2013: The Year of the Writer

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


Okay, 2013 is actually the Year of the Snake, but isn't it time we claim it for ourselves?

I'm not the first to say it, and I won't be the last: What a great time to be a writer!  We have opportunities and tools that weren't available to us even a decade ago.  Now, as 2013 gets underway, we're especially excited to celebrate the joy of writing with you.  For example:

THE NEW JANUARY ISSUE

Helping us ring in 2013 is an exception group of authors and publishing experts who you'll find uniquely inspiring, including multiple award-winning romance great Colleen Coble. The very clever and insightful Robin Perini shares her secrets of blending love with murder, and we visit with Joshilyn Jackson, who ignites her characters with personalities that jump right off the page. For a complete list of the bestselling wordsmiths who'll spark your creativity, visit the Southern Writers website. As always, the new issue is available in the colorful print edition, or online for immediate reading. Karen Kingsbury

THE NEW FICTION SHORT STORY CONTEST

Last year we held our first short story contest, and published a bonus publication featuring the 13 winners. Response was so great and we received so many requests to do it again, that we're starting the new year with an all-new contest just for fiction. We've doubled the prize money (Grand Prize is $250) as well as amped up the additional perks. The contest begins today, and entries will be accepted through March 1st. For full details, check out the contest web page.

THE NEW YEAR

Like you, we have goals for the new year, and they include continuing to bring you even more bestselling authors and more useful information to help you achieve your writing resolutions and sell more books. Since our first issue we've featured over 300 successful authors, some who are familiar names at the top of the bestseller lists, others who have just broken through with their first novel. One thing they all have in common is a love for writing and a willingness to share their expertise with their fellow wordsmiths. We're grateful to them all, proud to promote their works, and committed to keep bringing you a content-rich magazine that's never boring and ever empowering.

We encourage you to resolve to take advantage of the free promotional platforms available to Southern Writers subscribers. Announce your latest release on Mic Nite. Read an excerpt on Take Five. Plug your book trailer on Must Read TV. Or, if you're simply a fan of good writing, those are great places to discover a new book, so check them out regularly. We'll also be talking to more of your favorite authors on the next Southern Writers Radio Show, coming your way later this month.

Writers, join me in making this our year.  Best of luck to you in 2013.  May this be the year your writing dreams come true.

Because It's There

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director

Over 5,000 people have attempted to scale it, and only 1/8 of them have succeeded. Mountain climbers who like a good challenge consider Mt. Everest—the pinnacle of the earth—the ultimate goal.

Achieving our writing goals is like scaling a mountain. A strong determination, the proper tools, and a capability for the craft are essential to begin the climb.  There'll be obstacles on the way up, and moments when you think you just can't do it.  But those who make it to the top of Everest don't let difficulties keep them down.  They envision the pinnacle of the mountain and focus on how magnificent the view will be from 5 1/2 miles above sea level.

What is your writing goal?  If you're just starting out, maybe you simply want to write a book and get it published.  If you're already a published author, maybe your goal is to have a New York Times Bestseller.  If you've already had several bestsellers, maybe you just long for a week off without having to write anything.

I had an interesting conversation with an author this week, one who's been published regularly for years and has enjoyed success by any writer's standard. Even so, they harbor a certain reluctance to claim their success; to own it.  Whether it's humility, disbelief, or a fear of jinxing a good thing, it is hard to say "I've arrived" when you still have mountains to climb.

Indeed, this is a sentiment echoed by most of the authors we speak with.  Even though they became "professionals" when they sold their first article or book, the real goal in their hearts is an ambiguous, uncharted one that they won't even realize they've reached until they get there. And when they do, they'll still keep going.

A true writer writes because they love what they do. They make loyal friends along the way, supporting and mentoring other writers freely.  When they achieve "success," that's not a stopping point.  They thank their lucky stars—and their muse—and keep reaching higher, just from the sheer love of writing.  They do it for the art, not for the accolades. 

When George Mallory set out to be the first to climb Mt. Everest, he was asked why. His famous answer, "Because it's there," is the same reason many of us write. It's just something we must do. It requires no explanation, nor a measurable achievement to make it a valid pursuit.  It's a challenge; an adventure; a gauntlet we have no choice but to pick up.

May you always find joy in your journey.

Wouldn't You?

by Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief

Wouldn’t you like to have the best idea for a book?

Wouldn’t you like to write that book and see it published within sixty days?

Wouldn’t you like that book to be a runaway best seller?

Wouldn’t you like for that book to be made into a movie?

Wouldn’t you like for that movie to be the best movie in decades?

Wouldn’t you like that to be the biggest grossing film ever?

Wouldn’t you like the publisher to give you a contract for ten more books?

Wouldn’t you like the movie producers to commit monies up front to produce them all?

 

Well? Wouldn’t you?

Start writing!

 

The Gift of Goals

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director



Whether we’re out with friends ringing in 2012 this Saturday night, or staying home hoping Dick Clark doesn’t catch a cold, when the ball drops at midnight we’ll be treated once again to that moment of encouragement when we know we have a fresh start. New Year’s Eve is the most universally shared demarcation point between what was and what can be.

If we even remember what our resolutions were at the beginning of 2011, there’s a pretty good chance they’re the same ones we have for the coming year. We start with the best intentions and 365-day commitments, which often manage to fizzle out long before January is through. We might even hesitate to set goals for the new year because of past experience with them. But we can change that with a little know-how.

Many of our resolutions tend to involve breaking a bad habit, which is why they are so prone to failure. Being creatures of habit, we’ve already taught ourselves to do things the opposite way. Like Pavlov’s dog, we salivate whenever we hear our bell. Suddenly requiring a new pattern of ourselves is highly irregular and something our entire being resists. 

Experts tell us that the key to success is “really wanting” to change. Of course, we do “really want” to lose those pounds, or get up early to write five pages a day. The problem is, we also “really want” that piece of Chocolate Sin Cake, or that extra sleep; sometimes even more.  How do we make our chosen want win the battle over our habitual want?

• Reward yourself for the little victories – Each time you resist temptation or accomplish part of your big goal, celebrate! What little treat for yourself will retrain you to keep up the good work?
• Be specific – Set goals that allow you to measure your progress. “Write a screenplay in 2012” is vague. “Write three scenes every day” is easy to track.
• Set achievable goals – You can’t write a novel in one weekend, though you can sure do it in 52 weekends. Shoot for the moon, but remember that it takes a while to get there.
• Creative visualization – Nothing succeeds like success, or even a good mental image of it. Create a vivid picture of where you want be, and dwell on the benefits of being there. I’ve known some people who make a scrapbook filled with success images and words specifically meaningful to them.
• Don’t let one failure ruin everything – That first time you slip or fail to meet your daily goal, don’t decide that all is lost. Why waste your good efforts so far? You have just as much ability to start again as you did on New Year’s Day.

That last one is especially worth remembering if you have many goals you’re working on simultaneously.  Disappointing yourself in one area mustn’t become your downfall in all of them.  Always focus on your successes, not on your failures.

Some of the more popular New Year’s Resolutions, and free resources to help you achieve them, are offered by Uncle Sam at the Usa.gov website.

As a writer, your 2012 goals may include writing more articles or chapters, sending out more submissions, entering more contests, or all three.  Don’t be surprised if we have a special contest just for our readers this year.  In fact, we have many surprises in store for you, because inspiring you to write, network with other authors, and sell more books is our continued goal.

Zig Ziglar said it well: “A goal properly set is halfway reached”.  I wish you luck this week choosing the resolutions worthy of your talents, and invite you – paraphrasing Captain Kirk – to boldly goal where no man has gone before. 

A Matter of Time

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director

Every once in a while, the subject comes up (usually after the latest Iron Man or X-Men movie), and someone will ask this question:

“If you were a superhero, what superpower would you have?”

Despite the many options one could envision, I’m kind of proud to say my answer has stayed the same over the years. The reason I’m proud is because I think it’s the most logical choice of all. My superpower would be the ability to stop time.

Imagine. If you could stop time in its tracks you’d have all the other superheroes beat by a mile. You wouldn’t need to leap tall buildings in a single bound (like Superman) because you could just walk. You wouldn’t need super strength (like, say, the Hulk on a bad day) since you could simply go get your car and push whatever’s in your way. Everything — and everybody — would simply wait until you were done.

Now, you may have come up with a superpower you think is better than mine, such as being able to go back in time and change the past. But come on, that could never happen. Let’s keep it real.

In my scenario, deadlines wouldn’t stress you out, since you’d have the power to stall them until tomorrow, or next month. Running late for a big event? Forget about it. Get there when you can, and stop for a sandwich on the way.

Seriously, marvel at this list of things you’d accomplish: you’d have time to read every book and watch every movie you ever wanted to catch up on. You could write endless novels, learn new languages, and become a master at any skill you desire. You wouldn’t even need a cape.

Unfortunately, the closest most of us will ever come to stopping time is hitting pause on the DVR. But there are, of course, ways we can take charge of the hours we have. 

Time management experts tell us to ask the “Lakein Question” (named after author Alan Lakein): “What is the best use of my time right now?” In other words, “Is this what I want or need to be doing right this minute?” If the answer to both of those questions is “no”, you’re probably wasting your time! 

Separating the urgent from the important is another staple of time management, and like most of us, I wish I was better at telling them apart. All day long our truly important tasks will be interrupted by some urgent thing that can’t wait — or can wait but we don’t let it because it seems important — such as an email or a phone call. Meanwhile, the important item is on the back burner again. 

If you have a goal, sticking with it is the way to see it through. Control your time instead of letting it take control of you.

Now that I think of it, there was an Adam Sandler movie about five years ago called Click, in which the hero was able to stop everything around him with a remote control. It was actually pretty amusing. In fact, I wouldn’t mind going and watching it right now. But I don’t have the time.

Moving Toward Your Goal

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

What is your goal? Are you moving toward it? Do you make progress each day? We all need to know what our goals are. Someone once said a goal without a plan is just a wish. We need to have a plan to move in the direction that will ensure success in reaching those goals. How do we get this done?

First determine your goals. In the business world we have a short formula we use to determine our goals and it has three steps. They are: “How Much? By When? The Details?”

Let’s say you are building your platform and you decide you want as part of your platform 1,000 Followers on Twitter and 1,000 Friends on Facebook. There is your “How Much?” question answered.

Now we move on to “By When?”. You want those numbers reached by the end of the year. This will coincide with the completion of your first draft and you can refer to these numbers in your query letters you send to literary agents.

Next “The Details?” step is more complicated. You determine the steps you must take in order to meet those numbers by that date. You know you can’t reach your goal in an hour, day or even one month. So you will need to determine what you will do and how you will do it consistently to complete your goal. You must break it down. An example: you have 200 days left in the year and need 2,000 new Friends and Followers. You need to add 10 a day for 200 days. How will you do it? You will need to say “I will reach my goal of 2,000 additional Friends and Followers by contacting 10 to 20 new contacts a day and request they become my Friend or Follower.” With that decided you must act.

I love the quiz; three frogs were sitting on a log and one decided to jump. How many frogs are sitting on the log? The answer is three. A decision without action has no results. In order to reach your goal you must act and do so in a continuous steady fashion. Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, calls it “sustained effort”. AndyAndrews, author of The Traveler’s Gift, The Butterfly Effect and The Final Summit said, “I persisted without exception.”  If Canfield or Andrews had made the decision and not moved on it we would not have these great works available to us today.

The only way to get nearer to your goal is to move toward it. Determine how much, by when and work out the details. THEN JUMP!