goal setting -

02Sep 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

How are you going to end the year?

Can you believe it's already September? If I hadn't filled my day planner every month this year I might not be able to believe it myself. It's been a pretty crazy year, both on a personal level and a global level, and while some of the days have dragged on seemingly forever, the months have flown by. As we enter the last four months of the year and students return to school, it's important to assess what we've accomplished this year and decide how to move forward. Last week I talked about creating a schedule to move your writing career forward. Today I want you to make a big commitment to your writing career. I want to see you making progress by leaps and bounds instead of baby steps in…

03Mar 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

The necessary mindset to build better habits

Goal setting, Inspirational, Writing

Building new habits only seems easy when the habits are bad. Forging good habits is a constant uphill battle, but it can be done. With the right mindset and a lot of hard work, you can create new habits and build the life you've always wanted. So what is the mindset that will spur you to success? In a nutshell, it's the belief that you can accomplish it and the willingness to work at it every single day. Really. Take it back to basics, those two things are all you need to be successful. To break it down further, there are four important beliefs which make up the mindset required for success: 1. I am already successful in many ways. Grab a pen and paper. Write down everything you've done…

06Jan 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Building new habits in 2014

Goal setting, Inspirational, Writing

Everybody--especially the people that don't admit it--wants to become a better, more successful version of themselves. The specifics vary from person to person, but it always boils down to two things: building good habits and eliminating bad ones. Looking at the big picture of self transformation is scary. Most of us have a pretty concrete vision of how we'd like to change--quit smoking, eat less fast food, write more, exercise regularly--and regularly attempt to make these changes. Many set these goals as their new year's resolutions, put real effort in for a couple weeks or months, then fall off the bandwagon. They set the same goals, year after year, never making more than minimal progress towards becoming the person they want to be. There are all kinds of reasons why…

09Dec 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Organizing your writing life for 2014

Goal setting, Inspirational, Writing

Usually I spend most of December talking about setting goals for the new year, but this year I want to focus more on getting organized so you can achieve those goals. There are some key steps you can take now to make your writing run more smoothly in 2014. The simpler you make it to achieve your goals, the more likely you are to go through with it. This simplification process doesn't mean lowering your goals, unless you've realized that you severely overshot when you set out on the adventure of 2013. Instead it means preparing yourself for 2014, similar to preparing yourself for Nanowrimo in October, but more intense. Some of these steps can and should be taken right now, and others will have to wait until you've chosen…

22Nov 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

How to make the most of this weekend

Goal setting, Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

Tonight marks the beginning of the last full weekend of Nanowrimo, and no matter where you are in your word count--unless you're one of those lucky people who has already finished their novel--it's important to make the most of your time. By creating specific goals and a detailed plan, you can balance your weekend between social commitments, housework and writing, and get a lot done. Most people recommend working in short bursts and then taking short breaks. Gabriela Pereira of DIY MFA suggested the Pomodoro Technique during her writing marathon last weekend, which involves working on something for a 25 minute period and then taking a five minute break. I personally find that how long I like to work on tasks depends on the task--often a blog post will take…

29Jul 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Prioritization

Goal setting, Writing

In today's world with family, friends, work and endless media vying for your attention, it's incredibly important to make sure you prioritize the things that are important to you. I spent much of the last few months discussing how to deal with various distractions and I'm even working on an ebook based around that very subject, but before you can truly implement that advice you must choose what is most important to you. As the summer has reached its halfway point, I've been thinking about this a lot and re-evaluating my priorities for the next month. Soon enough school will start again and I'll have extremely limited time for my writing, so I need to make the most of this next month. Everyone's writing goals are different, but you can…

10May 2013 by diannagunn

Progress Report April 2013

Goal setting, Writing

April's been a pretty exciting month for me. I got a job writing, editing and promoting blog posts for DJiZM Disc Jockey Services and I'm thrilled to be working with them. I'm also working on becoming a paid contributor to a large Canadian music blog, but I can't reveal too much about that yet. I'm still behind on my personal goals, but I did make more progress in April than I did in March, so let's take a look: April progress Editing Moonshadow's Guardian-- I ended up only editing four chapters of Moonshadow's Guardian this month instead of six, but I am making progress. I've now created a concrete plan to make more time for writing, both personal and professional, and I'm hoping to actually do six chapters in May.…

05Apr 2013 by diannagunn

Progress Report March 2013

Goal setting, Writing

Today it's time for me to be accountable, to share my progress with all of you. March has certainly been more productive than February was, but I'm not satisfied with my progress on most of my goals, and I've realized that I'm severely over committed. Falling behind on your projects is one thing. Staying behind on them is another, and it usually means one of two things: either you're over committed, or you're not really dedicated to the goals you claim to have. I've realized that I'm suffering from the former problem and I'm currently working on a plan to address that, which includes some changes here at Dianna's Writing Den. But that's a conversation for next week. Today I'm going to show you why I need to kill some…

01Feb 2013 by diannagunn

January Progress

Goal setting, Inspirational, Writing

This year my main goal is to build the foundation for a writing career and to help you do the same. With this in mind, I've decided to share my progress on the goals I set for this year at the end of each month. I'd love to hear about your own progress in the comments below. Remember, we're all on this path together. Not only is it important to help each other figure things out, but it's important to celebrate our successes as a community. I'm going to start by addressing each of my goals in order. Finish Editing Moonshadow's Guardian-- I kind of hit a snag with this where I thought I'd printed the whole thing, but when I reached the end of my printed manuscript, it wasn't…

21Dec 2012 by diannagunn

Creating Goals That Match Your Definition of Success

Goal setting, Inspirational, Writing

In light of the upcoming new year, I've been talking a lot about success lately. I've talked about how to define your success and how to identify the keys to your success. Now that you have an idea of what your success looks like, it's time to figure out how you're going to move towards that goal in 2013. Every writer needs goals. Without goals, you have no idea where you're going--and no idea what accomplishments to celebrate. But creating your own success--and nobody else is going to do this for you, so it's crucial you focus on this--doesn't come from a list of goals chosen at random. It comes from a list that is designed to get you closer to your own definition of success, based on the keys…