Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

[210] Dani Shapiro writes, “When I think of the wisest people I know, they share one defining trait: curiosity” (213, Still Writing). As she notes this connection between wisdom and curiosity, she continues, “They turn away from the minutiae of their lives—and focus on the world around them. They are motivated by a desire to explore the unfamiliar. They are drawn toward what they don't understand. They enjoy surprise” (213). I love how she connects surprise and curiosity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi makes that same connection, as you’ll see shortly. But before we get to that, let me establish my own connection: that curiosity is one of three pillars of your best writing life...along with creativity and productivity. Curious Writers Bring More to Their Work As curiosity becomes a daily practice, our writing will benefit, because curiosity serves as a driving force to producing captivating content and developing a writer who has things to say. Nourish curiosity and you’ll have a lively imagination drawing from a vast and ever-expanding library of ideas. Each day, even the smallest flash of wonder fans the flame of creativity. If we agree with Dani Shapiro that curious people focus on the world around them with a desire to explore the unfamiliar—drawn toward what they don’t understand—we gather clues for how we, too, can cultivate curiosity to live out our best writing life. If you’ve lost your sense of wonder and dampened curiosity, don’t worry. You can recapture it, funneling into your work a newfound delight in the world around you, in yourself, and in others. If you happen to be by nature a curious lifelong learner, lucky you! Continue to explore new ways to cultivate it further to become even more curious and pour what you discover into your writing projects. Develop Curiosity Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Creativity writes: “[T]he first step toward a more creative life is the cultivation of curiosity and interests, that is, the allocation of attention to things for their own sake…. Creative individuals are childlike in that their curiosity remains fresh even at ninety years of age; they delight in the strange and the unknown. And because there is no end to the unknown, their delight also is endless.” (346, Creativity) Did you hear his suggestions? Allocate “attention to things for their own sake.” “Delight in the strange and unknown.” It’s similar to what Dani Shapiro was saying: even the old in age are young at heart as they “explore the unfamiliar” and let themselves be “drawn toward what they don’t understand.” Curious people learn something new every day. Search, Capture, Ask My mom moved from the American Midwest to a coastal town in the South and became captivated by the flora and fauna of the area. She bought a telephoto lens so she could capture photos of the birds that seem so exotic to her. She grew up and lived most of her life with mourning doves, cardinals, robins, starlings, swallows, and red-winged blackbirds. Now she’s delighting in what are, for her, “strange and unknown” species. She’s “exploring the unfamiliar” as she snaps photos and looks up in a guidebook the names of birds that turn out to be wood storks, ibises, great blue herons, green herons, and anhingas. She shares them with her Facebook followers posting one photo after another along with thoughtful captions further modeling this curiosity that comes so naturally to her. My mom is by nature curious and developed it as a journalist, rooting out stories everywhere she goes. But you don’t need to be a trained journalist to ask the questions popping into your head and to search for answers: borrow binoculars—or a telephoto lens—to study a bird ask a parent about her first crush wonder about the etymology of a word—and look it up dig into a time in history you know little about consider why a person made one choice instead of another ask that about yourself,

[Ep 209] Each week I claim that writers are discovering ways to reach their writing goals—and have fun—by being more curious, creative, and productive. And each week you may be thinking, “Really?” Yes, I really do believe these three traits or these three values can drive you forward to achieve your goals—and have fun along the way. They are values I myself take to heart and encourage my clients to explore and embrace, because curiosity, creativity, and productivity—together—have the potential to transform both you and your writing. Today’s overview will give you a high-level look, and in the weeks ahead we’ll drill down into each one, to look at their core. By taking a closer look, you’ll see how developing these traits as a part of everyday life and as part of your writing practice, you’ll position yourself to become the writer you want to be. Pillar One: Curiosity in the Writing Life Why curiosity on its own? Why not tuck that under the umbrella of creativity? Curiosity drives us to discover, to wonder, to think “What if?” Could there be a more energizing trait for a writer? Writers of fiction turn to the “what if” prompt to ignite their imagination. Curiosity propels stories forward for the reader as they wonder what’s next. Curiosity gets characters into trouble and then curiosity helps them solve problems to get out of trouble. Poets, too, benefit from curiosity as a driving force. As the poet asks questions, she looks more closely at anything from a fish to a father. Curiosity calls us to slow down, consider, put the pieces together in a way that the rest of the world, speeding along without a pause, rarely has time to mess with—and curious poets put words to what they’ve pieced together. Writers of nonfiction who let curiosity guide them will break free from rephrasing the same old points over and over. A curious writer will dig deeper, probe into subject matter, research topics to find the freshest, most accurate answers. Writers who value and practice this as a part of their daily lives will likely have more fun along the way, delighting in both big wonders and small, grieving over deep injustice, seeking truth and revealing it. In the next episode, we’ll look in more detail about how to develop curiosity as a writer and practice it regularly. Let’s look briefly at the next pillar of the writing life: creativity. Pillar Two: Creativity in the Writing Life You can enroll in an MFA program to earn a degree in what? Creative writing. Whatever focus you select—fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction—creativity is the core concept of the program because creativity is core to a writer. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone disagree with the belief that creativity is key to great writing, and yet I’ve read pieces that could use an injection of creativity. Aren’t we seeking to create something new rather than regurgitate something old and stale in a style that sounds like it could have been written by anyone? Embedded in the idea of creativity is not only that the ideas are creative—they’re fresh, novel, compelling, engaging—but also that we are indeed creating things. We can’t make something out of nothing, but we can mold into existence a passage, a poem, a project from ideas formed out of words. In that sense, writers are creators. Practicing the craft of writing builds our confidence in wielding the tools at our disposal, but we can practice creativity in other areas of life in a way that enriches us as people. That, in turn, feeds into our work. Be more creative as a person, and you’ll move closer to becoming a more creative writer—and thus achieving your writing goals. And the creative process itself—even before arriving at the final product—satisfies the person in the midst of creating. So you really can’t lose if you prioritize this value. Pillar Three: Productivity in the Life of a Writer If we want to be writers,

[Ep 209] Each week I claim that writers are discovering ways to reach their writing goals—and have fun—by being more curious, creative, and productive. And each week you may be thinking, “Really?” Yes, I really do believe these three traits or these three values can drive you forward to achieve your goals—and have fun along the way. They are values I myself take to heart and encourage my clients to explore and embrace, because curiosity, creativity, and productivity—together—have the potential to transform both you and your writing. Today’s overview will give you a high-level look, and in the weeks ahead we’ll drill down into each one, to look at their core. By taking a closer look, you’ll see how developing these traits as a part of everyday life and as part of your writing practice, you’ll position yourself to become the writer you want to be. Pillar One: Curiosity in the Writing Life Why curiosity on its own? Why not tuck that under the umbrella of creativity? Curiosity drives us to discover, to wonder, to think “What if?” Could there be a more energizing trait for a writer? Writers of fiction turn to the “what if” prompt to ignite their imagination. Curiosity propels stories forward for the reader as they wonder what’s next. Curiosity gets characters into trouble and then curiosity helps them solve problems to get out of trouble. Poets, too, benefit from curiosity as a driving force. As the poet asks questions, she looks more closely at anything from a fish to a father. Curiosity calls us to slow down, consider, put the pieces together in a way that the rest of the world, speeding along without a pause, rarely has time to mess with—and curious poets put words to what they’ve pieced together. Writers of nonfiction who let curiosity guide them will break free from rephrasing the same old points over and over. A curious writer will dig deeper, probe into subject matter, research topics to find the freshest, most accurate answers. Writers who value and practice this as a part of their daily lives will likely have more fun along the way, delighting in both big wonders and small, grieving over deep injustice, seeking truth and revealing it. In the next episode, we’ll look in more detail about how to develop curiosity as a writer and practice it regularly. Let’s look briefly at the next pillar of the writing life: creativity. Pillar Two: Creativity in the Writing Life You can enroll in an MFA program to earn a degree in what? Creative writing. Whatever focus you select—fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction—creativity is the core concept of the program because creativity is core to a writer. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone disagree with the belief that creativity is key to great writing, and yet I’ve read pieces that could use an injection of creativity. Aren’t we seeking to create something new rather than regurgitate something old and stale in a style that sounds like it could have been written by anyone? Embedded in the idea of creativity is not only that the ideas are creative—they’re fresh, novel, compelling, engaging—but also that we are indeed creating things. We can’t make something out of nothing, but we can mold into existence a passage, a poem, a project from ideas formed out of words. In that sense, writers are creators. Practicing the craft of writing builds our confidence in wielding the tools at our disposal, but we can practice creativity in other areas of life in a way that enriches us as people. That, in turn, feeds into our work. Be more creative as a person, and you’ll move closer to becoming a more creative writer—and thus achieving your writing goals. And the creative process itself—even before arriving at the final product—satisfies the person in the midst of creating. So you really can’t lose if you prioritize this value. Pillar Three: Productivity in the Life of a Writer If we want to be writers,

[Ep 208] Today I’m chatting with Sharon Stohler, author of the nonfiction children’s biographyAffectionately Yours: The Devoted Life of Abigail Adams,a charming and inspiring picture book released in June 2019. As you’ll learn in the interview, Sharon and I met years ago when we both started home educating our very small children, so we’ve known each other for decades. I was privy to her idea for this book years ago when she shared it with me as a friend. Later, we worked together when she brought me on for more official coaching. Sharon’s path to publishing was long and required vision, flexibility, patience, and perseverance. Pursuing traditional publishing revealed insights that led her to eventually land on self-publishing Affectionately Yours. And anyone who has poked around at self-publishing or pulled it off knows to do it well you undertake a long list of new steps and stages. She did it. She pulled it off. I hope you find her story instructive and motivating. Though the process was long and complicated, time-consuming and expensive, she said that the moment she held that book in her hands, it was all worth it. Sharon Stohler has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Delaware and a Masters of Education from West Chester University. She has taught children ages four through 12 in private, public, and homeschool classrooms. Sharon currently teaches 3rd grade in a hybrid homeschool classroom and often finds herself delighted by her students and their brilliant minds. Aside from her own family room, she feels most at home in a library. She and her adventurous husband live in Indianapolis, where they cater to the needs of their Siamese cat, Gigi. They have three grown children. Resources Sharon Stohler's website Affectionately Yours: The Devoted Life of Abigail Adams (affiliate link) Tiny Boat, collaborative publisher and illustrator Daron Benson Children's Book Authors and Illustrators Facebook page Bigger Dot, printer for Affectionately Yours Tara Lazar's sample children's book layout & dummy construction John Adams biography by David McCullough (softcover edition, affiliate link) All podcast interviews All podcast episodes

[Ep 208] Today I’m chatting with Sharon Stohler, author of the nonfiction children’s biographyAffectionately Yours: The Devoted Life of Abigail Adams,a charming and inspiring picture book released in June 2019. As you’ll learn in the interview, Sharon and I met years ago when we both started home educating our very small children, so we’ve known each other for decades. I was privy to her idea for this book years ago when she shared it with me as a friend. Later, we worked together when she brought me on for more official coaching. Sharon’s path to publishing was long and required vision, flexibility, patience, and perseverance. Pursuing traditional publishing revealed insights that led her to eventually land on self-publishing Affectionately Yours. And anyone who has poked around at self-publishing or pulled it off knows to do it well you undertake a long list of new steps and stages. She did it. She pulled it off. I hope you find her story instructive and motivating. Though the process was long and complicated, time-consuming and expensive, she said that the moment she held that book in her hands, it was all worth it. Sharon Stohler has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Delaware and a Masters of Education from West Chester University. She has taught children ages four through 12 in private, public, and homeschool classrooms. Sharon currently teaches 3rd grade in a hybrid homeschool classroom and often finds herself delighted by her students and their brilliant minds. Aside from her own family room, she feels most at home in a library. She and her adventurous husband live in Indianapolis, where they cater to the needs of their Siamese cat, Gigi. They have three grown children. Resources Sharon Stohler's website Affectionately Yours: The Devoted Life of Abigail Adams (affiliate link) Tiny Boat, collaborative publisher and illustrator Daron Benson Children's Book Authors and Illustrators Facebook page Bigger Dot, printer for Affectionately Yours Tara Lazar's sample children's book layout & dummy construction John Adams biography by David McCullough (softcover edition, affiliate link) All podcast interviews All podcast episodes

[Ep 207] On my drive to Minneapolis to serve on the faculty of Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, I listened to podcasts: one after another, back-to-back. I welcomed that stream of input filling my mind with ideas, strategies, and solutions that I can apply to my writing life. But it’s easy to listen and then forget what I heard. What a waste if I devote hours to listening but never remember or apply what the experts recommend! Life is short. I want to learn and grow and transform—I want to become wiser and more discerning. I’m committed to implementing those ideas! Sort and Stack So first I capture the information. Later, you know what I do? I sort and stack it. I’ve done this for years without having a name or phrase to put with it, but author Robin Jones Gunn said it in her keynote address: we must learn to sort and stack. Sort and stack. Sort and Stack Conference Notes Sometimes conference attendees report that by the end of the weekend they feel like they’ve been drinking from a fire hose. They’re blasted with so much new information in session after session, they feel hit with input and ideas and vocabulary and concepts they've never heard before. It’s overwhelming. It would be easy to set aside the notes from those sessions and return to status quo when they arrive home. But life is short. Those attendees came to learn and grow and transform, so I hope they’re committed to implementing those ideas. Avoid the Overwhelm Hopefully they scribbled down copious notes, captured them someplace—to sort and then stack them into logical, usable groups. My breakout session offered probably 30 ideas, maybe more, of ways people can put some heart, soul, and a little laughter into social media. Another session may have offered 20 or 50 more ideas. Soon, the writers will have filled a notebook. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. We don’t have to do it all, and we don’t have to do it all right away. But we don't want to lose those ideas. The conference attendees don’t have to implement every idea the day they get home from the conference, and I don’t have to implement every idea I heard on the drive home in those podcasts I listened to. We want to sort out what to do when so we try things out in an order that makes sense. Create a Master Stack If we successfully capture the information, we can create a master list and continue to work through it, sorting and stacking over time. We can convert our notes from the master list or “stack” into more lists, labeled however we wish: Research Try next month Archive As you sort notes from your master list into these sub-stacks, you can label them in many ways. Use the nomenclature from the organization, time-management, or productivity systems that make sense to you. Again, think of each new list as another stack. Move notes to one stack or another, sorting as you go. Sort and Stack Based on ROI The Writer's Guide to ROI series helps with sorting and stacking. By thinking through return on investment of any given idea, I can comb through the stack of ideas I collected from my podcast marathon and sort them based on values and goals and efficient use of time. Then I can sort them into new stacks or categories to figure out how and when to implement them. This moves me closer to action I’ll take—specifically the very next step. What’s the Next Action? Long ago I read David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, which explains his productivity methodology. He recommends a Next Action list formed by asking, “What’s the next step?” For a long time I stuck a Post-It on my computer monitor with that on it: “What’s the next step?” Asking that helped me sort all the possible actions I could take and zero in on the very next one to do. The rest could remain on the Next Actions stack. I learned to phrase each item with a verb so the task or action would be expressed as a specific,

[Ep 207] On my drive to Minneapolis to serve on the faculty of Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, I listened to podcasts: one after another, back-to-back. I welcomed that stream of input filling my mind with ideas, strategies, and solutions that I can apply to my writing life. But it’s easy to listen and then forget what I heard. What a waste if I devote hours to listening but never remember or apply what the experts recommend! Life is short. I want to learn and grow and transform—I want to become wiser and more discerning. I’m committed to implementing those ideas! Sort and Stack So first I capture the information. Later, you know what I do? I sort and stack it. I’ve done this for years without having a name or phrase to put with it, but author Robin Jones Gunn said it in her keynote address: we must learn to sort and stack. Sort and stack. Sort and Stack Conference Notes Sometimes conference attendees report that by the end of the weekend they feel like they’ve been drinking from a fire hose. They’re blasted with so much new information in session after session, they feel hit with input and ideas and vocabulary and concepts they've never heard before. It’s overwhelming. It would be easy to set aside the notes from those sessions and return to status quo when they arrive home. But life is short. Those attendees came to learn and grow and transform, so I hope they’re committed to implementing those ideas. Avoid the Overwhelm Hopefully they scribbled down copious notes, captured them someplace—to sort and then stack them into logical, usable groups. My breakout session offered probably 30 ideas, maybe more, of ways people can put some heart, soul, and a little laughter into social media. Another session may have offered 20 or 50 more ideas. Soon, the writers will have filled a notebook. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. We don’t have to do it all, and we don’t have to do it all right away. But we don't want to lose those ideas. The conference attendees don’t have to implement every idea the day they get home from the conference, and I don’t have to implement every idea I heard on the drive home in those podcasts I listened to. We want to sort out what to do when so we try things out in an order that makes sense. Create a Master Stack If we successfully capture the information, we can create a master list and continue to work through it, sorting and stacking over time. We can convert our notes from the master list or “stack” into more lists, labeled however we wish: Research Try next month Archive As you sort notes from your master list into these sub-stacks, you can label them in many ways. Use the nomenclature from the organization, time-management, or productivity systems that make sense to you. Again, think of each new list as another stack. Move notes to one stack or another, sorting as you go. Sort and Stack Based on ROI The Writer's Guide to ROI series helps with sorting and stacking. By thinking through return on investment of any given idea, I can comb through the stack of ideas I collected from my podcast marathon and sort them based on values and goals and efficient use of time. Then I can sort them into new stacks or categories to figure out how and when to implement them. This moves me closer to action I’ll take—specifically the very next step. What’s the Next Action? Long ago I read David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, which explains his productivity methodology. He recommends a Next Action list formed by asking, “What’s the next step?” For a long time I stuck a Post-It on my computer monitor with that on it: “What’s the next step?” Asking that helped me sort all the possible actions I could take and zero in on the very next one to do. The rest could remain on the Next Actions stack. I learned to phrase each item with a verb so the task or action would be expressed as a specific,

[Ep 206] Several years ago I watched a free training presented by Chalene Johnson, where she explained how to start with one piece of content and then use it in several forms for various outlets. With this efficient and productive approach, she gets the most mileage out of a single piece of content. It’s a clever, creative way to improve ROI. Chalene Johnson’s Content Creation System Chalene is comfortable on video, so she starts with a live video as the primary content form. She decides what she’ll speak on and has several points to cover, and I don’t think she scripts it in advance. She probably writes out bullet points to keep her on track and speaks from those. At the time of the training she recommended Facebook Live, but since then I’ve seen her and others do live video on multiple platforms at the same time. That might be like Facebook Live and Instagram Live or IGTV and maybe Periscope, too. With one live broadcast, she instantly reaches people in multiple places all at once. Afterwards, that video is saved. And that’s the beauty of her system. She can repurpose that saved video into multiple formats. For example, she can: edit the video recording into segments to publish on YouTube use the audio from that recorded livestream to create a podcast episode have the audio transcribed and use that written version as the draft of an article or two to publish at her website pull quotes and video excerpts to use on Twitter create infographics and quote posts to pin on Pinterest design quote images for her Instagram feed I don’t think she mentioned it, but she could create slide decks to publish on LinkedIN SlideShare and use the recorded video as part of a program or course. One piece of content turns into gobs of material for all kinds of purposes and platforms. The impact she can have with just one focused creative idea and effort blew me away. That’s a savvy use of one’s time and a remarkable return on investment. Creative Content Repurposing for Writers Maybe one day I’ll start with live broadcasts like Chalene Johnson, but that’s not who I am or where I’m at. Inspired by her training, I started to think about my own strengths: What one piece of content could be my starting point? What could I create to serve at least double-duty if not triple- or quadruple-duty to have the biggest impact possible? How can I take the principle behind Chalene’s training and adapt it for where I’m at as a writer to increase my ROI? Start with Written Content: Big to Small As a writer, an obvious starting point for me was written content. That’s what I did. Podcast: I ended up scripting my podcast episodes, so those are offered in audio form for those who subscribe to the podcast. Blog Article: The script is available as an article for those who prefer reading it at my website. Newsletter: Since it’s relatively short, I include that same content in my weekly newsletter, so people don’t have to go to my website or listen to the podcast to learn from my ideas. Instagram Quote:For the Instagram feed, I create a quote post with a brief excerpt from the article—enough so that people don’t have to go to the original piece in order to gain a valuable insight, in case they want to stay in Instagram rather than click away to my website. Instagram Image: To mix things up, I often take a photo that relates to the ideas, such as the image of a book I refer to in the article, and publish that in my feed. Instagram Story: Sharing the post from my Instagram feed in my Story draws a few people who are focusing more on that element of Instagram. Facebook: I repurpose one of the excerpts from Instagram into a post on my Facebook page, and that links back to the original article on my website. Pinterest: I create at least one or two pins for Pinterest. Twitter: I tweet a variety of links to the article on Twitter, using quotes and images to mix things up.

[Ep 206] Several years ago I watched a free training presented by Chalene Johnson, where she explained how to start with one piece of content and then use it in several forms for various outlets. With this efficient and productive approach, she gets the most mileage out of a single piece of content. It’s a clever, creative way to improve ROI. Chalene Johnson’s Content Creation System Chalene is comfortable on video, so she starts with a live video as the primary content form. She decides what she’ll speak on and has several points to cover, and I don’t think she scripts it in advance. She probably writes out bullet points to keep her on track and speaks from those. At the time of the training she recommended Facebook Live, but since then I’ve seen her and others do live video on multiple platforms at the same time. That might be like Facebook Live and Instagram Live or IGTV and maybe Periscope, too. With one live broadcast, she instantly reaches people in multiple places all at once. Afterwards, that video is saved. And that’s the beauty of her system. She can repurpose that saved video into multiple formats. For example, she can: edit the video recording into segments to publish on YouTube use the audio from that recorded livestream to create a podcast episode have the audio transcribed and use that written version as the draft of an article or two to publish at her website pull quotes and video excerpts to use on Twitter create infographics and quote posts to pin on Pinterest design quote images for her Instagram feed I don’t think she mentioned it, but she could create slide decks to publish on LinkedIN SlideShare and use the recorded video as part of a program or course. One piece of content turns into gobs of material for all kinds of purposes and platforms. The impact she can have with just one focused creative idea and effort blew me away. That’s a savvy use of one’s time and a remarkable return on investment. Creative Content Repurposing for Writers Maybe one day I’ll start with live broadcasts like Chalene Johnson, but that’s not who I am or where I’m at. Inspired by her training, I started to think about my own strengths: What one piece of content could be my starting point? What could I create to serve at least double-duty if not triple- or quadruple-duty to have the biggest impact possible? How can I take the principle behind Chalene’s training and adapt it for where I’m at as a writer to increase my ROI? Start with Written Content: Big to Small As a writer, an obvious starting point for me was written content. That’s what I did. Podcast: I ended up scripting my podcast episodes, so those are offered in audio form for those who subscribe to the podcast. Blog Article: The script is available as an article for those who prefer reading it at my website. Newsletter: Since it’s relatively short, I include that same content in my weekly newsletter, so people don’t have to go to my website or listen to the podcast to learn from my ideas. Instagram Quote:For the Instagram feed, I create a quote post with a brief excerpt from the article—enough so that people don’t have to go to the original piece in order to gain a valuable insight, in case they want to stay in Instagram rather than click away to my website. Instagram Image: To mix things up, I often take a photo that relates to the ideas, such as the image of a book I refer to in the article, and publish that in my feed. Instagram Story: Sharing the post from my Instagram feed in my Story draws a few people who are focusing more on that element of Instagram. Facebook: I repurpose one of the excerpts from Instagram into a post on my Facebook page, and that links back to the original article on my website. Pinterest: I create at least one or two pins for Pinterest. Twitter: I tweet a variety of links to the article on Twitter, using quotes and images to mix things up.

[Ep 205] In the Next-Level Writer series, we talked about plans and goals. When we set out with a goal and make a plan to methodically move toward that goal, we see what it takes. We understand the investment involved. That’s when we measure the ROI of a particular task or activity using not only our deepest values, which we looked at in Part 2 of A Writer’s Guide to ROI, but also our goals. Weigh Your Goals Let’s say your goal is to complete the manuscript of a novel by the end of summer, but on a whim you commit to a one-month daily photography challenge on social media. The challenge is a lot of fun and provides a creative boost as you break away from your work-in-progress to edit and post an image. Is that creative boost worth it? The challenge starts to distract you from your writing goal as you invest more time in photography than in writing the novel. You have to decide. Do you change your goals and alter your plan to accommodate an activity? Consider your ROI. You Can Change Course for Greater ROI If the photography challenge keeps you from meeting that end-of-summer goal, should you continue with the challenge and change your deadline, or focus entirely on the writing? As you pour creative energy into the photography, you may have less available to invest in the writing. But you might gain so many new followers, it’s worth it, because you might never have met them if you hadn’t taken on the challenge. What’s the greater ROI? Consider your goals. What’s more important? What’s needed first? That will help you determine the best investment of your time, creative energy, and personal resources. Measure Your ROI You can measure the return on investment based on what you’d like to see. In part one in A Writer’s Guide to ROI, Crystal Paine decided activities were worth her time if they made her money or brought in more people or helped her serve her audience better. You could try other measurements: Income Word count Email signups Visitors to your website Readers of a particular article Engagement and likes on a social media update New followers or friends on social media Sales of a book or product Downloads of a free item Downloads of a podcast episode Completing a work-in-progress Relationships with people in the industry (agents, editors, publishers, other writers) You can see from this list how specific activities lead to certain measurements. There are other elements that are so important but much harder to measure, like emotional returns. It’s hard to track those, but you can try. Track them daily using a scale of 1 to 10 to determine where you’re at each day or at the completion of each activity. You can decide how you feel or what you’ve gained in such areas as: Self-improvement Confidence Happiness or joy Creative satisfaction Emotional energy Improved writing skills Growth Is It Worth It for Me? Is it worth it for me to post on social media at my current rate or more often? Is it worth it to produce a weekly podcast? Is it worth it to send out an email newsletter? Is it worth it to quietly work on books that won’t be available for over a year, maybe two? For me, the answer is yes. Yes to all of that and more. When I calculate my ROI—which is ultimately based on my goals and values—the time I spend on the writing and writing-related activities brings in new relationships as I help more people, gain new opportunities to speak and write, and develop ideas I can use in other ways. I’m having fun along the way, and I satisfy my curiosity by exploring new questions that arise and new topics of interest. Is It Worth It for You? I could continue to list the results I gain—the returns on my investment—but the big question is this: Is it worth it for you? How about your writing projects and your writing-related activities you’re committed to...