The Trendsetter

Step 1: setting a goal

Setting your goal is crucial. If you want to write an article for a magazine, a novel or a short story, you need to write the goal down. When I started my blog, my goal is to write and post every day for five days a week. Ideally I would like to write on more than one topic a day. However, at this time, I can only afford to write and post once per day since I have to work on my handmade bags and purses business. I hope to increase my posting by the end of this year. So, you have to be realistic when setting up your goal. It must be achievable.

Step 2: set up your editorial calendar

Magazines usually use an editorial calendar to plan ahead what topics need to be covered. I use an editorial calendar to plan what topics I will write about every day for the next five days. I set my calendar a month ahead. This timetable helps me to organize my writing and seeing the topics on my calendar motivates me to write and complete it on time.

You can use google calendar for your editorial calendar or you can create your own. I have mine like this one:

I have my calendar divided into four columns across showing the date, title, status and note. Horizontally, I have five days sectioned: Monday to Friday with Saturday and Sunday left blank. I can look at this schedule and see on what day I need to write and complete a particular title or topic. I also use the status column where I can jot down a reminder if the article is a draft or final. The fourth column is for notes - say if it is to be published in my blog or filed somewhere else. Your editorial calendar needs to be realistic for you to follow. You might have to keep adjusting it until you feel comfortable with the schedule. The goal for setting a writing calendar is to motivate you to write consistently.

Step 3: fill in your editorial calendar with topics you want to write

After you set up your schedule to write, you can start filling it in with titles or topics you want to write about. I prepare 20 titles ahead to write for my blog. I will complete writing on one title or topic on each of the five days. I learned some serious bloggers can write on five different titles/topics each day in their blogs. I also read that a blogger had about 400 hundred articles in their database waiting to be posted on their blog. Amazing!

You don’t have to have that many articles. You can start small. Do something that’s realistic to you so you can guarantee achieving your goal. Either you want to write each chapter of your novel every day or every week it’s up to you. The consistency is the key to your success.

Step 4: find the best time you can write effectively

What is the best time for you to write? Some writers are comfortable writing early in the morning or late at night. I like to write early in the morning like from 5:00 until 10.00 AM. I find this is the best time when everything is quiet. Sometimes I slipped-out so I cover it from 8:00 until 10:00 at night.

Experiment with your time to find when is the most productive time for you to write. Don’t force yourself to write if the time is not suitable. Otherwise you won’t able to write even if you have the title ready. Settle with the time you have fewer distractions and stick with it.

Step 5: Reward yourself!

Voila! If you able to follow your editorial calendar and write successfully, congratulations! Don’t forget to reward yourself after you achieve your writing goal. When I complete my writing I feel so relieved. This is my best reward so far.