You have to trust your instincts.
That's what I recently told a WriteByNighter when, during her free consult, she expressed total overwhelm at the prospect of choosing her focus. With a poetry manuscript, two nonfiction books, and a novella all at different stages of completion, all floating around in her brain vying for her attention, she was paralyzed and
unable to do any writing at all.
"Forget about publishing, the marketplace, agent appeal," I told her. "Forget about all of that. When you close your eyes and clear your mind, where do your thoughts drift? Which
piece calls to you? That's what you should work on. You have to trust your instincts."
Now I'm telling you the same thing: trust your instincts, and not just when it comes to choosing a focus. Here's
how.
Where are you with your goals? I questioned. Are you doing what you set out to do? Are you writing
more, writing better, producing pages? Are you making your ideal writing life happen?
"It's mid-February," I reminded. "What have you accomplished?"
Maybe that sounds a little aggressive. Maybe it comes off as critical. Maybe you read that email and said to yourself, "Geez, Justine, lighten up. It's only February."
And if you did, that's cool. I understand. That message was aggressive. It was critical. It was meant to be.
Rest assured, I'm not being tough for the sake of being tough. There is method to my madness.
I want you to examine
yourself. I want you to be aware of your writing habits and honest with yourself about them. I want you to see what you could do differently, how your writing life could be better, in order to accomplish your goals. And if your actions are not aligned with your intentions, I want you to do something about it.
If you keep telling yourself you'll write, but you rarely do; if you promise yourself you'll get around to writing one of these days, but that day never arrives; if you talk about writing and think about writing, but are not actually writing; if you are not producing pages, one by one, day by day; if your creative life is stagnating, getting nowhere despite your best
intentions . . .
You need to do something about it. If going it alone isn't working for you, you need to get help. You need to be honest with yourself. You need to trust your
instincts.
So I'm sticking to my guns, and I'm asking you to stick to yours: It's mid-April . . . what have you
accomplished?
Reply to this email to let me know. Tell me:
1. what you've accomplished so far this year,
2. what you want to accomplish, and
3. how you plan to accomplish it.
This is not only tough love, but FREE accountability, too, because you can bet your buns, I'm gonna check on you.
