BellaOnline Forums Career Nonfiction Writing Your Goals for 2009

This is a time of year when most of us make new or extended plans for the year. What are your writing goals for this year?

I wouldn't mind doing an ebook at BellaOnline on my topic. That's going to have to happen later on towards summer.

I'm working on an ebook and plan to have it ready for download by the first week of February.

Since I'm new to Bella, I wasn't sure what you meant by "doing an ebook at BellaOnline." Does that mean it would be posted on Bella in your Repitile category.

I took a class on Virtual University - Breaking the Block. I don't think I have that problem but what I do have is a fear of getting started writing anything serious or perhaps I just don't know how to go about it. In school I had to write papers but my best result was when the adenaline was high and my mind went into full gear. I immediately began an outline and all kinds of ideas cropped up. How do you start a project? That would be my goal - figuring that out.

Angie,

You mentioned that you work best when the adrenaline is high, and that motivates you to get into full gear. I am the same way but continually work hard to try to work on a scheduled basis instead of when the guillotine is about to fall. One thing that helps is to know how you work best which is obviously under pressure (as I am), but some people can't work under pressure at all. I admire those people who can work methodically way ahead, but that's not me.

One thing that always helps especially when you are talking about a big project to work on is to make a list of everything you can think of that it might take to accomplish that task. Are there people you want to interview? Write that down. Are there things you need to research? Write down the areas that need to be researched. Keep thinking it through until you've listed everything possible from start to finish. This gives you some small steps to take to start accomplishing the big task to completion.

I call these lists �project lists" and name the top of the list with this project name. Oh, my, I can see, I really should write an article about this. Thanks for the idea. gj

I once thought I would like to write an article on the Revolutionary War. I started an outline but that is as far as I got. Perhaps I just didn't have a destination. I'll look for your article.

I have taken on the job as "editor" if you will for the writer's section of a website of an organization that I am a Board Member of. I am supposed to be putting together a plan by Monday as to how I will run this section of the site and get writers. It currently has absolutely zero direction, plus the organization has taken on a whole new direction and they are gearing themselves toward helping under-priviledged women while at the same time trying to attract women entreprenuers...this will definitely be a challenge.