Friday Focus - Pick a Lane
As the week comes to a close and the weekend is beckoning, I wanted to focus on the bigger picture of writing. Too often we get bogged down in smaller things, I know I do. We give ourselves lots of little tasks to do and beat ourselves up if every one is not done. All the writers I know are the same. There is this competition to enter, or that journal to submit to. Some of them are where we dream to have our words. And we try over and over. Sometimes we get a win or an acceptance (sometimes a good luck streak can go on and sustain us) but most of the time what we are doing is delaying… delaying that bigger ambition, that bigger task that we really should be focussing on.
In my case, it is getting my novel written and out into the world. Novel writing is what I started out doing, before getting hit over the head and dragged down the alley of short stories and ultimately flash fiction a few years ago. I really love short stories and flash fiction, and I am not going to give them up, but this year I have made a promise to myself to get the novel finished, and that is just what I am going to do.
So, fewer competitions and “head down on the novel” this year. I will of course be reporting on my progress.
What bigger picture do you want to focus on? Please leave a comment below (scroll down for the box).

This is where I will be working on my bigger picture come September!