The Fabulist Flash

Issue Number 15

December 23, 2004
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In This Issue:

  1. This Week
  2. The Writer's Bookshelf
  3. Feature Article
  4. Tip of the Week
  5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

Welcome to Issue Number 15 of The Fabulist Flash. Forward it to all your writing friends.

Where last week found me signing a contract with a new literary agent, this week arrives with my first, signed book contract. It's a thrilling way to end this year and begin the new. Traveling through this process of book proposal, waiting, rewrites, waiting, and finally contracts I have learned a lot. There's an unfamiliar pace to this process. Things are calm and take a little longer than I expected. I'm trying to take that energy into my writing process. Instead of flying through things I'm instead trying to take a breath, see the big picture, and then proceed. I'm not only trying to work in the moment, but see the long-term outcome, too.

Also this week I had two photographs published in Nevada Magazine. It's a different emotion seeing my photo credit compared to a byline. I look at my published photos and remember the moment of the clicks clearly. That's another sense memory I'm trying to bring to my writing: hearing the click when the words come together.

It's fun arriving at a place where my goals for the year are being realized. I hope this finds you realizing your own goals, too.

This week's feature article, It's That Time of Year by Tina Gallagher, provides a step-by-step, practical approach to setting and realizing your goals. I hope you find it helpful and inspirational.

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes is a freelance writer and photographer. Learn more about Gregory and his work at http://www.Kompes.com
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2. The Writer's Bookshelf

An Electronic Bookshelf

by Gregory A. Kompes

Creating a good electronic bookshelf is just as important as having a bunch of dust collecting volumes scattered around you.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love books and have stacks of them everywhere in my house. I read all the time. But, there are lots of excellent resources online that aren't available in that traditional pages inside of covers format.

As you know, my web savy friends, there are thousands of sites to explore. Some of these offer excellent resources and advice, some of them don't. After all, anyone can post anything on the wonderful World Wide Web. They don't have to justify their existence or site their references if they don't want to.

A great addition to a writer's electronic bookshelf are bookmarks of the lists of writer's markets. Here's just a partial list:

Absolute Write's Market Archives
http://www.absolutewrite.com/markets/archives.htm

Freelance Job Bank on Freelance Writing.com
http://www.freelancewriting.com/forumdir/fjb/index.html

Organized Writer's Guideline Database
http://www.organizedwriter.com/guidelines.htm

Funds for Writers - Jobs and Markets
http://www.fundsforwriters.com/markets.htm
(email newsletter available, also click on grants and contests)

Paying Markets List
http://www.writerswrite.net/paylist.cfm

Sell Writing Online
http://www.sellwritingonline.com/wm1.html

Writer's Crossing
http://www.writerscrossing.com/markets/freelancemarkets.html

Writer's Digest - Market of the Day
http://www.writersdigest.com/motd/index.htm

The Writer Gazette
http://www.writergazette.com/jobboard.shtml
http://www.writergazette.com/callforsubmissions.shtml

Writer's Market.com (subscription only)
http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp

Writer's Weekly
http://www.writersweekly.com/#jobs

Writing-World.com list of links to markets
http://www.writing-world.com/links/guidelines.shtml
http://www.writing-world.com/cgi-bin/suite/classifieds/classifieds.cgi

Writer's Write Writer's Guideline Directory
http://www.writerswrite.com/guidelines/

For titles of inspiration to writers visit The Writer's Bookshelf.

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3. Feature Article

It's That Time of Year

by Tina Gallagher

It's that time of year again. Time to focus on the possibilities of the year to come, and review the one that's passed. While it's important to recognize what you didn't accomplish, don't beat yourself up over the fact that you didn't finish everything you set out to. Instead, look at last year's goals in relation to this year's and focus on the future.

When setting your new writing goals, make sure to:


1) Examine last year's goals.
  • What worked for you? What didn't? Were your goals attainable? If they were, and you didn't manage to reach them, why not?
  • If you didn't write down any goals last year, ask yourself why. Be totally honest about your strong points as well as your shortcomings.
  • Make sure the goals you're setting are your own. Don't set out to accomplish something simply because you think it's expected of you.

2) Set goals you can control

  • You want to win the Pulitzer Prize and write award winning articles. While they may be good dreams to have, they're not goals you have control over. What you have control over is the quality of the work you write and the publications you submit to.
  • Be clear about what you want to accomplish. Don't say, "I'm going to query editors", state how many queries you plan on sending out per day, per week, or per month.

3.) Break your goals down

  • Take your ultimate goals and break them down into smaller, more manageable steps
  • Be sure to include everything it will take to accomplish your goal. You can't simply "write an article", you must also outline and research it.
  • While "write a book" might be one of your main goals, it seems a bit overwhelming in and of itself. Instead, determine how many words you'd like your book to be and figure out what it will take to make it come to life. For instance, if you plan on writing a 50,000-word non-fiction book, it will take you approximately two months if you write 1000 words a day. Breaking it down into smaller numbers makes it seem more attainable.
  • You might also want to break your goals down into categories. For instance:
  • Writing - Determine your actual project goals.
  • Craft - If you're dedicated to learning more about the craft of writing, specify what you'd like to learn, which books you want to read on the subject(s). Do you plan on attending any writer's conferences? Write that down, too.
  • Business - Plan how you're going to market yourself. What publications do you want to submit to? Do you want to create a website?

4.) Be sure to check your goals

  • It's great to set goals, but if you're not accomplishing them, what good are they? Don't just make a list of goals because it's the thing to do at this time of year. Use your list as a plan of action for all you want to accomplish in the future.
  • If you find yourself falling short of the goals you've set, be sure to adjust accordingly.

Remember, just writing your goals down is a step toward achieving them. By making a list and checking it twice (or three or four times), you're creating a map that will help you reach your ultimate destination.

About the Author
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Tina Gallagher is a freelance writer and mother of two. In addition to writing articles on children and family, she also writes romance novels. You can contact Tina via email at Galsalla1010@yahoo.com.

4. Tip of the Week

Take a moment this week and think about who it is who is your biggest supporter, your biggest fan. Write them a note or a poem of thanks and appreciation.

5. About the Fabulist Flash

ISSN: 1554-0804

The Fabulist Flash is dedicated to helping freelance writers find resources and inspiration.

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The Fabulist Flash
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