The Road to Success: Tips to Develop Your 2024 Writing Strategy

This month's quick tips are all about the end of year reset and refresh. 

Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of author strategy, turning the rear-view mirror towards 2023 and putting 2024 in sharp, clear focus. It's all about finding the sweet spot between your dreams, realities, and actions. 

We’ve distilled the planning process into four actionable steps: 
1.) Review your past year, 
2) Clarify your goals, 
3) Simplify your approach, and 
4) Implement your strategy. 

Trust us, it’s not as daunting as it sounds!

This week, we start with the review. 

Don't forget to join Megan's new Substack newsletter, Clarify | Simplify | Implement, where she's sharing all her thoughts on writing, publishing, and the author industry.

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Greta Boris:
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Megan Haskell:
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Substack: https://meganhaskellauthor.substack.com

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the AuthorWeal podcast and happy
Hanukkah to all our Jewishlisteners.
So last month's November QuickTips we did them all about
nano-rymo for those of you whowere listening, they were very
successful and we really gotsome great feedback from
listeners who found them helpful.
So we decided we were justgoing to keep this whole

(00:21):
between-y so thing going.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, you know it was good.
We had some people who cameback and told us that the tips
were actually helps them improvetheir productivity, so I'm so
excited about that.
That just made my heart sohappy.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
So our topic for December, instead of
productivity, is going to beplanning for 2024, which is a
shocker, you know well, aware,everybody is doing this, so
that's fine and then that's tobe expected, right.
December is kind of thereflection back on the year
month as we approach the newyear.

(01:01):
But we wanted to take a look atit specifically from an author
strategy perspective.
So we've broken down our authorstrategy bit into four steps,
which I think you will recognizeif you've been listening to
this podcast for a while.
You can do each step each week,because we're going to release

(01:26):
them one per week, or, if you'recatching this later in the
month, you can do it at your ownpace.
It's entirely up to you.
But the four steps are firstreview, then clarify, then
simplify and finally implementAgain, shocker, but so this week

(01:50):
, this week, we're going tostart off just with the first
step, which is review.
So, greta, why don't you startand tell us how do you approach
a review?

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Well, the first thing to do is to look back at your
written goals for 2023.
So go back to the verybeginning of 2023 or December
2022.
And what did you write down?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
If you did and maybe you didn't.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Right, and I was just going to say that's the easiest
way.
But if you didn't, you still,at least mentally, you had some
idea, I'm sure, of what youwanted to accomplish in what you
wanted to get done.
And or you can also say well,what if you actually started the

(02:39):
year just kind of blind and youwere just like ran into it and
started doing things and youreally didn't have any written
goals?
Well, you can look at what youactually did accomplish, Like
make a list what did you do?
Did you finish a novel?
Did you finish five novels?
Did you publish them?
Did you pitch?

(03:00):
What did you do?
So take a look at that and kindof make a list.
Now I will say, if you lookback at your goals and you
didn't accomplish everythingthat you wanted to do Megan,
should you feel bad about that?

Speaker 2 (03:17):
No, no, because we never accomplish everything.
I mean that would be absolutelylike ludicrous, unbelievable.
Who accomplishes everythingthey set out to do?
I don't know anybody.
So no, I mean, definitely don'tfeel bad.
The thing about it is thatsometimes we set these grandiose

(03:37):
goals for ourselves or even notgrandiose, just a thing that we
think we want to do and then weavoid it and we keep pushing it
off.
And so why?
I mean that's really the bigquestion why did you avoid it?
Why did you not do the thingthat you said you wanted to do?

(03:58):
And, honestly, if you've beenpushing it off and it's not for
like life reasons like you know,you had health issues or other
things like that but if you'vejust been like procrastinating,
there's probably a reason, andit's probably that you just
didn't really want to do it.
It was something you thoughtyou should do, rather than
something that you really wantedto do or that met your core

(04:21):
motivations.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
And that, even subconsciously, sometimes we
know in our heart of hearts that, yeah, that sounded good but it
wasn't for us.
You know, there's been so manytimes that I have procrastinated
on something and then, like loand behold, some better thing

(04:45):
cropped up that if I had donethe thing that I was
procrastinating on, I wouldn'thave been able to jump on board
this new opportunity, which wasway better for me and a way
better opportunity.
So don't always beat yourselfup for procrastinating on things
, because sometimes it is likeit's like subconsciously, you're

(05:08):
voting with your feet becauseyou know that really isn't the
best path for you.
Yeah, but, like you also said,then other times you just have
to give yourself grace becausethings happen, life happens.
I mean, we had some huge familynot me personally, thank God,
but very, very close familymembers.
That's a big health issues thisyear and I just could not write

(05:35):
for a while.
I just was emotionally not in aplace to be able to write.
Nor did I have exactly the timeeither, because you know I was
doing a lot of caregiving andrunning around to doctors and
things like that.
So you know, am I going to beatmyself up for that?
No, I did the important thing.
The most important thing istaking care of our loved ones,
right?
So so give yourself grace, butdo analyze it Like you know what

(06:01):
.
Why didn't you do those things?
Is it because they reallyprobably is something you should
just axe off your list ofthings to do?
Or is it something you maybewant to push ahead?
Because you were just kind ofbeing over anxious to get
something done sooner than thanreally was going to work?

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, yeah, and and kind of tangent off of that a
little bit too, is thatsometimes when you're looking at
those core motivations and thatclarity right?
We talked with Dan Blankearlier this year I want to say
it was in maybe a June episode,I can't quite remember, but

(06:40):
earlier this year we talked toDan Blank and he has this whole
concept of the clarity cards,which is where you prioritize
the things that you want to door that are important to you,
and it can be everything fromyou know, family, like take
spending more time with yourkids to do it.

(07:01):
You know getting your workoutsin to writing, and you you
categorize them into your top 10and you put them in this like,
like pyramid thing, and he's gotthis whole activity around it.
It's great, it's free.
You should go to his website,listen to the episode.
It's great.
Anyhow, the reality is sometimesthe thing that we think we want
isn't actually our top priority, and maybe it shouldn't be, and

(07:25):
so if that's the case, that'sokay.
There is nothing wrong withsaying that.
You know, writing is not mybiggest priority right now.
It's just not because familytakes precedence and other
activities, other life things,have to come first, and so
writing might get pushed down.
That's okay.
Give yourself that grace tofollow those needs and

(07:48):
understand those actual coremotivations and then do the
things that you want to do.
Lean in to the strengths, leanin to the good.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Right, and when you're analyzing, don't only
look at what didn't work andwhat you didn't accomplish in
the negatives, but what did work, what did you do, what was
successful?
Sometimes you know, do more ofthat.
Right, it's the 80 20 rule.
80% of your outcome resultsresults from 20% of your input

(08:23):
or the things you actually did.
So give yourself some time tolook at the 80 20 thing, like
what was the success and what20% of what you did yielded that
80% success.
So do more of those things.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Absolutely All right.
Well, that's it for this week'stip.
Next week we are going to divein to clarify.