Mid-Year Reflection Assessment for Fiction Writers by Beth Barany
It’s nearly half-way through the year — a good time to reflect on how far you’ve come, and how far you’d like to go by the time you lift a glass of bubbly to welcome in the new year. Time for an assessment!
This time of year is always a time of reflection for me because it’s my birthday half way through June.
I step away from the normal routines and ask myself some questions:
- What’s working?
- What would I like more of?
- What am I frustrated about?
Frustration is a huge clue for me about what I want more of and what I want changed.
What is your clue that you want something different?
So, here’s my assessment.
What’s working: Yes, to writing. Yes, to teaching and coaching. Yes, to movement: my walk/jog routine.
What I’d like more of: I want to do a lot more writing of stories and screenplays. I want to exercise more and more often.
How will I do these two things: I’ll block off time in my schedule and say No more often to anything that is not those things during that time.
A sacred pact with myself.
Storytelling is how I serve the world.
Exercise is how I serve myself.
I need both to be a dynamic force on the planet.
Click to tweet: Storytelling is how I serve the world. Exercise is how I serve myself. I need both to be a dynamic force on the planet.What I’m frustrated about: I want more people to know about my home study/self-paced courses and live workshops. So… I’m developing some marketing and promotion programs for that. 🙂 I got plans!
But I couldn’t have been able to be ready to execute on these plans if I hadn’t felt so supported recently.
It wasn’t always this way.
For a long, long, long time, I’ve felt alone as a creative entrepreneur.
What I do is so unique — I both write fiction actively and teach it and coach writers working on their fiction.
For a long time, I felt like there was no one else on the planet who was trying to do what I’m attempting: make honoring my creativity at the center of my life, and that includes how I run my business.
Recently, there’s been a shift though and I feel like I found my pack…
I really felt it at the beginning of June when I ran in a mostly all-woman 5K race.
I have also really felt the togetherness I seek from being a part of the Heart of Business community.
Since tuning into my need for more support at the beginning of the year, I’ve reached out, made requests, and am now a part of four different mastermind groups, each of two or three people.
Wholistic, creative, heart-centered peers, who support all of me and I all of them, including all the not so pretty, squirrelly, itchy and scratchy parts.
So, a shout-out to one of my big supports, Heart of Business, run by Mark Silver.
And another big shout out to Lynn Johnston, a fellow writing coach cohort, and friend. She’s got a new class up on creating character arcs that I can’t wait to explore. I’ve seen a sneak peek and I really love how in-depth she gets.
You can check it out here: http://bit.ly/CharArcs
(Yes, this is an affiliate link. If you would rather not use it, here’s the direct link: http://lynnreallylikes.com/building-the-character-arc/.)
Post your mid-year assessment below. I’d love to hear it.
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ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, helping writers address overwhelm and confusion so that they can write, market, and publish their fiction. And make it fun!
June and July are always hugely productive months for me for this exact reason! I always reflect on what’s working during this time of year too. I have been mulling over what’s not working in my career for a long time, and it only recently occurred to me that I always had a big part of the answer, but I was trying to refocus on areas I was more comfortable in, that I KNEW how to fix rather than really focusing on the big, but obvious, issue. Hopefully this will keep us going until December!
Daveler, Thanks for sharing! I wish you much luck as you refocus on the big, but obvious issue.
Thank you for sharing your mid-year reflection. I appreciate the reminder to think about my own process and where I am at this point.
As a long-term student of yours, I have valued your experience, not only as a writer but as a businessperson. You have taught me so much about craft but you also have given me the tools to get what I create out there, something I knew NOTHING about before taking your classes.
I also value what you talk about in this article, finding your “pack.” Humans are not meant to be alone, even writers whose work tends to be solitary. Finding like-minded individuals is difficult when you forge your own special path. I am glad to see you are finding them.
I hope to see you build up your business more and will continue to be an advocate for what and how you teach.
Hugh, Thank you so much for your support and glad you appreciate the reminder to think about your own process and where you are at this point.