The Fabulist Flash

Issue 108

Red Mum Mug

In This Issue:

1. This Week
2. The Write Goals
3. Goal Setting For Writers
4. Ayn Hunt take the 18Q
5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

Are the leaves turning to beautiful shades of yellow and red where you are? I miss that. We just don't get those bursts of seasonal color here in the desert. Not to worry, I am getting a little taste of the fall experience because I've gone back to school. It's interesting being involved once again in a formal classroom setting. Formal from a structural point, not a brick and mortar point. You see, it's an online program. I've taken online courses before, but it's different this time because I'm pursuing my MS in Education through CalState. It's a 15 month program, so I'll be sharing my thoughts and insights with you during the coming months.

The biggest challenge of being back in school full time is getting everything done. There's school work, which includes a lot of reading and writing, my own writing, the dozen other small projects and groups I'm involved in, and my home and family life to balance. Success comes when goals are set and prioritized. With this in mind, I thought we'd take a look at goal setting in this week's issue with the help of Shaunna Privratsky and Allison Whitehead. Also this week, Ayn Hunt takes the 18Q.

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes (www.kompes.com) is a writer, manuscript consultant and author of the bestseller 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live, The Endorsement Quest, The Everyday Gay Activist and Your Intensive Care Unit Stay.

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Preview 9 essential books for writers on The Writer's Bookshelf

2. The Write Goals

The Write Goals Shaunna Privratsky

It’s that time of year again. You can’t miss the signs; the trees sport a warm blanket of blazing leaves, the children have been back in school for awhile and there’s a frosty tinge to the air that warns of impending winter. Fall is the perfect time for writers to renew their writing resolutions.

Take a look at your New Year’s goals for the year. How are you doing so far? Do you have a ways to go? Don’t worry, you still have time for an end of the year push to meet all your goals and more.

For many writers, fall is a season of renewed energy. Perhaps your summer was less than productive; redeem your writing by getting back into the swing of things. Your writing will sing with a new zeal and purpose.

The cooler temperatures and earlier sunsets each day gradually herd us indoors. We have fewer distractions like outdoor chores or the lazy days of summer. More time indoors naturally leads to more writing opportunities. Just be sure to resist the lure of the new fall season of television shows. Budget your writing time just as you would important chores or events.

Writing parents have more time when the kids are in school or at extra curricular activities. Our schedule is perhaps busier, but more structured. Harness every spare moment of writing time you can. Who else has scribbled an article or short story while your child played soccer, T-ball, gymnastics or basketball?

Deadlines can be a powerful prod. With only three months left of the year, you can push yourself to finish that screenplay, fill your article quota or publish your chapbook of poetry. For many writers, me included, a looming deadline can be the motivation needed to finish a big project.

Looking at the bottom line can be a great incentive. Did you make any monetary goals back at the beginning of the year? Assess your records to see how you are coming along. Brainstorm ideas on how you could increase your writing income. Maybe you could write an extra article a week and submit it, or double your queries. You could find two new markets a week for your short stories or research for your book proposal.

Maybe you resolved to be more organized this year. If your desk is still buried, your files hopelessly jumbled or your notes and records all over the place, take charge. Now is the ideal time to pick up extra folders, notebooks, pens, pencils and other office and organizational supplies. Once the frenzy of back to school shopping has abated, the prices are at rock bottom. I restocked for a whole year for under $5!

Now is the perfect time to look for new markets. Many magazines and websites launch in the fall, gearing up for the holidays. Check your favorite writing newsletters like Funds For Writers, Absolute Write, Write Success and Writing For Dollars for current calls for submissions. You can also look in job posting sites and the online Writer’s Market for the latest job openings. They are actively seeking new writers so now is the time to submit.

With any goals or resolutions, the key to success is fine-tuning. If you realize your January 1st resolutions were unrealistic, adjust them. You know your writing better than anyone. Set attainable goals and when you reach them, reward yourself. Big or small, a goal met is a step to celebrate on the road to success. Build on each success by setting another goal. Resolutions give us focus. We can better channel our energies with a clear plan. A dedicated writer sets progressively higher goals. Take a moment to review your year so far. Then reevaluate your goals and renew your writing resolutions. You may be surprised at just what you can achieve with the write goals!

About the Author
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Learn 1,000’s of writing tips in Shaunna Privratsky’s book, Pump Up Your Prose. She has authored over 250 articles in The Writer, Writer’s Digest Online, Writer’s Weekly, and Absolute Write, among others. FREE sign up to The Writer Within Newsletter at http://shaunna67.tripod.com/.

3. Goal Setting For Writers

Goal Setting For Writers (or The Power of The Post It Note) Allison Whitehead

Wow. I remember when I first started writing. I wish I'd known then what I know now! But don't worry -- I'm going to tell you what I know now, so you can have a super fast and successful start to your writing career.

I did ok in those early days -- a few letters got published in some big magazines, I got the odd article accepted here and there in some low profile magazines, and one or two short stories received publication and a few complimentary copies.

But as I say, I wish I'd known then what I know now. I was doing ok, but I was aimless. I had no real direction to go in. If I felt particularly inspired, I might write a couple of articles in one day; I remember once writing three in a single day and getting every single one published. But then I'd bask in the glory of my success for weeks… and it was ages before I summoned the muse to write again.

This is a real stumbling block for the newbie writer. If you have real ambitions as a writer -- if you want to get published (and paid for), and you have a list of magazines tucked safely under your pillow that you dream about getting published in someday… you need a plan. You need a goal.

This is something I didn't realized until a few years ago. You can be the most talented writer out there; you can be the next John Grisham, the next JK Rowling, or the next Stephen King… but it doesn't matter a jot if you don't have a plan for how you're going to get there.

Goal setting can make the difference between doing okay, and getting a few pieces published here and there, or making a successful, full time career as a writer. Even if you only want to keep your writing in hobby status, setting goals for yourself can mean that hobby brings in several hundred pounds a month extra, and puts your name in several well known magazines every month.

So how do you go about setting goals?

Well the first and most important thing you need to do is to be honest with yourself. Grab a notepad and pen, and settle down in a comfy chair where you won't be disturbed. Ask yourself what you'd really like to achieve with your writing. Be honest -- don't neglect to write something down because you don't think you could ever do it, or it's too hard, or you don't think you're good enough. This is like the 'what would you do if you won the lottery?' question -- go all out and dream!

Would you like to write a book? Get a short story in a world famous magazine? What's the one thing you've always wanted to achieve with your writing?

Let's say you want to write and publish your own book. That's a big goal. But you can do it -- if you go about it in the right way. That's where goal setting comes in. But you need to know how to do it properly -- and for maximum effect.

First of all, write your goal down on a Post-It note. But don't write it as if it's something you want -- write it as if it's already happened. So you'd write something like this:

"I am a successful published author, and I make £1000 every month selling copies of my book online and in bookstores."

This might sound a little strange, but it really works! The key is to write your goal down as if you have already achieved it, and then stick the Post-It note where you will see it often -- ideally right by your computer screen. By doing this, you will impress the message upon your subconscious, which will get to work for you and start making your dream come true.

Sounds even stranger now, I'll bet! Well, the subconscious is an amazing thing, but you don't really need to understand a great deal about it for this method to work. The simple reason it does work is this -- the subconscious cannot tell the difference between what is real and what you tell it is real. Whatever messages you bury into your subconscious, it will make them come true.

Think about it. Have you ever noticed how people who are down on their luck are convinced it's because they're naturally unlucky? And then something bad happens to prove it? And that convinces them even more...and so on, in an ever downward spiral?

And think about someone you've met who always seems to be doing well? They're always optimistic, always looking for the best in every situation...and they always seem to be 'getting lucky'?

Both these types of people have ultimately created their own surroundings. The person who expects to succeed does exactly that -- because they work towards that goal, and their subconscious drives them there. The unlucky person expects to be unlucky because that's what always seems to happen to them -- so that's what their subconscious 'mirrors' back to them.

So get your subconscious working for you, and think about what you would really like to achieve as a writer. I have used this technique for some time now, and I can tell you it's amazing what starts to happen when you trust your subconscious and stick that little Post-It note where you can see it!

A while back, I set a goal to get some e-books published. I wanted to be earning £1000 a month by writing and selling articles and e-books, so I stuck my note on my computer monitor, and I found myself looking at it probably twenty or thirty times a day.

Within a couple of weeks of doing that, my first book was on sale with an online publisher, and I had an agreement with a second publisher to write another one for them. In the same short space of time, I found a website on which I could display and sell my articles (check it out at www.constant-content.com/ -- I thoroughly recommend it), and sold a couple within five days of each other. It felt like I'd just 'got lucky' and stumbled across all this information… but I know it's because my subconscious knew what it needed to do, and went for it like a heat seeking missile!

And all thanks to that Post-It note!

So you can see what's possible. Think about what you'd really like to achieve, and set yourself some goals today. If you follow the technique above, I promise you you'll be celebrating in no time!

Go to it -- and enjoy the journey.

About the Author
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Allison Whitehead has written and sold articles on many topics, including self-help, goal setting, self employment and motivational subjects. Her latest e-book, "The 5 Secrets of Successful Goal Setting", can help you reach all your goals in life -- not just writing related ones! Discover all the secrets today -- there's a FREE pdf preview available at www.lulu.com/smoo_publishing

4. Ayn Hunt take the 18Q

Ayn Hunt (a.k.a Ayn Amorelli)

Website:
www.AuthorsDen.com/aynhunt

Bibliography:
The Haunting
Unwilling Killers
Contract Bride

Biography:
Ayn Hunt is a Texan whose ghostly obsession has turned into a career of writing Gothics and Mysteries with Gothic elements. With her goal of wanting to be a published writer ever since she can remember, she reads extensively about the marketing and publishing business. In addition to reading, she enjoys taking long walks and listening to an eclectic mix of both Goldie Oldies and light classical jazz.

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?
A little of both I think. I wanted to be a writer long before I learned how to learned how to make letters in first grade. I think that's my purpose in life.

2. What is your background (education, work, etc.)?
I went to college during two periods in my life (in the early 1970's and mid- 90s) and have 254 accredited hours but no degree. As far as work goes, I've worked mainly in offices doing clerical work, which was a bad fit. Regarding writing 'credentials,' I took journalism courses throughout high school and my stint in a community college, and did my journalism internship at the Galveston Daily News in the late 1960s. When I got married, I dropped out of college in the 70s and worked as a freelancer, writing articles and short stories while raising my family and working in offices. Then when our daughter entered college, so did I for the second go-round. In 2001, I bought a computer for the first time ever without first telling my husband, then, after some health problems which kept me home, wrote my first novel, Unwilling Killers, and have been writing ever since, full-time.

3. When did you "know" you were a writer?
I've always known, as far back as I can remember. The problem was 1) learning how to form letters, and 2) fitting it in with 'real life.'

4. How would you describe your style of writing?
In a review of my third published Gothic, The Haunting, the reviewer said it had the feel of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. And in another review of it, the reviewer tried to figure out how I made it so suspenseful without using explicit gore or violence.

I think what it boils down to is I get inside my characters, seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling everything they do, so my style is pretty realistic. I enjoy putting ordinary people into extraordinary situations, then figuring out how they'll extricate themselves.

5. What is your writing process?
I adhere to a schedule of getting up at 4 a.m. and write till about noon, taking breaks only to see hubby off to work and having another cup of coffee.

6. What was your path to publication?
When I was in college for the second time, I wrote an autobiography on an old typewriter, which an editor at Atheneum was interested in. But then, after I sent them the second half at the editor's request, the editor either quit or was fired (I never knew which), so the deal fell through. Then I put it in my bottom drawer of my desk, where it rests to this day.

I continued to write though, part-time on that old typewriter and kept sending out manuscripts only to have them rejected again and again. It wasn't until I bought a computer and finished the umpteenth rewrite of Unwilling Killers on it that I started getting novels published.

7. What was your favorite self-marketing idea?
Regarding promotion? I'm not sure what works the most. I think it's a combination of book signings, giving talks, writing articles for ezines, and networking that builds up name recognition. I have no particular favorite. I do them all. It's part of my job.

8. What is the biggest surprises you've encountered as a writer?
The biggest surprise was of a personal nature, when someone I considered one of my best friends lashed out at me for being successful and realizing my dream. Then she admitted how she'd lied about me to our friends, and there was nothing I could do about it. I never realized how jealous she was.

9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?
I'm inspired by watching the sun rise as I write and listening to CDs of sounds of the ocean.

10. What is your proudest writer moment?
Being told by the manger of Borders Bookstore, where I was signing copies of my first book, Unwilling Killers, that they had run out of my books...and there were people still lining up to buy copies of it.

11. What's the best advice you were given about writing.
Show don't tell. That's my mantra.

12. What is your most embarrassing writing moment?
Being told by a lady who wanted her picture taken with me I looked better than my picture on my website then looking up at me quizzically, and not being able to think of a thing to say at the time other than 'thank you,' which sounded trite. I think she wanted an explanation, but I couldn't think of one.

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?
None, at least not that I know of.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?
I think that luck is 60 percent of getting published, maybe more than that. So I'm never cocky about my success.

15. When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?
Take long walks or go to the gym I just joined and hang out in their hot tub. I love the way that bubbling hot water feels.

16. Who do you like to read?
My favorite is still the Sherlock Holmes stories, even though I've read every one there is twice.

17. What's your advice for new writers?
Never give up, and don't expect everyone to be happy for your success when you get published.

18. What are you currently working on?
My fifth book, which is an historical romance, written under Ayn Amorelli. It's my second Romance. My first, Contract Bride, is a contemporary romance which came out in May of this year and is a best seller at Fictionwise.

5. About The Fabulist Flash

ISSN: 1554-0804

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