Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

[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...

[Ep 204] My son participates in value debate. The competitors take either the affirmative or negative stance on a resolution and argue for or against it based on a value. The judge determines which side best upholds their value. I’ve served as a judge for these debates many times, and the more I listen to these clashes, the more I’ve come to realize we make decisions based on personal values all the time in our everyday lives. Just as an example, I’ve talked with the kids about this, and let’s say they’ve gotten an invitation to a quiet gathering with close friends where they’ll just hang out and chat. But then they receive another invitation on the very same night to a fun activity, like a concert, with people they don’t know as well. How do they choose? They can decide based on what they value more: time with close friends doing something quiet or a chance to attend a concert. Which is the higher value at that time in their lives? Personal values form the core of our decisions and are critical to determining our ROI. A Writer’s Values As writers, we could take on countless tasks and sign up for numerous activities, all of which bring various results. So we bring in the idea of our return on investment, or ROI. If we invest something of ourselves—time, money, resources, energy—what are we getting back from it? What’s the result—the return—on that investment? Our values are behind it all, at the core of our choices. Whether we realize it or not, we inevitably return to our values to determine our ROI. Does any given activity and the investment it requires fit with what we value most? Know Your Values We all have deep-seated values, whether we’re aware of them or not and whether we’ve ever identified them or articulated them or not. They may be high-level, ethical values—like not hurting someone else in your pursuits. Or they may be smaller, personal values, like carving out time each day to exercise. In part one of A Writer’s Guide to ROI, I shared how Crystal Paine determined if her time devoted to a task or activity was worth it. For her, the time invested must result in money and helping people—that’s how she knows it’s worth devoting time to a project or task. She’s come to value that as a business owner. What Are Your Values as a Writer? As you see, one of her values is helping people. You may share that value. As a writer, you may long to help people with your ideas and solutions. You may have other values, as well. You may value the satisfaction of producing something creative or taking the risk to delve into a personal struggle so you can share it with others so they might find hope. You may value storytelling as an art form and strive to write beautiful narratives. You may value poetry and commit to daily practice regardless of whether your final versions end up in a literary magazine. Knowing your values helps determine the ROI of an activity. When Values Are Revealed But sometimes your personal values may not be easy to identify. You may not have articulated them. Our values have a way of revealing themselves as we take action. You get to a certain level of success or achievement and realize, wait, this isn’t what you thought it was going to require or feel like. This isn’t aligning with your values. This isn’t what you want. Jeff Goins’ Story This happened to Jeff Goins. For years as a blogger, Jeff created content about writing, publishing, and creativity. Over time, he decided to build this part-time pursuit into a business, and it grew. He hired employees and farmed out some of the articles he used to write to other freelancers. But he was stressed out with the work of managing it all. He reached out to Seth Godin, who reminded Jeff that he didn’t have to do this—he didn’t have to build a business. But if he wanted to build a business, he had to commit to that work. Jeff then reached out to business coach Casey Graham,

[Ep 204] My son participates in value debate. The competitors take either the affirmative or negative stance on a resolution and argue for or against it based on a value. The judge determines which side best upholds their value. I’ve served as a judge for these debates many times, and the more I listen to these clashes, the more I’ve come to realize we make decisions based on personal values all the time in our everyday lives. Just as an example, I’ve talked with the kids about this, and let’s say they’ve gotten an invitation to a quiet gathering with close friends where they’ll just hang out and chat. But then they receive another invitation on the very same night to a fun activity, like a concert, with people they don’t know as well. How do they choose? They can decide based on what they value more: time with close friends doing something quiet or a chance to attend a concert. Which is the higher value at that time in their lives? Personal values form the core of our decisions and are critical to determining our ROI. A Writer’s Values As writers, we could take on countless tasks and sign up for numerous activities, all of which bring various results. So we bring in the idea of our return on investment, or ROI. If we invest something of ourselves—time, money, resources, energy—what are we getting back from it? What’s the result—the return—on that investment? Our values are behind it all, at the core of our choices. Whether we realize it or not, we inevitably return to our values to determine our ROI. Does any given activity and the investment it requires fit with what we value most? Know Your Values We all have deep-seated values, whether we’re aware of them or not and whether we’ve ever identified them or articulated them or not. They may be high-level, ethical values—like not hurting someone else in your pursuits. Or they may be smaller, personal values, like carving out time each day to exercise. In part one of A Writer’s Guide to ROI, I shared how Crystal Paine determined if her time devoted to a task or activity was worth it. For her, the time invested must result in money and helping people—that’s how she knows it’s worth devoting time to a project or task. She’s come to value that as a business owner. What Are Your Values as a Writer? As you see, one of her values is helping people. You may share that value. As a writer, you may long to help people with your ideas and solutions. You may have other values, as well. You may value the satisfaction of producing something creative or taking the risk to delve into a personal struggle so you can share it with others so they might find hope. You may value storytelling as an art form and strive to write beautiful narratives. You may value poetry and commit to daily practice regardless of whether your final versions end up in a literary magazine. Knowing your values helps determine the ROI of an activity. When Values Are Revealed But sometimes your personal values may not be easy to identify. You may not have articulated them. Our values have a way of revealing themselves as we take action. You get to a certain level of success or achievement and realize, wait, this isn’t what you thought it was going to require or feel like. This isn’t aligning with your values. This isn’t what you want. Jeff Goins’ Story This happened to Jeff Goins. For years as a blogger, Jeff created content about writing, publishing, and creativity. Over time, he decided to build this part-time pursuit into a business, and it grew. He hired employees and farmed out some of the articles he used to write to other freelancers. But he was stressed out with the work of managing it all. He reached out to Seth Godin, who reminded Jeff that he didn’t have to do this—he didn’t have to build a business. But if he wanted to build a business, he had to commit to that work. Jeff then reached out to business coach Casey Graham,

[Ep 203] If you’re like me, you do a lot of writing and writing-related activities essentially for free. You craft social media content, articles for a blog, and guest posts as part of your plan. We do these kinds of activities to educate, entertain, and inform. We hope to solve problems for readers, connect with them, share our ideas, and build bridges. At the same time, we may be trying to gain visibility as a writer or increase reach into new audiences to help even more people. We might create a freebie to add subscribers to our email list or write articles on spec to beef up our author bio with stronger social proof. We write books that may take years to complete before we even begin to search for an agent or publisher—again, we’re essentially writing for free long before the first reader plops down a credit card. It’s a lot of work. Is it worth it? How do you determine if it’s worth it? What’s the Return on Investment As host Anne Watson interviewed Crystal Paine for The Declare Conference Podcast, they discussed whether it’s worth it to create “lead magnets” for every blog post. Crystal advised listeners to look at the time involved in making them and the results you’re getting. “I’m always looking at what is the return on my investment of time.”1 Anne asked, “How are you filtering what you think is the best place for you to spend your time?” Crystal responded: The ROI. One hundred percent the ROI. That is what I focus on. So how much time is this going to take me and how much money is this going to make me or how many new people is this going to bring in. And that might sound super selfish or something but that’s what I have to do, because I have a very limited amount of time that I can focus on every day….2 She continued: Mostly I focus on how do I serve my own audience well, and what are the few things that we’re going to change this year that I feel are going to serve my audience best. And that’s really my heart with everything that I do...I just really focus on providing content for my audience, serving my audience, building relationships with my audience, and trying to become better as a person by reading good books and sharpening my writing, critiquing myself on video and on podcasts and just constantly learning and growing as a person and I think that trickles down into everything you do.3 {beginning around the 24:00 mark} Is it worth it to publish a blog post twice a week and post on Instagram daily? Is it worth it to work for a year on a book that doesn’t have a publisher? Is it worth it for you to submit an article to a magazine where you may not be paid? Only you can answer those questions, based on how you measure your ROI. What are you getting for the resources you’re investing? Crystal Paine’s ROI As you saw, Crystal Paine is running her ROI through her personal values and goals for her business. She asks: How much time is this going to take me? Then she revealed the returns that matter to her: How much money is this going to make? How many people is this going to bring in? How is this content serving my audience? How is this activity helping me build relationships with my audience? How is this activity helping me become a better person? Regarding that last point, you may recall Crystal listed activities like reading good books, sharpening her writing and speaking skills, and learning and growing as a person. She said, “I think that trickles down into everything you do.”4 So investing time in reading a book has a good ROI if it helps her grow as a person or writer. ROI Is Personal ROI in business relates more to investments bringing monetary results or company growth. But you may calculate the ROI in a more personal way, as Crystal does when considering books she might read next or the few podcasts that she listens to. Listening, reading, creating—it all takes time, so she’s determined for herself what makes it worth her...

[Ep 203] If you’re like me, you do a lot of writing and writing-related activities essentially for free. You craft social media content, articles for a blog, and guest posts as part of your plan. We do these kinds of activities to educate, entertain, and inform. We hope to solve problems for readers, connect with them, share our ideas, and build bridges. At the same time, we may be trying to gain visibility as a writer or increase reach into new audiences to help even more people. We might create a freebie to add subscribers to our email list or write articles on spec to beef up our author bio with stronger social proof. We write books that may take years to complete before we even begin to search for an agent or publisher—again, we’re essentially writing for free long before the first reader plops down a credit card. It’s a lot of work. Is it worth it? How do you determine if it’s worth it? What’s the Return on Investment As host Anne Watson interviewed Crystal Paine for The Declare Conference Podcast, they discussed whether it’s worth it to create “lead magnets” for every blog post. Crystal advised listeners to look at the time involved in making them and the results you’re getting. “I’m always looking at what is the return on my investment of time.”1 Anne asked, “How are you filtering what you think is the best place for you to spend your time?” Crystal responded: The ROI. One hundred percent the ROI. That is what I focus on. So how much time is this going to take me and how much money is this going to make me or how many new people is this going to bring in. And that might sound super selfish or something but that’s what I have to do, because I have a very limited amount of time that I can focus on every day….2 She continued: Mostly I focus on how do I serve my own audience well, and what are the few things that we’re going to change this year that I feel are going to serve my audience best. And that’s really my heart with everything that I do...I just really focus on providing content for my audience, serving my audience, building relationships with my audience, and trying to become better as a person by reading good books and sharpening my writing, critiquing myself on video and on podcasts and just constantly learning and growing as a person and I think that trickles down into everything you do.3 {beginning around the 24:00 mark} Is it worth it to publish a blog post twice a week and post on Instagram daily? Is it worth it to work for a year on a book that doesn’t have a publisher? Is it worth it for you to submit an article to a magazine where you may not be paid? Only you can answer those questions, based on how you measure your ROI. What are you getting for the resources you’re investing? Crystal Paine’s ROI As you saw, Crystal Paine is running her ROI through her personal values and goals for her business. She asks: How much time is this going to take me? Then she revealed the returns that matter to her: How much money is this going to make? How many people is this going to bring in? How is this content serving my audience? How is this activity helping me build relationships with my audience? How is this activity helping me become a better person? Regarding that last point, you may recall Crystal listed activities like reading good books, sharpening her writing and speaking skills, and learning and growing as a person. She said, “I think that trickles down into everything you do.”4 So investing time in reading a book has a good ROI if it helps her grow as a person or writer. ROI Is Personal ROI in business relates more to investments bringing monetary results or company growth. But you may calculate the ROI in a more personal way, as Crystal does when considering books she might read next or the few podcasts that she listens to. Listening, reading, creating—it all takes time, so she’s determined for herself what makes it worth her...

[Ep 202] When my kids were little they didn’t really like the LEGO sets that require you to put the bricks together a certain way to create a specific thing, like a Death Star. They preferred giant quantities of individual bricks so they could snap them together and build whatever they wanted. And this is the brilliance of LEGO: its modular approach. The sets are super cool, but as long as you have bricks of any shape or color, you have the elements you need to build. Click them together to try out one way before breaking them apart to connect them in a new configuration to see if you like that result better. Modular Approach to Writing This modular approach to building is an approach I suggest you apply to writing—especially if you’re finding it hard to begin a project or you’re stuck in the middle of one. Or maybe your brain doesn’t think in a linear or sequential way. If so, this solution helps you develop your draft without having to commit to an orderly process at first. Write Discrete Units—Your Bricks Each "brick" of writing is a unit that will comprise the bigger project. This unit could be a scene for fiction; a paragraph for an essay or article; a stanza or even just a line for a poem; or a subsection of a chapter for a nonfiction book. Once you know what project you’re working on, write what comes to mind. If you’re working on a novel, write a scene. If you don’t know what to follow it with, don’t worry. Write another scene knowing it doesn’t have to connect with the one you just wrote--at least, not right now. You can fill in the missing pieces later. Right now, write what you can write. Just as you’d toss some LEGO bricks on the floor to start building a castle, these scenes are the blocks you’ll use to build your story. Each one you write is a discrete element you’ll use to construct the final draft. Same with an essay or the chapter of a nonfiction book. Write an analogy that supports one of your contentions. Add your thoughts related to a quote you’re planning to use. Compose a personal story that relates to the theme. All of those serve as standalone segments, sections, or blocks related to that project that can be moved around at any point. Build Your Draft When you’ve written enough that you can see the project taking shape, lay out all the blocks of text you wrote by printing them and cutting apart each segment. Or, you can rearrange them on the computer screen by cutting and pasting, moving them up and down to insert in various ways. Digital saves paper and ink, but in this building stage, many writers prefer working with physical pieces of paper. They like to spread out their paragraphs or stanzas or scenes on a table or on the floor so they can see it forming. Try it first in one order, shuffling a paragraph or stanza up or down. Read it through. How does it sound? Would it work better in another order? Keep reordering segments and reading through the new version, then dismantle it and try another combination to figure out what works best. Brick by brick, you can piece together your work-in-progress; block by block you build your draft. Write the Missing Pieces At some point, you’ll land on a combination with potential. You can see it coming together in front of you; if you read it aloud, you’ll hear it making sense. It may be missing a section needed for context, continuity, or logic, or it may need additional phrases to clarify an idea, but it’s taking shape. This development phase is the perfect time to discover what’s needed and simply write another brick, another chunk of writing, and insert it into your creation. If your short story needs a flashback scene, write it now. If your poem lost its rhythm, write another line. If your essay leaps to a conclusion, write another paragraph to include supporting evidence. Add what’s missing and you’re almost done. Final Stages You’re so close to the final product,

[Ep 202] When my kids were little they didn’t really like the LEGO sets that require you to put the bricks together a certain way to create a specific thing, like a Death Star. They preferred giant quantities of individual bricks so they could snap them together and build whatever they wanted. And this is the brilliance of LEGO: its modular approach. The sets are super cool, but as long as you have bricks of any shape or color, you have the elements you need to build. Click them together to try out one way before breaking them apart to connect them in a new configuration to see if you like that result better. Modular Approach to Writing This modular approach to building is an approach I suggest you apply to writing—especially if you’re finding it hard to begin a project or you’re stuck in the middle of one. Or maybe your brain doesn’t think in a linear or sequential way. If so, this solution helps you develop your draft without having to commit to an orderly process at first. Write Discrete Units—Your Bricks Each "brick" of writing is a unit that will comprise the bigger project. This unit could be a scene for fiction; a paragraph for an essay or article; a stanza or even just a line for a poem; or a subsection of a chapter for a nonfiction book. Once you know what project you’re working on, write what comes to mind. If you’re working on a novel, write a scene. If you don’t know what to follow it with, don’t worry. Write another scene knowing it doesn’t have to connect with the one you just wrote--at least, not right now. You can fill in the missing pieces later. Right now, write what you can write. Just as you’d toss some LEGO bricks on the floor to start building a castle, these scenes are the blocks you’ll use to build your story. Each one you write is a discrete element you’ll use to construct the final draft. Same with an essay or the chapter of a nonfiction book. Write an analogy that supports one of your contentions. Add your thoughts related to a quote you’re planning to use. Compose a personal story that relates to the theme. All of those serve as standalone segments, sections, or blocks related to that project that can be moved around at any point. Build Your Draft When you’ve written enough that you can see the project taking shape, lay out all the blocks of text you wrote by printing them and cutting apart each segment. Or, you can rearrange them on the computer screen by cutting and pasting, moving them up and down to insert in various ways. Digital saves paper and ink, but in this building stage, many writers prefer working with physical pieces of paper. They like to spread out their paragraphs or stanzas or scenes on a table or on the floor so they can see it forming. Try it first in one order, shuffling a paragraph or stanza up or down. Read it through. How does it sound? Would it work better in another order? Keep reordering segments and reading through the new version, then dismantle it and try another combination to figure out what works best. Brick by brick, you can piece together your work-in-progress; block by block you build your draft. Write the Missing Pieces At some point, you’ll land on a combination with potential. You can see it coming together in front of you; if you read it aloud, you’ll hear it making sense. It may be missing a section needed for context, continuity, or logic, or it may need additional phrases to clarify an idea, but it’s taking shape. This development phase is the perfect time to discover what’s needed and simply write another brick, another chunk of writing, and insert it into your creation. If your short story needs a flashback scene, write it now. If your poem lost its rhythm, write another line. If your essay leaps to a conclusion, write another paragraph to include supporting evidence. Add what’s missing and you’re almost done. Final Stages You’re so close to the final product,

[Ep 201] In the first episode of this series, I described a hypothetical character in a hypothetical game—a little dragon that gains power or abilities after playing the game for a while. This dragon demonstrated what it means to level up in a video game. Depending on the rules of this hypothetical game, the dragon might gather certain tokens, interact with key players, or conquer a small castle, and by completing the tasks and achieving the goals, he gains enough experience and skills to level up. And leveling up transforms him and empowers him with bigger flames, broader wings, better aim. As he emerges at the next level, he then plays in that evolved state with more powerful skills to gain even more experience and level up yet again! You are that dragon. Where Are You Now? You’ve been at this writing game, so to speak, for a while, working the plan you made to level up. For the past few weeks, you’ve awakened each morning with more intention about your writing. You’ve implemented your plan intentionally, faithfully, relentlessly. You’ve broken down goals into smaller goals and tasks, scheduled the work, completed tasks, and made progress. You’ve evaluated how things are going and adjusted the plan as needed. It’s been about a month. After this purposeful effort, where are you now? Have you leveled up to where you thought you’d be?Did you exceed your goal?Did you fall short but realize you’re closer than you were before? You Leveled Up Let’s start with leveling up. Did you level up to where you thought you’d be in a month? Did you achieve your goal? If so, congratulations! This is why you made a plan and set out with goals that you’ve chipped away at, one after another, with grit and determination. Look back to see where you’ve been compared with where you are now, and celebrate.You, my friend, are on fire! You Exceeded Your Goal Some people double-down on areas showing promise or take advantage of an opportunity that arises. In doing so, they exceed their goal. Is that you? Did you level up beyond what you expected? If so, wow! Make that a double-congratulations! Roll with that momentum and keep doing what works. Lock in your routine, because it’s working for you. At this pace, you may level up again before you know it! You Fell Short of Your Goal It’s possible you got blown off track and fell short of your goal. You wouldn't describe your current state as having leveled up. If that’s where you find yourself, take heart. You can press restart and try again. I know you can, because I’ve been there and pressed that button myself. You can always start again. Celebrate Progress And yet, you don’t have to return to square one. If you consider where you were with where you are now, you’ll see that you’ve made progress. Even if you’ve inched forward, you’re closer to the next level than you were when you started! That’s progress! Be glad you set off with that original plan and celebrate that progress. Then decide if you want to revise the plan before you relaunch. You've Grown as a Writer At all levels of achievement, you’ve changed as a writer—you’ve gained experience and grown—all because you made a plan to level up and faithfully did the work. You wrote, polished, and shipped out content. You surged forward with a big effort to complete something challenging. You followed through with daily tasks in a constant drip that added up over time. You realized what didn’t work for you and felt energized by what did. Questions for the Next-Level Writer When you first started this next-level writer process, you set one-month and three-month goals. As you head toward that third month, ask those same questions along the way to determine where you are now: Have you leveled up to where you thought you’d be?Did you exceed your goal?Did you fall short but realize you’re closer than you were before? At the three-month mark, my friend,

[Ep 201] In the first episode of this series, I described a hypothetical character in a hypothetical game—a little dragon that gains power or abilities after playing the game for a while. This dragon demonstrated what it means to level up in a video game. Depending on the rules of this hypothetical game, the dragon might gather certain tokens, interact with key players, or conquer a small castle, and by completing the tasks and achieving the goals, he gains enough experience and skills to level up. And leveling up transforms him and empowers him with bigger flames, broader wings, better aim. As he emerges at the next level, he then plays in that evolved state with more powerful skills to gain even more experience and level up yet again! You are that dragon. Where Are You Now? You’ve been at this writing game, so to speak, for a while, working the plan you made to level up. For the past few weeks, you’ve awakened each morning with more intention about your writing. You’ve implemented your plan intentionally, faithfully, relentlessly. You’ve broken down goals into smaller goals and tasks, scheduled the work, completed tasks, and made progress. You’ve evaluated how things are going and adjusted the plan as needed. It’s been about a month. After this purposeful effort, where are you now? Have you leveled up to where you thought you’d be?Did you exceed your goal?Did you fall short but realize you’re closer than you were before? You Leveled Up Let’s start with leveling up. Did you level up to where you thought you’d be in a month? Did you achieve your goal? If so, congratulations! This is why you made a plan and set out with goals that you’ve chipped away at, one after another, with grit and determination. Look back to see where you’ve been compared with where you are now, and celebrate.You, my friend, are on fire! You Exceeded Your Goal Some people double-down on areas showing promise or take advantage of an opportunity that arises. In doing so, they exceed their goal. Is that you? Did you level up beyond what you expected? If so, wow! Make that a double-congratulations! Roll with that momentum and keep doing what works. Lock in your routine, because it’s working for you. At this pace, you may level up again before you know it! You Fell Short of Your Goal It’s possible you got blown off track and fell short of your goal. You wouldn't describe your current state as having leveled up. If that’s where you find yourself, take heart. You can press restart and try again. I know you can, because I’ve been there and pressed that button myself. You can always start again. Celebrate Progress And yet, you don’t have to return to square one. If you consider where you were with where you are now, you’ll see that you’ve made progress. Even if you’ve inched forward, you’re closer to the next level than you were when you started! That’s progress! Be glad you set off with that original plan and celebrate that progress. Then decide if you want to revise the plan before you relaunch. You've Grown as a Writer At all levels of achievement, you’ve changed as a writer—you’ve gained experience and grown—all because you made a plan to level up and faithfully did the work. You wrote, polished, and shipped out content. You surged forward with a big effort to complete something challenging. You followed through with daily tasks in a constant drip that added up over time. You realized what didn’t work for you and felt energized by what did. Questions for the Next-Level Writer When you first started this next-level writer process, you set one-month and three-month goals. As you head toward that third month, ask those same questions along the way to determine where you are now: Have you leveled up to where you thought you’d be?Did you exceed your goal?Did you fall short but realize you’re closer than you were before? At the three-month mark, my friend,

[Ep 200] Unless a fairy godmother shows up and sprinkles fairy dust all over your laptop to magically boost you to the next level—without any effort on your part—you’ll have to commit to your plan and follow through. Relentless Implementation Shane Melaugh of the ActiveGrowth podcast said in a recent webinar we must “relentlessly implement” or “relentlessly execute” to level up. It’s the only way we evolve and mature into the writers we need to be in order to produce the work we want to produce to reach the readers we want to reach. This podcast itself is an example of my own relentless implementation, although “faithful" implementation might be a better way to phrase it. I did leave some unavoidable gaps here and there due to some caregiving chaos, but the majority of time, for five years, I’ve faithfully, relentlessly, sent out weekly content. I don’t have any superpowers; I just keep showing up, week after week, year after year, and here we are at episode 200. That faithful, relentless commitment allowed me to level up. If Growth Is Slow, Don't Give Up But it can be slow going. In fact, for any of us, our growth can be imperceptible—so much so, we may be tempted to give up before we realize our full potential. You may stop before you gain traction and experience real growth. When I started the podcast in 2014, I treated it as an experiment. And things didn’t take off right away. I was releasing episodes weekly, so eight episodes would be two months of output. If I’d stopped after the eighth episode, I would have missed the fruit of my labor. And I could have easily ended the experiment. But I was having fun and I wanted to keep going, even if it wasn’t a success by measurable standards. Thankfully I stuck with it. I figured out the best length and frequency to release episodes, and I decided what I really wanted to offer through the podcast. Even in the midst of a crazy time of life, I kept up with it. While I’m not showing actual numbers on this graph, I do want you to see the growth over time. Between 2014 and 2017 you see gradual growth. The first month a few people listened to find out what I was up to—friends and family and few followers on social media. The month after that, it dips down. That may have been during one of my chaotic caregiving seasons, but even if you look at the third month, it barely rises to where I was when I launched. Basically, in three months of effort, I saw no growth. The fourth month rose a little. The fifth month barely rose above the fourth. Not until the sixth month did this podcast finally see a bump. It took six months before I saw any substantial growth. Keep Implementing the Plan I didn’t have a fairy godmother sprinkle fairy dust on my microphone, not even at the sixth month. I never showed up on the Apple Podcast New & Noteworthy page where people often get a boost. I just kept creating another episode and sharing it with people on social media, faithfully—relentlessly—implementing my plan. It took time, but the good news is if you look at the long-term growth, you do see a gradual increase. Prior to the podcast, my plan involved creating content for my website and social media. When I introduced the podcast to my plan and it leveled up, my exposure as a coach and writer rose with it. Benefits of Sticking with the Plan Thanks to podcasting, I: developed audio recording and editing skillswrote regularly to script and share my contentshared that content not only in audio form but in written format as wellgained confidence as a presenterlanded speaking opportunitiesconnected with new writers who “met” me through the podcaststayed current on industry trends to pass that information along to listenersintroduced you to authors and publishers through interviewsread more books on writing than I normally would to share that wisdom in various episodeshad fun Yes, I had fun. I really do enjoy this medium.