams of income so work is no longer necessary.

What are you working on right now and is it part of your writing dream, or a distraction from it? Reply here and, if you’d like, continue the conversation of facebook. I would love to get to know more of you over that way.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at http://www.writingcareercoach.com/

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.
Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Surround yourself with Wisdom

You’ve heard me mention many times about the networking group I participate in, the ProVision Network. Last week I was at a Leadership meeting for our particular chapter and we talked a bit about mentorship. Then Saturday night I heard a man talking about the need to develop wisdom.

As often happens, I began to churn and synthesize these ideas together to see how they could help us become more productive and successful authors. What information could apply directly to us as writers?

The most obvious thing would be the need to attend writer’s conferences and learn from other writers. I think the success of my Writing Career Coach mentorship program is a proof of the benefit that comes from learning from others.

Not everyone can attend a writer’s conference, however, so there are also blogs by authors, editors and agents. Those of you who are developing their writing skills right now don’t realize the huge advantage you have vs. those of us who started years ago. Even as recently as 2003, there were not the variety and quality of blogs as we have now by people in the industry. While there is a great deal of fluff online, once you identify great sources of information you have a resource worth far more than you can imagine. Try to find ONE action step or one useful bit of information from each blog you read. Don’t let the information be passive. Make it your to-do list each week.

Finally, set the goal to read 1 or 2 books each month. I’d suggest reading a novel and a business book. There are so many that are now available on tape from libraries that it should not be prohibitive to anyone.

The key to growing as a writer is growing in wisdom. It shakes the cobwebs of and inspires creativity. Pursue wisdom whenever and wherever possible. All of us have things still to learn. The sooner we get at them, the sooner we become professionals.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at http://www.writingcareercoach.com/

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Do you own it?

I've been trying to think for quite some time about how to project this concept to you. It is something that, once you fully grasp it, will completely change the way you approach your writing. For this reason I have spent more than a week looking at this idea from every possible angle.

Before I lay it out, however, how did you do this week with those 3 things you wanted to accomplish? Did you get them done? Did you exceed your expectations or did you make excuses and fall behind? These questions really are foundational to what I want to share today.

Let me return to the question: Do you own it?

Do you own your writing? Do you really see yourself as a professional writer [or even as someone who is working on becoming a professional writer]? I'm really not sure that most of you do because if you did you'd take that $3,000 you lost in May a LOT more seriously.

Really, I mean it. If you have so much cash that you can keep throwing money in the fire place and not miss it, PLEASE send some of it my way. I'd put it to good use.

Honestly, I hate to think of the thousands of dollars most of you have lost this year...and last year.

The money I'm referring to is the royalties, cash advances and article income you WOULD be earning if you put the consistent effort in to writing instead of piddling with it a little at a time. There comes a time in every author's life where they must face a hard truth-If you REALLY believed you could earn money as a writer you'd spend time writing instead of watching the Partridge Family Rerun Marathon [or whatever it is you waste your time on]. You'd listen to books on CD. You'd read books while waiting in your car. You'd scribble plot outlines on the back of the paper place mats at your favorite restaurant. You'd submit SOMETHING to SOMEONE each and every week.

In short, you'd do everything a professional writer does because the only way you're going to get there is if you do what they do-even before you get that "phone call".

So it all comes down to your belief in yourself and your expectation of success. Are you going to spend another $1,000 this year to attend a writer's conference, get pumped up and then do nothing with it? Are you going to sign up to take advantage of Writing Career Coach's coaching program-and not do the lessons? Are you going to buy another book thinking that spending the money-without reading the book-will somehow make you a better writer?

It's not about knowing the right names, owning the right books or linking to the right blogs. Being a successful writer is about consistency and growth. It is about getting mad enough at losing that $3,000 book deal this month that you'll put even more work in to it next month. It is about possessing the goal-not just hoping for it. It is about taking responsibility for the results instead of making excuses for the failure.

It is about owning the dream to the point that not accomplishing it costs you something. It is about seeing publication as rightfully yours and then working to bring your vision to reality.

So, do you own it? Does the dream own you? Are you willing to earn it?

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group's next event.
Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website. [www.TheBalancedLife.com]
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog. [http://tiffanycolter.blogspot.com]
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.[http://writersrest.blogspot.com]

A Newbie's look at craft

Today I’m going to share an interview I had with another of the authors I mentor through WritingCareerCoach.com’s mentorship program. I hope that the new writers out there will be encouraged and that the established writers will see something that brings them back to their ‘first love’…writing.

So now I’d like to introduce Kathryn Neff Perry

Q. Share one thing you have done recently to improve your craft?

A. THE FIRST THING I DID WAS HIRE A WRITING COACH. THE SECOND THING I DID WAS TAKE HER ADVICE AND BUY THE BREAKOUT NOVEL AND THE WORKBOOK

Q. What are some things you're doing to market even before you're published?

A I POST TO MY BLOG DAILY AND KEEP MY WEB SITE UPDATED, HOPING FOR MORE EXPOSURE

Q. What genre do you write and how did you become interested in it?

A. I WRITE MYSTERIES/SUSPENSE. I BECAME INTERESTED IN MYSTERIES/SUSPENSE FROM THE FIRST NOVEL I READ. I'M A HUGE FAN OF ROBERT PARKER. I LOVE TRYING TO GUESS WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.

Q. If you had to give one piece of advice to someone just starting out as an author, what would it be?

A. MY ADVICE WOULD BE TO READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON, AND TO WRITE EVERYDAY.

Q. Do you have a blog/website? What is the theme and the address?

A. MY WEBSITE IS www.kathrynneffperry.com. MY BLOG address is www.kattskomments.blogspot.com. The theme for both is inspiration. My hope is for other authors to find inspiration from my words.

Thank you so much for sharing with us. It is important to write every day-even if no one ever sees your words. It is the discipline of writing that you’re developing and that will help you grow as a writer.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.

Craft

For our last post before we start in to Feb. I want to talk a bit about craft.

I am a huge advocate of "Writing the Breakout Novel" as a workbook but we're going to be even more general than that today.

What is craft? How do you develop it?

Craft is something that you have to work at. You may have natural talent [some of you may have incredible talent] but without craft you'll never reach your full potential.

One key to maturing as a writer is to recognize how much you don't know. When I wrote my first manuscript I thought it was the most brilliant set of words to ever land on paper. Truly, I was enamored with my genius. It was inconceivable that anyone could write something more riveting than that story.

When I placed in the top 20 of a writing contest...well, I knew I was already the champ. The story was destined for greatness. I stopped learning. I had arrived. Books would be written about my rise to fame. People would flock to learn from me.

That manuscript never went any further. I'm embarrassed that anyone ever saw it associated with my name!!

That is because I've grown in my craft.

As I begin to meet writers at higher and higher levels of success my belief in the greatness in humility is reinforced.

Humility is not self-depreciation. It is recognition of ones limitations and then the willingness to do what is necessary to push past them and grow as a writer. It is stepping outside your comfort zone and seeing yourself for who you really are.

It is like the scene in the movie "The Never-Ending Story" where the warrior realizes he's the boy in the attic [and vice versa]. Once he had that realization he was able to go further than he ever thought possible. He was able to do great things. Recognizing his limitations allowed him to exceed them.

That is what our craft can do. If we recognize that we are not good at writing dialog then we can recognize that limitation-and push past it. That is how we go up a notch.

Get together with a critique partner. Hire an editor to read the first 30 pages of your manuscript. Do something to find your weaknesses in craft.

Then, armed with that knowledge, get the tools to turn those weaknesses in to strengths.

Sunday starts the first day of the rest of our month. Get ready to break down barriers and push past limitations. Forget everything leading up to this moment.

Let's get going!

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.

Setting up for success

I have never been a volleyball fan. Despite being a varsity gymnast in high school I found volleyball too brutal of a sport to be any fun.

One thing I did learn from Volleyball, however, was the power of coordinated effort. One of the positions in volleyball is called the setter [or at least I think that was what the position was called. Shows you how much I love Volleyball. ha-ha]

Okay, I love college football. Let's go with that. [The Fiesta Bowl was heartbreaking for this Buckeye!] When they call a play everyone has to know what position to go to, who to line up against and where to watch. The defense has to try to read the play and prepare to stop the person from running the ball in to the end zone [clearly, I love football more than volleyball].

As writers and business owners we have our own end zone. Our goals will determine the plays we run. We will also encounter opposition.

We must always be on offense calling out play after play...making little movements a few yards at a time until we hit the end zone PUBLICATION.

Then immediately we go RIGHT back where we started from and do the same thing all over again. Sometimes rejection will push us back and the other team will score against us [the other team being our own negative self-talk] but we still end up BACK at the 50 yard line.

I can't call your plays for you. You have to do that. Determine what your goal is. What you'll have to do to get there. And, most importantly, don't give up. Keep pushing incrementally forward.

For me college football is wrapping up. The bowl games are over. In August the teams will come out again. The winners will have to once again prove they have the stuff. The losers will have a chance to come back and have their time to shine.

As writers every day, every week, every project we prove ourselves again and again. The book is simply the culmination of years of sweat and tears.

Where will you be next year? That will be determined by what you do in the next 12 hours. And the 12 after that. and the 12 after that. Well, you get the picture.

Don't forget to share your opinion in our poll. It will only be available a few more days.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.

Weekly tracking guide

Good morning,

As writers there are many skills we must master. There is craft, characterization, marketing, editing, proposals and query letters...and accepting rejection graciously.

It can feel like we are making no forward progress.

Sometimes it is true, sometimes it is because you're basing success on word count.

The best solution is to keep track of what you're actually doing to advance your writing career. Students of my monthly coaching received this already [if you are in my coaching program and didn't receive it, email me and I'll get a copy right over to you.]

If you'd like to write one of your own think about the various aspects of being a writer and rank them in order of importance. Then give each a 'point value'. Determine how many points you'd like to earn each week [or how many points you NEED to earn each week if your on a deadline] and then start working.

It is simple things that reap huge dividends in our writing. Sometimes things as simple as a to-do list or a tracking sheet are enough to give us the accountability we need to move forward.

Don't allow yourself to get discouraged in 2009. Make this the year that you reach your goals.

More importantly, make this the WEEK that you reach a milestone on the path to your goals.

The webinar I'm teaching on Thursday can be accessed here. If you cannot attend, the ProVision Network will be recording the presentation and it will be available for sale at a later date.

I have also posted a poll on my blog. I know most of you read these directly in your email but take the time to give your thoughts on this new feature. Click straight to the blog here.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.

You know what to do, but how???

Happy Monday!!

I truly mean that every time I say that. I love being a writer and I love coaching other writers and helping them to be all they can be.

So many people make New Year's Resolutions [although I haven't heard as much of that this year...guess it's because I quit listening to the News all the time.]

I don't make Resolutions because it is no more effective than making a declaration.

I make decisions and I follow them with action.

If that is you, then you're in the right place. Last week I called you all to make January a foundational month. Not only am I encouraging you to do that, but I'm going to help you with that.

We're going to lay the foundation for a successful new year in your writing business. Over this next month I will not only suggest steps to take but I'm going to allow a few of the people I coach to tell you some of what THEY'RE doing to grow their business. Some of them have ideas identical to me, others have taken what I've taught and forged their own path.

Either way, 2009 can be an opportunity for you to meet those goals.

Our economy is in a time of flux. Our government is in a state of transition.

Uncertainty can be scary.

But, history has shown us that the people who adjusted TO change are the ones who sky rocketed in growth.

Make this your month to grow!

Many of you have emailed me to ask about my coaching program. It runs 3 months starting from the day you register [so if you register January 15th it will run until April 15th] so you always get 3 full months.

Yes, if you own one or more of the products you do get a discount on that first month.

And I have a few more spots for January [only 8] so if you'd like to sign up for coaching this month, do it quickly.

One final thing, if you have high school students [homeschool, public school or private school] and they're dreading that term paper I'm teaching a semester long class on mastering the term paper. It is $30 for the SEMESTER [yes, it is a crazy cheap deal. I love teenagers and want to see them succeed]. I only have a few spots left so email me directly if you'd like your student to have the private tutoring. Or if they want to purchase the product without tutoring. I no longer do the e-loop so all tutoring is private tutoring.

See you tomorrow and we'll delve in to the year your business exceeded your expectations!

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.