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How To Measure Your Writing Success

Did your writing measure up this year?
That feels a little harsh, doesn’t it? But I bet your inner critic is asking the same thing – poking you to see if you and your writing measured up this year.
How do you make an honest assessment of your progress that’s not fueled by the gremlin’s sharp stick poking you? If you’re like my clients, it’s easy to forget all the boons and progress you made.
Last week I wrote about how our superlatives are killing us. How they represent a standard – best, most, perfect – that we simply can’t achieve. We also can’t assess progress on those terms.
So how do we glean satisfaction from our efforts? This article will help you absorb all the nutrients from your efforts and your successes so you can build on them next year.

Pause and absorb the nutrients of your successes

Happy moment in Paris absorbing the 2012 publication of my novel

These are the questions I ask myself and offer to my clients; I invite you to make the most of your writing year by answering them too. Make a pot of tea or pour a glass of wine and enjoy savoring your writing year. Look back at your mid-year check-in, and to use this metric to gauge your progress and process:
1. On a scale of one to ten, how satisfied are you with your efforts?
2. What could you have done (given all the circumstances of your life) to bring that satisfaction level up two notches?
3. On a scale of one to ten, how satisfied are you with the results of your efforts?
4. What acknowledgement can you give yourself for all you did and felt?
5. Check your numbers. List your numbers in the following categories that are meaningful to you:

  • Number of publications
  • Number of hours or writing sessions you logged
  • Number of writing retreats you gave yourself
  • Amount of money you earned from writing
  • Number of books sold
  • The amount of help you asked for and received
  • Number and quality of comments on your blog
  • Number and quality of reviews

The numbers are the external measurements, but they’re not the only way to assess your success. Go back to your satisfaction and really soak in all the effort you put into your writing. That is where you will be able to relish your good enough writing year – by measuring your efforts and not your results.
Sometimes answering these questions brings disappointment. For me, I never have as many comments or views as I want. But my expectations and disappointments don’t stop me. Don’t let yours put a lid on your writing, either. Use your dissatisfaction to fuel next year’s best writing efforts.
6. What didn’t happen that you wanted to happen?
7. What can you do differently next year?
8. How does this assessment help you set expectations that will help you feel successful?
9. Finally, what image can you post in your writing space that reminds you of your efforts in 2012? This photo of me proudly holding my book at Shakespeare and Company in Paris marks many hours of work come to fruition. The photo helps me savor all of it.

Be real, be kind to yourself

I’ve seen unrealistic expectations do more damage than good with my students and clients. Big dreams are great, I’m all for them, but expecting too much from ourselves can bring disappointment and discouragement. Examples include expecting ourselves to write every day no matter what. Thinking we can forge ahead no matter what the circumstances, season or level of our energy.
We’re human, and our energy ebbs and flows as much as our creative output does. Be kind to yourself as you assess your progress and reevaluate your process.
No one can tell you how to measure your success. I invite you to be clear about which metrics are important to you and why. Gleaning satisfaction from your writing this year can help point you toward what you need to enjoy even more success next year.
What helps you feel satisfied with your writing efforts? 
 

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Not about the Money: Gains from Writing and Publishing a Novel

When I set out to write my novel Chasing Sylvia Beach, I had no idea that 13 years would pass before it came out into the world, with the surprising heft of an imagined thing made real.
I’ve been a writer for nearly twenty years and wanted to be one my whole life. I oriented myself early on to the notion that I probably wouldn’t make a lot of money or become famous for my writing.
With Sylvia at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in OregonWith this in mind, I learned to love the process and to not bank on the result. As a coach, I believe that every project we work on works us, and that it’s our job to glean satisfaction from the process.
I published the book in late June, and it’s taken a few months to assess the boons. While I have seen my bank account grow, these benefits of writing the book far outweigh the money.

A sense of myself as a persistent person.

I am a person who finishes things. It took twelve years and seventeen drafts, but I did it. This ability to stay with a project despite setbacks and disappointments is a skill that will serve me again and again. I had finished other projects, another book and several e-books, but finishing this seemed like a bigger deal to me.

Integration of my personal and professional work.

A friend read a review copy of CSB. When she finished, she told me that she loved the book and felt inspired by it. She gushed about a new desire to write and was ready to pen her own stories.
I was surprised. Yes. my character wants to write and has her own turnaround to the page and the pen. But it wasn’t until readers got the novel that I saw I am transmitting the same beliefs that are core in my business:

  • Dare to live your own creative adventure.
  • Write your stories now. 

It’s odd how we can’t see what’s inside us until we put it into form. It’s even more amazing to see how the process of writing a novel was integrated into my business and personal life.
Of course, anything we write that is deeply considered will reflect our essence and the things we’re here to sort out. But it’s cool to see that reflected in our readers.

First-hand knowledge of what it takes to write a novel.

I’ve attempted almost every form of writing: play, screenplay, short story, essay, and poetry. I embarked on a novel because I love reading novels. When I started, I had no idea how to write a novel. I learned from doing it. Now I know much more about plotting, character development, pacing and the very nitty gritty of what to keep and what to leave out of a novel.

Deep, experiential understanding of the full arc of the creative process.

Writing this novel allowed me to test and test again the coaching solutions I provide for my clients. I have a deep knowledge of what it takes to overcome the inevitable roadblocks and distractions we all encounter in our writing and art making.
I know what works for me to get my creative work done and I know how to point clients to their best creative practices. This novel gave me a deep, experiential knowledge of what it takes to experience creative work in a healthy and sane way. Self-care, a solid support system, a physical practice and a deep connection to my motivation were all necessary to stay with it until the very end.

Understanding of the publishing and self-publishing industries.

To bring your work to the world, you have to know that world and its rules. When I was seeking publication for my book, I studied the publishing process: querying agents, preparing pitch materials, and of course, polishing my manuscript until it was perfect.
When I decided to self-publish, I had a lot of learning to do. Making a book includes dozens of decisions to be made and followed up on.
Self-publishing is one of the most dynamic and interesting fields you can be in these days. I’m far from abreast of everything that’s current, but I do follow a few writers who keep me in the loop:

What have I missed? What have you seen change in me from finishing this? What are some of your own boons from finishing your big projects? Share your experience in a comment below.

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Take the Permission You Need and Create Something

Brenda Ueland, author of If You Want to Write, asserted that “Everybody is talented, original, and has something important to say.”
I love this. This belief highlights our innate creativity and power. We do have something important to say, by virtue of being human and having lived our own, unique experience.
So why does writing or any other creative act require permission?
During many years coaching my clients to write books and build businesses, I’ve seen that creating something is a radical act. Art making demands truthfulness and self-revelation. It’s not comfortable to put ourselves out there. In her book Daring Greatly, Brené Brown writes about vulnerability as the thing we need most but is also most daunting.
My clients often need permission to speak up for themselves and their art. They’re both excited and scared to start something new. Our conversations normalize this fear and help them take steps toward writing their book or blog.

Give yourself permission

This Scottish butter gave itself permission to sizzle with gusto.

The most powerful permission comes not from others, but from ourselves. When we grant ourselves the right to reach and stretch, we loosen up and begin to enjoy the process.
My wish is for you to discover your unique offering and to write it and share it as you see fit. Now that we have spent some time with our inner critic, let’s balance the scales with some extra encouragement to write. Enjoy giving yourself the following permissions to write, and give yourself your own permission!
Permission to be honest. Whenever you write, give yourself room to be honest. Do what it takes to give yourself permission to tell your truth.
Permission to imitate. Copy stories or poems that you like. When you write out other authors’ works, you can gain a deeper understanding of the way they craft their writing. Pay attention to what you notice most as you write their words down. Then try to write in their style.
Permission to practice with a curious eye. Practice word sketching.  Like an artist, sketch what you see, hear, and smell right where you are. Sketches are quick and rough, meant as practice, not perfection. Doing this will develop your skills of focusing detail in your writing.
Permission to maintain privacy. Promise yourself that your journal writing is for you and you alone. No one has to see what you are writing. This will help you to retain a sense of safety, which is important as you reach for your writing dreams.
Permission to listen to yourself. Keep a notebook by your bed and jot down your dreams and those wild thoughts that always show up just before you fall asleep or when you wake up. Our unconscious has wisdom to guide us if we stop to listen.
Permission to blab. Think of a secret that you have harbored. Now write it down as a story. This could be a personal secret, a family secret, or even an invented secret. Notice what happens as you write it down and what it feels like afterward. You don’t have to share this with anyone.
Permission to be imperfect. Try writing just for fun. Try writing badly. Give yourself a week or more to write just as you want to, without worrying if it is good. See what happens when you give perfectionism a break.
Permission to be human. Know that there are ups and downs in any endeavor. Don’t be hard on yourself if for some reason you don’t do as much writing as you want to. Enjoy the journey and do what you can.
Take the permission you need and make something. You will never know what your original impulse is leading you to if you don’t follow it.
What permission helps you get going with your writing or art? Share in a comment below.
This essay is adapted from my online class Make Writing a Happy Habit. This and other encouraging lessons start October 28th, 2012. Give yourself permission to start writing now.

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Fifteen places to write for even the busiest person

These days, when we have an extra few minutes, we tune into the world instead of tuning into ourselves.

At the Alyscamps in Arles - an ancient Roman necropolis

What if you didn’t check your email or Facebook or Pinterest? What if you focused yourself inward instead of outward? I believe we all have 15 minutes a day we can give to ourselves.
Try these ways to get extra writing in your day.

  1. Upon awakening, before getting out of bed.
  2. In transition – before or after work, grab 15 minutes in the car.
  3. While waiting at the post office or anywhere else.
  4. At lunch, before or after you eat.
  5. On the subway, bus or commuter plane.
  6. While the kids are napping.
  7. At the gym, write for 7 minutes before your workout to set your mind to your project. Then 8 minutes after to capture the ideas you’ve churned up.
  8. While waiting for your pasta to boil.
  9. When you’re at that slump point in your day and could use an energy boost.
  10. After you’ve left a class and before you go into your other roles.
  11. Before you do your ‘real’ writing or creating as a warm up.
  12. In the middle of the night when you wake with insomnia.
  13. At the kids’ soccer game, dance class, etc.
  14. Before bed – though this can be pretty tough.
  15. Before or after a difficult conversation, to clear.

What works for you to slip writing in between the cracks of everything else?
Test your ability to write every day. Join us for the Free Write Fling in October. Starts today!

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Your Imperfection Is the Gateway to Your Happiness

My sink never seems empty of dishes. My notebooks are messy and my apartment is never clean enough. I don’t stay in touch with loved ones the way I’d like and I’ll never catch up on everything I have to do.
The one book I’ve returned late to the library is Brené Brown’s book, The Gift of Imperfection.
Are you imperfect too?
With Brené’s help, I’m coming to see how charming imperfection is. It’s the mis-aligned seams, the flower arrangement that isn’t quite symmetrical…those are the interesting parts of life.
And imperfection is the reality for all of us. ‘Perfect’ doesn’t exist – anywhere.
When people tell me they are perfectionists, I sense their inner critic is in charge. With impossibly high demands, this perfectionist monster robs our joy. We churn away at our work, never letting ourselves love the messy process.
I say enough! Our imperfections are a gateway to our humility. They force us to turn kindness and compassion on ourselves. The sentences we don’t quite master, the thought we can’t totally articulate, these are the places where we get to feel our unique humanity.
Embracing imperfection is vital to my clients’ writing process. Every successful, published piece starts as a series of messy drafts. Releasing the expectation of perfection isn’t always easy. But it is possible, and I’ve seen hundreds of my writing students get past their perfectionist bias.
We use free writing method to get our drafts out. To see gems among the imperfect, rambling paragraphs. To listen long enough to the stories that we’re most compelled to tell.
Ironically, the thing we seem to fear the most – unbridled chaos – is also the thing my clients love – losing themselves in their words, writing a way to explore and discover.
In my online writing course, Free Write Fling, I ask participants to share three words at the end of each writing session. These words simply describe their experience in the free write. The words are mind-blowing. What the free writing process engenders is nothing short of brilliant.
Why not let your imperfection be your best asset? Join us in October for the Free Write Fling.