Dream Big

This week we've talked about writing only one book a year versus two or more. That led to the discussion about quantity writing versus quality. Most important to our writing career is producing a love-at-first-read book. If we can only write one a year to get that kind of book, then that's what we need to do.

However, with that being said, I think many of us are ready to challenge ourselves to do more and be better. Sometimes we get into a rut. We've written one book and we keep rewriting it or polishing it, instead of pushing ourselves to write the next novel.

Maybe we have a daily word count goal and it's the same one we've had for the past two years. Perhaps it's time to push ourselves to increase the amount we write on a daily basis. (That's what I need to do.)

Or maybe we have no trouble churning out the daily pages, but instead need to slow down and practice a new writing skill or two. Why wait for the editing stage? Perhaps we need to consciously build a good habit of writing without adverbs or without passive tense in the first draft.

At the writer's conference I recently attended in Denver, the keynote speaker, Debbie Macomber, inspired us to dream big. As a fifth grade dyslexic she struggled to write. When she was a young mother she wrote her first eight books on a type-writer. It took her twenty years to finally start selling books successfully.

Her message was that if we ever want to "make it" we have to practice the power of positive thinking. She encouraged us to write down five goals. The goals could be anything, even the desire to become a best-selling author or have a movie made from one of our books.

Write the goals on paper, she said. When we write down our goals our subconscious works toward them. Our heads will follow the dreams in our hearts.

Her words motivated me to dream bigger. I wrote down my goals, even though I felt a bit presumptuous with a few of them! Ultimately I know that God is in control of my future writing career. But I also believe that the right mindset is essential to success too.

The journey to publication has so many discouraging valleys and steep climbs. It's hard to keep a positive attitude during the long haul. But if we dream big and continue to challenge ourselves to do more and better, then maybe we'll accomplish more than we think possible!

Do you need to dream bigger? What ways can you challenge yourself to grow as a writer?

P.S. Don't you like my new cute tweet widget? (Thanks for the idea, Roni!) If my post was helpful or inspiring to you and you want to share it with others, hit the tweet button and it will show up on Twitter as a retweet.