Start, Stop, and Continue in 2016 by Diana Flegal

Happy 2016!








In his last message of 2015, my Pastor challenged us to ask ourselves these three questions in preparing for the New Year.

What do I want to start?

What should I stop?

And, what should I continue doing?

As a writer beginning this New Year, I challenge you to ask yourself the same three questions. Here are a few suggestions to consider under the various categories.

START TO:

• meet with a writers/ critique group once a month- even if it has to be online
• journal or write daily morning pages (Google ‘morning pages, Julia Cameron’)
• wake early to grab writing time before daily tasks and commitments claim your day
• write and post a weekly blog / seek guest blogging opportunities
• submit your finished work to literary agents or magazines
• build an Instagram, twitter, or Pinterest account after researching how to utilize them
• invest this year in your dream- a small investment might be the purchase of a writing resource book- a larger one- to register for a writers conference  

STOP:

• making excuses for your writing passion to family and friends
• ignoring the advice of the experts advising you to make changes to your manuscript (especially if you have heard the same thing from several professionals)
• editing- there is a time to stop, say enough, and submit your work
• using weed words that clutter up your story- examples are: ‘just’, ‘always’, ‘really’, that, and ‘as if’

CONTINUE:

• to hone your writing skills by attending a writers conference
• build your social media platforms
• to blog (once you have begun, letting a blog go stagnant is not a good thing)
• build online friendships with other writers
• to post book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads for books you enjoyed

Please feel free to share your ideas my suggestions brought to mind. Stay inspired and write on.